Many of my subscribers and newer artists are fearful of having their art “stolen” online. It’s a legitimate fear, but the Internet is about sharing and about getting your images out there for people to see. Artists have never had such a large, readily available audience.
Read this NY Times article about how Prince has shared his music freely and the philosophy behind it.
I’m not dumb to the fact that Prince can afford to give away some of his music. But I do think he’s onto something. He knows that the more he gives away, the more he’ll get in return. And . . . it’s all about the art.
4 thoughts on “Prince and free-flowing intellectual property”
This was a great article, thanks for pointing it out. I’ve always loved Prince, but didn’t really have the full picture of his career. It seems to be instructive, not only on the way he is continuely innovating, but that his income and success flows from such a variety of different sources.
Hi Alyson, Thanks for the link to an interesting article on one of the most dynamic and enigmatic artists of our times. His career has had more turns than a country road. It’s often said artists are the visionaries that help us signal turns in the way we think about things. Prince embodies that notion as much or more than any of his contemporaries, not just in music, but all the arts. Were it not for his flamboyance, this would be far more apparent to many. One of the areas where he signaled a major change is with POD (Print-on-demand) technology. Your post here inspired one on my own on my Art Print Issues blog.
Prince and the Art of Monetizing Free Stuff
Those prints could then creatively be given away. If a clever publicity campaign surrounded the giveaway, much acclaim and notoriety could be generated for a pittance of expense as compared to buying media…and with greater results…
Thanks for the link to an interesting article on one of the most dynamic and enigmatic artists of our times.