Prince possesses musical genius. Prince possesses a greedy soul. When his music and his thirst for money collide, his art suffers, his fans suffer and ultimately his legacy suffers. Despite his amazing musical innovations in the 1980s that made him an icon, he repeatedly jeopardizes his career and his reputation in his pursuit of capital. He claims that his dispute with Warner Bros. that triggered his name change to an unpronounceable symbol was over creative output. Nope, that’s just artistic pretense. It was about the money. Nothing more, nothing less. No one forced him to sign that contract, and he simply didn’t sell enough albums to get his big pay day. Being a bad businessman is not the same as being a slave to the system, and he should have known better than to scribble the word "slave” on his cheek – a despicable moment for him that has irrevocably damaged his place in music history.
Well, Prince continues to soil his reputation and still appears to be a bad sport in the music industry as seen with his recent remarks about downloadable music: "The Internet is completely over," said Prince. "I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then [the public] gets angry when they can't get [the music]."
Since Prince does not play nicely with anyone. His new music is not available in retail stores or legally online. His newest album 20TEN is only being distributed legitimately through the newspapers and magazines in Europe that gave him a fat advance for his product. It is unknown how and if the album will be distributed in the United States.
His short-sighted, greedy decision to not sell the CD in the United States feels like a personal insult. I have bought every crap album since 1996. No matter what the asking price or his method of distribution, I would have purchased whatever he offered. Well, until a few days ago.
His unfriendly attitude towards his fans led me to strongly consider selling my entire collection, loaded with out-of-print and rare items. I told myself: No more buying of Prince merchandise, no more travelling to see him, and no more listening (not even to “The Beautiful Ones”). A clean break. A Purple free life. My husband failed to believe me, but I was resolute.
Then, I heard 20TEN.
How much harm can a little greed do?
