^ Oh you two are dead men
As a Prince fan, I will say this. It
IS frustrating being one sometimes. As a test, enter Prince in Youtube and tell me how many results you get back from a man who's career has spanned 30 years with 48 albums. Even those videos that do appear are practically gone the next day. He's even sued his own fansites over their content.
But Prince is just soo protective over his own work and never been one to conform. I think it was during the early years of this decade that his website was regularly voted the best belonging to any musician. Sharing unheard music, videos etc. Then one day out of the blue, he decides to shut it down. Hell, Prince was one of the first to predict how the internet would affect the music industry the way it has today. Hell, he literally
gave away his latest album for free here in the UK. And I know this isn't from the word of record companies, but from the man himself. He is working alone, only working with particular record companies whenever he wants to release a commercial album.
But this really isn't about lost revenues, is it?
This is about control and power over one's image, including things like the Super Bowl or Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony that he will never own. Prince is essentially powerless when it comes to that. He'll lose this whole case, of that there's no doubt, and he'll be crushed, but then claim it as a victory for artists when YouTube and others start doing the same thing they've always done (removing videos from their site just as soon as they figure out there is a copyright issue). But he certainly has a right to do whatever he pleases with what he owns, including hiding it from the prying eyes of the public if he so chooses. Prince is asking for all copyright material to be removed, which by law is a fair request. Who knows once this material is removed, he might actually release official tour videos (if there are any, please, please, please let there be London 07!!).
Yes it is a shame that Prince doesn't decide to embrace the net more. It alienates new fans from discovering the genius, and the old fans who want to share the love. But I don't think it's over money. It's about image control. The Prince of today is different to that of 80's Prince. He is a current Jehovah's Witness after all. He probably wants to put his controversial, raunchy past behind him, and from others, as utterly futile as that is. The only ones that get hurt from this is the fans.