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Prince has put himself in the limelight with a brilliant marketing strategy. When a producer or manufacturer gives away a product it gives consumers a chance to "test drive" it out in hopes they'll become a customer. Chances are it will bring a lucrative response, and in this case it seems it's worked considering that over 3 million people picked up Prince's CD in the U.K. on July 15 (Time Magazine, July 18, 2007).

Economically speaking, if a product is good, giving it away brings great results in the long run. For Prince, not only does he endear himself to fans that have serious issues with the way the music industry has evolved, people who were not fans or interested in his music are likely to have listened to the free CD and give his music a try. Prince has found a way to potentially tap into a new market and further expand his fan base.

Prince creatively makes his own music and it seems that this is his right to do what he likes with his own intellectual property; the product is the fruits of his labor. If he wants to give his music away, shouldn't that be his choice? It's understandable the music business is concerned that other artists may follow suit, impacting even more of their profits, but since creativity is a large part of the industry, many fans view the music business as being about more than a profit margin. The direction the music industry is heading, they are losing customer confidence anyway because they aren't relating to their consumer base.

The music industry is a business and the nature of the game is to make money; rightfully they have a stake, but they've grown to the point where they dominate and control artists, fans and the overall music community. There is something wrong with the picture when corporates begin to dictate what artists should wear, sing, write or perform and then to add insult to injury, take a huge cut of their profits and charge outrageous fees to consumers for the privilege.

One of the significant problems with the music business is that they've over-inflated the purchase price of music and then turned around and dictated how those CDs and digital purchases could be used by implementing Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology. This has turned off many consumers and has made piracy look very attractive. The increased acceptance of piracy doesn't do anyone in the industry any good - not the executives, certainly not artists such as Prince, or the law abiding consumer because it just forces the costs to go even higher for legal purchases. It seems Prince has recognized this and has taken a stance in finding a creative way to perhaps mitigate piracy.

The problem with the music industry is that they aren't being proactive enough to evolve their old stagnated business models and move into the world of digital music. They've been resisting for a long time by holding onto dated and expensive means of distributing music. In the meantime music piracy has jumped in and "cornered the market" so to speak. Prince, in a round about way in this deal, has diminished it by encouraging people to buy the newspaper that the CD was given away with. Business partnerships are a beneficial way to be successful and the music business likes to play solo By cutting out the middle man, Prince not only takes a stand to make a point, but also stands to make a ton of money, the consumers are happier and it's a win-win. The only loser is the music industry.

Perhaps this another wake-up call that the music business desperately needs. Maybe at some point they'll get their messages, revamp their business model and move into the current century.

Learn more about this author, Leigh Goessl.
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