Prince in the Tabloids: Album Giveaway in the UK

By: Lior | in: Music |

Prince angered British music retailers with a promotional distribution deal that will make his latest album, “Planet Earth”, worthless for traditional CD stores in the UK, a sector in the music industry already facing rapidly declining CD sales.

Prince

Last Sunday, The Mail on Sunday, a British tabloid with an estimated 2.9 million copies sold, packaged “Planet Earth” with its newspaper as an unprecedented promotional giveaway.

Sunday papers are a British gem and often include various added-value magazines, digests, CDs and other eye-catching purchase incentives at a premium price point. This, however, is the first time we see an artist release an entire album in exclusive association with a newspaper as opposed to the traditional or even modern, digital means.

It is not yet clear how much Prince was paid for this campaign and how he intends to milk it (i.e. UK tour, merchandising). This controversial step appears to mirror Paul McCartney’s alliance with Starbucks earlier in the year. I think that while record companies are scrambling for marketing ideas and music retailers fighting for dear life, artists – and a new breed of artist managers – are crossing over to alternative media for mass, public penetration and leaving a weeping music infrastructure for dust.

The Mail on Sunday

To the determent of music retailers, the potential for something like this is obvious and exponential. Let’s face it, Prince is not where he used to be – neither is Paul McCartney – so a massive push by a media giant to blitz its readership with a new product may generate some very satisfying, financial returns for all. All except the music retailers, that is.

Is the album any good? It doesn’t matter. When 2.9 million people receive the same CD, on the same day, around the same time, the artist formerly known as.. is, now, the artist at the very fore.

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Posted on July 18, 2007

Comments

6 Responses to “Prince in the Tabloids: Album Giveaway in the UK”

Kendall on July 18th, 2007 7:48 am

It stinks for the people that have invested their lives as retailers, but more power to Prince for trying something new as an artist. As far as it harming the big record labels, again, more power to Prince. Things are changing, and an artist that can change with the times, is a smart artist.

Charbarred on July 18th, 2007 9:00 am

If I understand correctly Sony is now Prince’s label. Didn’t he have a lot of trouble with them a few years back? I thought the whole “Slave” written on his cheek thing and changing his name was all about getting out of his contract with them. Maybe this is his way of getting back at them: Sign a new contract with Sony and then screw them over royally.

Rustycat on July 18th, 2007 12:17 pm

I hear the deal was speculated around 500K$…

Ryan of the RSL Music Blog on July 18th, 2007 2:24 pm

I have to agree with the earlier comment applauding the move. It’s one artist - one time doing something unique. The world is a changing place and the arts are one outlet that has always been on the move. I don’t think this was aimed at damaging people’s lives - it was meant as an attention grabber… which is what it has done. People wouldn’t be half as upset if they were doing well anyway. The industry is changing faster than retailers can their businesses or the industry can adapt. That’s life.

baron on July 18th, 2007 3:21 pm

It’s probably a lot better to just give an album away that watch it get downloaded via torrents anyway. Especially now that he’s past his prime and his live shows are probably a better source of revenue.

I believe Prince was originally with Warner and since then struck a liberal distribution deal with Arista and now Sony.

Ironically, I pretty much lost interest in his music since his departure from Warner.