Jumping on the I Hate Prince Bandwagon

Who does this guy think he is? Just because he has sold a go-gillion records, made un-makable amounts on money and can change his name from Price to a symbol back to Prince again, doesn’t meant hat he has the rights to take on fans for liking his music so much that they actually not only buy the CD, but they dance to it, listen to it in their cars, get tattoos and make stickers of the famed symbol and embrace one of the planet’s most recognizable rock stars.

Where does this guy get off? He is not only taking on YouTube and Pirate Bay but now fan sites that cite his lyrics and host pictures. God, if I had one fan site where people loved my music so much they would make pretty banners, signs and quote my lyrics, I would be a happy camper.

(Just in: Price has announced plans to “reclaim the internet,” oh boy!)

According to Rueters.com, the sites have vowed to unite under the banner "Prince Fans United" and take the matter to court if necessary.

"We strongly believe that such actions are in violation of ... freedom of speech and should not be allowed," said a statement from the three sites -- www.housequake.com, www.princefams.com and www.prince.org.

As of right now he is not suing any of the sites and has not gone through with his YouTube threats. This doesn’t mean that his image is cleared by any means. Just by reaching out to destroy loyal fans, he may impact the future buying power of the Price army.

Whereas now most bands coming up in the scene rely on YouTube, Myspace, Absolute Punk and other community style followings to catch a break and create a fan base, larger artists are shying away and looking down on anyone that is trying to “steal” their precious copyrighted music. Now I’m not saying that it is ok for fans to steal music from artists, I am saying that without fans and their allegiance to the music and the artists, there would be no fast cars and rock stars.

So this is a cry to all you major label artists;

1) You can’t stop the internet so stop trying.

2) Major labels are losing badly and you are part of the cause. Take charge of your own career and stop relying on suites who can’t comprehend the power of the new media and what it can do

3) Embrace change –first there were records, then 8 tracks, then tapes and cd’s. It’s time to give way to the MP3 and its been here already for 7 or so years (old Napster is at least that old). Jump on the party ship, it will be boatloads of fun and

4) Embrace the fans who care so much about your music. There has never been a better time to communicate with your fans. Create a blog, respond to messages, create videologs, whatever just be a voice for your band. Look what it has done for Fall Out Boy, Gym Class Heroes and any other Myspace Gen band.

Have fun with this one folks!