In a unique twist of gaining some PR, legendary artist Prince has frustrated fans (and musos alike) by charging them to watch his new video.
Though it’s fairly common for artists to package up their videos to sell as ‘add-ons’ on CD/downloads, charging for exclusive viewing is something that the industry clearly isn’t ready for yet.
The video, for the artist’s new single ‘Screwdriver’ was released yesterday exclusively on Prince’s official site; whilst many of today’s artists (if not majority) utilise online video sites like YouTube, or atist-connected ad-ons such as VEVO, Prince will only allow those who purchase online to view/download the official video.
Many fans have been sharing their disgust on this, especially via the Twittersphere. Personally, I think it’s not the right way to go about it, however, when delving closer into a fan’s affinity with an artist, I would’ve paid more than that to have an exclusive version of a new Michael Jackson video. For general ‘Joe Public’ though, this is alienating many of the prospective audience.
Music videos now are often shared virally, the lack of ability to do so could be limiting the potential of the track to reach the coveted No 1 (as well as restricting the possibility of growing a new fan-base).
What are your thoughts? Leave your comments below
For those who are content just to hear the song and watch the lyric-video, here it is
