The dot-com boom may have partied like it's 1999, but pop legend Prince isn't feeling any love for the digital distribution of music these days.
"The Internet's completely over," he told England's Daily Mirror. "I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it."
The irony is thickly battered and fried here. Prince agreed to the rare interview because the newspaper is giving away his new 20TEN CD next Saturday. Yes, Prince is making sure that his new material isn't available through Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iTunes or Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) YouTube because they only offer revenue-sharing arrangements, but he's willing to seemingly give away his music as a newspaper insert?
The joke will obviously be on him, in the end. If the new material proves popular, it will simply circulate through online piracy means. He'll simply be missing out on his cut of premium iTunes purchases and ad-supported YouTube streams.
It's hard to deny Prince's musical mastery -- especially in his prime -- but I don't think the purple one truly grasps the viral power and breadth of cyberspace. It's not just about shunning YouTube and iTunes. Prince even took down his website.
"The Internet's like MTV," he tells the reporter. "At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good."
Viacom (NYSE: VIA) may beg to differ on the popularity of MTV, but his example is still way off. Television clearly isn't dead, even if MTV is no longer the music video hub it used to be. This is similar to comparing the rise and stall of News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) MySpace -- a springboard for many music acts several years ago -- to either social networks or the Web as a whole.
The Internet is clearly more popular than ever, and global migration rates continue to flock to wired status. MySpace's loss is Facebook's gain. When it comes to digital music, it isn't even close. Apple has gone on to pass Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) as the country's leading music retailer and it doesn't even sell CDs. Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN) has caught up with Wal-Mart, largely on the strength of its MP3 downloading business.
Prince has always been eclectic, so it isn't a shock to see him disrespect a medium that is creating a new generation of stars. Lamenting the loss of hefty record label advances during the industry's digital transformation just doesn't make sense. Even a major label dinosaur understands that much, as 30% of Warner Music Group's (NYSE: WMG) revenue now stems from digital distribution, helping to partly offset the sting of perpetually declining disc sales.
The truth is obvious. Prince only needs to look at a mirror -- or, next weekend -- in a Mirror.
Is Prince right or wrong about the Internet's role in music? Share your thoughts in the comments box below.
