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Sign O' The Times as Prince gives away new album
2007-07-15
US pop maverick Prince on Sunday gave away about three million copies of his new album "Planet Earth" with British newspaper the Mail on Sunday, amid protests from music retailers. The 10-track CD is reported to be worth about 250,000 pounds (369,000 euros, 508,000 dollars) to the diminutive musician from Minneapolis best known for hits such as "Purple Rain", "Kiss", "Sign O' The Times" and "Raspberry Beret". The album is not due to go on sale until July 24 but Prince plans to give away copies to fans attending one of his 21 concerts at the O2 arena in south-east London in August and September. "It's direct marketing and I don't have to be in the speculation business of the record industry, which is going through a lot of tumultuous times right now," the 49-year-old said recently, when asked why he was giving away the CD. The newspaper's editor, Peter Wright, told BBC radio Sunday they had paid the artist for the licence to produce the CD and to press and advertise it. He added that he hoped for a boost in sales and advertising revenue as a result. The Mail on Sunday sells about 2,270,000 copies, according to its parent company Daily Mail and General Trust's website. The Entertainment Retailers Association, which represents British music stores, criticised Prince, whose previous spats with the record industry included using a symbol instead of his name and writing "slave" on his cheek. "It is an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career," the association's co-chairman Paul Quirk said in a speech last month, slamming the "covermount culture". "The Artist formerly known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores." The ERA said more than two million people buy music every week and the business is worth more than 1.6 billion pounds a year but stores are under pressure from increasing use of Internet music downloads.
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