Prince Rogers Nelson regrets the contract he signed with Warner Bros. It stripped him of the freedom to create and market his work. After 19 long years with the record label, Prince revolutionized against them, making him seem like he was pulling a publicity stunt, according to the public and media. He changed his name to an unreadable symbol to show his unwillingness for his albums to be controlled by anyone but himself. He was then able to renegotiate his contract and gain ownership of his music. He had a bigger say in how his songs were created and marketed. Worldwide, Prince has sold over 100 million records. Spontaneously, five of his albums charted in the Billboard Top 10, making him the only artist to achieve this milestone. The music …show more content…
Fans were shocked to hear that “Prince figured out early in his career that the link between a musician and their audience was marketing. Marketing that typically was developed and controlled by the record label and not the musician” (“A Royal Revolution”). This highlights the key points about Prince seeking ownership over his art and audience relationships, rather than labels exploiting musicians. He grasped that record labels monopolized the crucial marketing links to fans. Artists have almost no control over promoting their work and building a connection with their audience. In the article entitled “A Royal Revolution: An Analysis of the Influence of Prince on Music Marketing” by Deirde T. Guion Peoples, record labels paid all the costs for an artist’s album—production, distribution, marketing. But in return, they owned the recordings thanks to the ‘work for hire’ copyright law. Gaining ownership through contracts was standard, but lots of musicians hated giving up their song rights. This incisive point illuminates the fact that artists put in the effort to share their creativity with their audiences, but they had no control over their