Entertainment

The Internet is dead? According to Prince, The Artist and The Artist Formerly Know As Prince, it is. Has he gone mad? Perhaps one too many sips of the old purple Kool-Aid? Or is it just another one of his mediocre PR stunts? Needless to say, he is once again pushing the envelope and recently released his new record, 20Ten, for free in some European publications.

Being a musician who also recently released a new record, I can fully understand the need to try and separate oneself from the pack. However, this just seems like a feeble attempt to make himself relevant in the ever-changing musical landscape. A landscape that is a constant, uphill and sometime demoralizing battle forged by almost all artists trying to carve out a niche for themselves. Some artists, like Radiohead and NIN have been truly innovative in recent years and have helped reshape how some (many) people view music and the industry. They are, however, some of the biggest names on the block, with some of the most devoted fans (kudos to them for all of the years and years of hard work they put in) and can actually profit from opening up their new releases for free download.

Prince’s new release may be his “best effort since Purple Rain”, but does his recent internet bashing episode belittle it? At the end of the day it should be the music that helps the record rise to the top. Ha, imagine that, a good record doing well just because it is superbly written and impeccably recorded…now that would be a great time to be a musician.