From last week’s news: Prince gave away his latest
album,
Planet Earth, with the
Mail on Sunday tabloid in the UK, making it available to anyone who wanted to shell out £1·40.
Record companies and retailers are outraged, calling him traitorous or worse.
From Prince’s point of view, it reinforces his
brand as a maverick, got him heaps of press, makes him appealing to those liking an
antiestablishment nature, and even hints at him being a trail-blazer in an age where the income gap is a major social concern. While the album
is reportedly not as good as
Purple Rain or some of his 1980s stuff, it suddenly makes him relevant and newsworthy. Fuelled by the capitalist motive, the companies that are criticizing him now will be the first to go back on their criticisms if there’s sufficient
hype on his next album—which there could be after a stunt like this.
Posted by Jack Yan, 05:48
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