 "I really believe in finding new ways to distribute my music," pop legend Prince told the Daily Mirror in an exclusive interview today. "The Internet's completely over," he said. "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 they get angry when they can't get it." Prince's famous and longstanding battle against the web gained steam in 2007, when Prince declared his intention to file lawsuits against YouTube, eBay and The Pirate Bay for users' appropriation of his music. He's banned such sites from using it, and he's also refused to work with legal, legitimate outlets such as eMusic and iTunes. And don't try to find his official site; it's been shut down, as well. "The Internet's like MTV," the star said to The Mirror's correspondent. "At one time, MTV was hip, and suddenly it became outdated." "Suddenly" — a.k.a. around the time the Internet started taking off, perhaps? Not only is Prince down on the web; he also is decidedly not a fan of consumer electronics. "All these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you." Prince's new album, 20TEN, will be released as a CD to Mirror readers and the readers of various other print publications in Europe. It might be distributed via Warner Bros. in the U.S. This will be the artist's 27th release. Clearly, we at Mashable take a radically different view, both about the Internet and about the utility and integrity of web-based music distribution models. We're of the opinion that musicians need more (and better) online tools, not fewer. Keeping in mind Prince's amazing contributions to music's past, we're not sure he's in touch with its present or accurately forecasting its future. So-called experts have been predicting the death of the Internet at least since 1995, and we've yet to see anything come of these proclamations of doom. What do you think? Is Prince missing out on something by withdrawing himself from the web? Or could he be correct; is the Internet just a fad, after all? |
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