Prince: Digital Music Has A Different Impact On Your Brain

Say That Again

from the prince's-brain,-perhaps dept

Prince is apparently continuing his war with the modern world. The rockstar who once seemed to be on the cusp of leading the music world into the digital era, seems to have gone so far to the other extreme that he’s become a joke. He went on the legal warpath against some internet sites, completely ignored his own website, which he charged people to access, and declared that the internet was over and he’d no longer allow his music online. Oh, and then there was his claim that if someone covers your song, the original no longer exists, despite the fact he’s done a bunch of covers.

He’s now done another interview, and despite his “people” telling the interviewer that he wasn’t allowed to ask about Prince’s views on the internet, Prince dove in anyway and explained why digital music impacts your brain in a different way:

His management’s pre-interview list of guidelines insisted, “Please do not discuss his views on the internet,” but perhaps Prince hasn’t read them. “I personally can’t stand digital music,” he says. “You’re getting sound in bits. It affects a different place in your brain. When you play it back, you can’t feel anything. We’re analogue people, not digital.” He’s warming to his theme. “Ringtones!” he exclaims. “Have you ever been in a room where there’s 17 ringtones going off at once?”

Does he have a ringtone?

“No,” he says, looking as offended as if I’d asked him if he drove a clown car. “I don’t have a phone.”

He also appears to have picked up some misguided notions from some in the recording industry that it’s really all the tech world’s fault that people aren’t buying music any more. Also, he claims that the White House has asked him to come talk about “piracy.” Though it’s not uncommon for the White House to hear from foreign dignitaries, this may mark the first time they have invited a representative from another planet.

“We made money [online] before piracy was real crazy. Nobody’s making money now except phone companies, Apple and Google. I’m supposed to go to the White House to talk about copyright protection. It’s like the gold rush out there. Or a carjacking. There’s no boundaries. I’ve been in meetings and they’ll tell you, Prince, you don’t understand, it’s dog-eat-dog out there. So I’ll just hold off on recording.”

That’s barely comprehensible in general (what does the second to last sentence have to do with anything?), and even if you accept the basic statements about “piracy,” the rest doesn’t make much sense. Prince has already figured out how to deal with that, doing his deals with newspapers to pre-sell his CDs, and recognizing that the real money is in live shows (for which the music acts as an excellent promotional tool). So why is he complaining?

Filed Under: brain, file sharing, music, prince