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November 21, 2007
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss
It was a year ago that the Webby Awards recognized pop star Prince as "a visionary who recognized early on that the Web would completely change how we experience music." Now the Purple One has decided that citizen marketers are members of the axis of evil.
It began this September, when Prince said he would sue YouTube, eBay and other sites for encouraging copyright violations with his music. That means everyday people who lip-synch his songs or use them as background music are going to get served. Even babies shaking their booties to "Let's Go Crazy" drives Prince nuts.
But then it got crazier. Prince's lawyers recently sent cease and desist letters to Prince fan sites, demanding they remove all photographs, images, lyrics, album covers and anything linked to Prince's likeness. Even photos of Prince-inspired tattoos and license plates were off-limits, they said.
But the age of the citizen marketer does not mean blind obedience. Fan sites banded together to form a protest site: PrinceFansUnited.com, or PFU. Yes, Prince fans formed a site to protest Prince. Strange, certainly. But they argue, correctly, that the Prince-inspired content they create is within the laws regarding freedom of speech and fair use. They want Prince to reconsider his position. If not, they say, they'll defend their position in court.
If that wasn't enough, things took a turn for the weirder on Nov. 8 when Prince sent the protesters a song called "PFUnk" (MP3 here). In it, Prince calls fans "punks" and "turncoats." Sample lyric: "The only reason u say my name Is 2 get ur 15 secs of fame." (Lyrics here). Either way, there's a lot of FU going on.
To top all of that off like a purple cherry, the objects of his derision say "PFUnk" is one of Prince's best songs in years.
We're usually not surprised when overly lawyered companies attack against fans who freely promote and market their products. The mechanics of message management have largely withered away, which frightens those accustomed to dictating relationships.
But this is the "visionary" Prince, whose "New Power Generation" band seemed an apt metaphor for a seismic shift in the creation of and influence of music.
When Prince waged a public battle with his record label years ago over who owned his music, it was a fight of musician vs. big, money-hungry corporation that would capture most of his earnings. Prince changed his name to an unpronounceable symbol and etched "slave" onto the side of his face as protest. Rock on! Fight the power!
But now it's big rock star vs. the new, new power generation, the 1 Percenter fans who have the power to influence multiple layers of other fans.
Who knows if all of this is an evil-genius plan to manufacture controversy or simply a sign of a middle-aged man turning fuddy-duddy. No matter the outcome, it seems that Prince has become what he once despised.
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I've been a lifelong die hard Prince fan. On top of being a genius musically, he is also equally talented at being a marketer.
This latest batch of "strangeness" is surely in part to keep his name in the press. At least some of it is that for sure.
But, as a fan and and a lover of "letting your brand go" this irks me to no end. For years he has worked around the system to do things his way. Releasing multiple albums on his own without a label, giving away CDs at concerts to everyone who attends and letting loose, raw tracks out into the wild.
To now turn and want completely control is just wrong. I still love his music, but I hate his tactics right now. Wonder if he wants to hire someone to help him leverage new media? I sure know someone who would love that job! *grin*
Prince turning into Metallica? It can't be!!! Really, what is this guy smoking to go and treat his fans like criminals? These are no doubt people who have spent a lot of money on CDs, shirts and concert tickets. He's become rather irrelevant on radio recently (that's no measure of talent, just the lameness of radio these days), so why would he want to squash a good source of publicity?
Yikes! This goes to prove not ALL publicity is good publicity...and customers are still number 1.
There's another way to look at this situation. Maybe Prince is not making the distinctions which we are making between the big corporation and the grassroots support. Maybe Prince is all about control. A few years the record companies were the only ones who could interfere with his sense of his control. Now the internet and digital media have empowered his fans so they can exploit his creative output, too. To him, perhaps, there is no difference. Just another person usurping his domain.
Sounds like Prince hasn't had the irony bypass yet. I liked the song - but didn't really listen to the words - pretty much never do when there is such a great bassline. If Prince wants us to listen (and take notice) of the lyrics then he needs to take some lessons from Gillian Welch.
He and his lawayers should check out the creative commons video over at TED from Lawrence Lessig.
This still looks like a attempt to leverage more publicity but time will tell. In the meantime thanks for the song link!
Prince looks good, as usually.
