AlphaDesigner Blogue

Regarding the laws governing our flourishing Culture of the Most Common Denominator, she just shouldn’t exist. And pay attention, I say “exist”, not “be famous”. She’s too detached from everything contemporary to be an exception of the rule either. Because the rule doesn’t state that being unusual is a taboo. In fact culture like this relies on the unusual and needs it like Bush needs crude oil. However, the unusuality, so to say is carefully refined, packed, standardized and served with an instruction manual. All this is conceived silently, behind the curtain, with a huge dose of conspiracy by a Gestapo-like media corporations. You are allowed to be wacky, but only if you connect to some of their products on the market. If you, by chance, demonstrate something out of the box that is spontaneous, independently ignited, you get slapped. In other words, you can throw your sofa in your private pool. But please, have a pack of Doritos during the procedure.

What is even worse is that this attitude is so well planted in our brains that it is getting subconscious. That makes us dismiss everything that has no solid rational description as pure crap. Of course, after we do that repeatedly, again and again, we end up in the psychiatrist’s office. Where you learn that you must even pay for the privilege of lying on a leather sofa. Because you’ve thrown your own in the pool to enjoy the full power of Doritos and make a personality-defining statement. And where is your personality? The thing that makes you an individual? Don’t get me wrong, having a nice car and fancy gadgets is a good thing. But if you wrap your ego around them, you automatically inherit the date of expiry on the bottom of the bottle. And then, you have to buy a new one. So you obey and return to the supermarket, time after time, paying for the right to be someone. For the right to be loved, adored and respected. If only you can burst that bubble and stretch your arms! It must feel so good! Even if your friends insist there’s something wrong in you. Even if they leave you because they can’t understand you anymore. After all, you’ll find someone else. Because… how was it… All if Full of Love. And your phone is just off the hook.

That’s why I love this woman here, she’s a constant reminder of that hope. But there aren’t any promises attached. It’s not a charity-single hope. It has more to do with stubbornness and with the ability to keep your eyes open, whatever the cost. It has a lot to do with fear too. But fear is just another life-saving instinct. Enjoy it, embrace it, dissolve your illusions in it. And feel that air in your chest. There’s a loooooot of potential in it, if you only decide to open your mouth.

Damn colonists
Ignore their patronizing
Tear off their blindfolds
Open their eyes

Declare independence!

He’s always been controversial as hell, despite what some people may think. It’s true he gave up 4-letter words on concerts and doesn’t dress in fishnet stockings and lace bikini any more. That was just the start and it can’t be a trick that can be used more than twice, because – surprise – when some people want to shock the world, they don’t necessarily want to do it without a reason.

In Prince’s case it was always about freedom. Freedom of any type – the right of men to be sexually objectified by women just like women are sexually objectified by men (Controversy and 1999), the right to be religious and in peace with your genitalia (Lovesexy), the right to rebel against your own image because art is not a corporate endeavour (Around the World in a Day and Parade) and last but not least – the right to be a genius not according to the society’s definition, but according to your personal one (Sing o’ the Times).

These demands, spectacular as every demand of any control freak could be, really gave him a lot of troubles, but sustained him as an artist even trough his darkest days during the 90’s. He was the first one to use the Internet to offer an album, the attempt was pretty disastrous, but earned him the respect of the web societies at that time and got him the Webby Award for Lifetime Bla Bla Achievement. All his failures weren’t in vain, because when he decided to go mainstream again (Musicology) we discovered pretty fast that he can still sell albums and attract quite an audience.

The period when he officially gave up his name earned him the freedom he always wanted – to produce his albums at home and to cherry-pick his distributors at the last moment, making the whole process much like a “Miss Record Company [Fill in the Year]” competition. So far, this approach humbled Arista (Rave…) Columbia Records (Musicology) and BMG again (3121). And you kinda think, well… the war is over.

Wrong, Watson!

When he adopted the policy to give records for free on his Musicology tour several years ago, only Billboard magazine objected. And it objected not because it was worried about sales in general, it was worried that with this workaround, he managed to stay in the Top 10 for a very long time. It was a milestone for the magazine – Musicology was the last album that was offered the privilege to score because of ticket sales. So far so good.

However now Planet Earth is about to score if not in charts, at least in people’s homes because of newspapers sales. His latest achievement is hitting the kiosks today. And of course, as early as the news about the newspaper project became known to the distributors, the album was dropped from the catalogue of the local Sony subsidiary in the UK. Huge market chains also threatened they won’t offer it on their stands, as if it was their product, not Prince’s. And yes, we talk about music and not about toothpaste here – otherwise it would be quite funny, wouldn’t it? I don’t see big chain stores banning Colgate just because it might be occasionally available in small kiosks or because it is given free during long distance flights. Noo.

Which comes to show how the old rusty music industry with its overweight ass is breaking another window in its own store – still insisting that it must have a monopoly even over an album that wasn’t commercially produced with the help of its commercially engaged engineers. What is quite shocking is how many years companies like Sony were able to spend in denial. And how many more they will continue to spend.

Prince is not bothered at all about this of course. He will have 21 concerts in a month or so in London – and please note – in London alone, which will compensate the give-away pretty soon. And he certainly grew wiser to acknowledge that you can’t fight pirates (i.e. – your own public) with DRM locks.

Illustration: Planet Earth Album Cover