Prince CharmingPrince Charming
So the formerly purlple, formerly unpronouncable Prince has struck another blow to the greedy music industry.
He's bypassing the traditional distribution chain in favor of a deal with a British newspaper to sell his new CD, Planet Earth, along with copies of the Sunday Mail (see the AP story). My vote for Most Clueless Comment Of The Year: "The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behavior like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores," said Paul Quirk, co-chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association.
Ooohhh, scary. Then Prince'll just hafta sell tracks on digital music sites, or purvey mail-order CDs from an online shop, or have his merch stands at sell-out concerts pushing the albums. He's got the clout to be at least moderately successful at it.
But with the demise of record store chains, I'd think Mr. Quirk and his ilk should be grateful for whatever a big-name artist decides to sell through those retailers. And labels, in turn, oughtta sell via whatever way the consumer wants to receive music--be it digitally online, on CDs at a mom-and-pop shop, or pasted on the front page of one's favorite periodical..
Just more proof that the demise of the machine can't be blamed on filesharing kids.
