Well maybe you are thinking the album is crap, that's why they are giving it away for free. Not so according to rival newspaper The Times. They reckon it's pretty good actually although they have a little dig by claiming the album is 'too good to be sold so lightly'.
So what does the diminutive purveyor of eclectic funk put the decision down to ? Direct marketing he says (who would have thought Prince even knew the term Direct Marketing, let alone know what it means).
Actually what it does mean is that 'sales' of the album will be around 3 million. Much better than the 80,000 his last album sold. Now obviously we have no idea what he was paid by the MOS to cover the cost. What we do know is that the PR around the move is phenomenal. And the winners will inevitably be Prince (who will inevitably flog a few more tickets to his more lucrative tour of the UK), the MOS (who also benefit from all the PR and a sizeable circulation boost) and ultimately the consumer (who genuinely gets something of intrinsic and artistic value, for nothing).
This deal could indeed be a watershed in both the newspaper and music industries. As Steve Miron (MD of MOS) put it "no one has done this before... this is just setting a new level". It has implications for both industries who are both suffering from the effects of the digital revolution. Maybe by working more closely together in the future, both of them can reap the benefits.
Steve Blakeman
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Member since: 03 Jun 2008
Last login: 27 Oct 2008
Total Posts: 59
