Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy_cLJ19HMg
Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9O130NYr_4
His new songs then are more 'rare' among his core demographic (not teens) -> driving more people to his concerts, where he makes the money.
Remember that prince, back in 2001 ALREADY jumped on the internet bandwagon. He offered his songs for download then - he is not anti-internet, he has tried it and has changed his model.
Remember, this dude makes 50million USD a year, more that most of you will make if your startup sells for a huge amount of money. He knows what he's doing.
1. Of all the newspapers he is associating his brand with a cheap tabloid. Under no circumstances would I ever give money to a newspaper like this so he has lost my me already. As there are no other ways of getting this legally - I am only left with the pirating option
2. 'In Rainbows' by Radiohead was profitable for the group (and they have somethings in common with Prince - like an established fan base) using the internet model of 'pay what you want' for the download. This made the band look good and still provided them with a profit.
Prince is doing himself no favours by acting in this way.
So Prince is giving away his CD via a newspaper. Kids everywhere are saying - "Who is doing what with a what via a what?"
Prince already has a legion of die hard fans. He doesn't need the internet to build an audience or distribute his music. He, like everyone else, also knows that his music will end up on the internet through unofficial channels. So why bend-over and do a suboptimal deal?
He does however need it to maintain buzz, hype and notoriety. Telling everyone the internet "is over" has spread his message about his new album and his own brand to the least likely places. I mean... he's on the front page of Hacker News and Ars Technica. I'm pretty sure I first saw this story on Reddit too. I bet if I read Digg I would see it there too.
If anything Prince has demonstrated his understanding of the internet audience. He's told the cool kids they aren't cool and that their favourite toy is out of fashion. Needless to say they are pissed and talking about it.
The last time I heard anything about Prince was.... when he released his last album via a newspaper deal.
As jeb said earlier: Prince knows what he is doing.
Given that on-line sales usually equals Ticketmaster sales, this might not be a bad thing...
Um, prince, what made (makes) the internet cool is the free flow of content and information. Many 'modern' bands use this to launch their careers.
[typo edit]
