OK, we all know that Prince is a bit of a nutter. In fact, that may be an understatement; the purple-loving pop-sensation can be downright weird from time to time. But his latest tirade against fans online is downright strange — even for Prince.
CNN is reporting that lawyers acting on behalf of the 49-year-old star are seeking to have all pictures of Prince, along with album covers and song lyrics removed from the Internet. In particular, Prince’s lawyers are going after three Internet fan sites, by issuing cease and desist letters warning the site’s owners to provide “details of the means by which you propose to compensate our client…”
Has Prince finally and completely lost his freaking mind? It certainly seems like it. After all, he has now sicked his legal “watchdogs” on his own fans — the people that love and adore him so much that they spend a great deal of time energy and money maintaining web sites in his honor without any compensation whatsoever. Talk about ingratitude!
The music industry in general has had a tough time coming to terms with the Internet and the emergence of a worldwide connected culture. But some stars seem to have much more trouble with it than others: remember all that nonsense with Metallica versus Napster back in the 90s?
But these days, most big shots in the music industry have mostly adjusted to the realities of the online world, and try to take advantage of the power of the Internet to promote their music, rather than pushing against it.
For example, Radiohead recently released their latest album online as a series of MP3 files on their web site. And in a show of faith in their diehard fans, the band did not use any sort of digital media protection with the MP3s. While this may not have been the greatest financial move short-term, it went a long way toward endearing the UK indie group to its fans.
Seen in this light, what Prince is now attempting to do online seems like a huge slap in the face to his fan base. To begin with, there is no way that Prince or any other pop star can possibly remove all of their images, album covers or song lyrics online. Perhaps Prince hasn’t noticed it, but the Internet is a pretty big place.
But despite Prince’s latest move being absolutely futile, it’s also shortsighted and bound to have an adverse effect on his relationship with his fans. In fact, several Prince message boards and fan sites have now formed a coalition to fight back against the pop star. Prince may be about to learn the hard way that squabbling with your biggest fans is simply bad for business.
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