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The Independent Road To Success

In 1997 Prince abandoned the financial security and support of Warner Bros to embark upon the independent road to success. With an international legion of loyal fans backing him, he announced that his first independent CD ("Crystal Ball") would only be sold on the Internet. The next day, 100,000 orders were placed at a whopping price tag of $50.00; a price that his eager and enthusiastic fans were happy to charge to their credit cards. That was in August of the same year.

After scrambling to hire a support staff and set-up an efficient database, accounting, and fulfillment system to handle these orders, the product was finally shipped out to fans. That was in February of 1998. That experience turned some people off from purchasing music on the Internet, and Prince as well.

What's the lesson learned? Prince was forced to become a businessman. He was forced to view his music as product (which is something many sensitive artists don't like to do). He was forced to look at things from the standpoint of supplier, not just creator. As a result he developed an appreciation for the distribution proficiency and marketing expertise of his former label. Prince eventually embarked upon a deal with Arista Records to distribute and market his product.
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