Anil DashFeb 22, 2023
It's good to see @pluralistic walking Sam Seder and the Majority Report audience through the social, economic and political context of Prince's decision to change his name in the 90s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwVtZsnF_iE
The Real Reason Prince Changed His Name In The 90s Will Surprise You

YouTube
Show threadAnil DashFeb 22, 2023

Back in 1996, I archived Prince's own first-person narrative of why he changed his name, which he briefly published on his website and then quickly pulled down. After his passing, I brought it back online for the first time in two decades.The long-lost "Message from The Artist": https://medium.com/@anildash/message-from-the-artist-c611535da21c

"I was beyond frustrated with my lack of control over my career and music."

Message from The Artist - Anil Dash - Medium

“ O(+>has officially given notice to Warner Bros. Records (WBR) of his desire to terminate his recording agreement with the company. Over the course of their nearly two decade long relationship, The…

Medium
Show threadTrowzersFeb 22, 2023

@anildash I often wonder what he would have though about things like Bandcamp where artists are using the internet to completely bypass publishers.

I still remember The Crystal Box being the first thing I ever tried to buy on the internet, and the site was terrible, and took my money and nothing ever actually arrived :(

I had no regular internet access back then, and lost the job whose internet I'd been using, so I couldn't even get my money back. My earliest lesson in online purchasing!

Show threadAnil Dash
@trowzers Oh yeah, he was abysmal at the fulfillment part of these things. (And in fairness it was such early days, it’s not like anybody had an Etsy shop or something to learn from.) I wish he’d invested in having the work done by professionals instead of foisting it on whomever was around at Paisley.
Feb 22, 2023 at 11:34pmWeb
Show threadTrowzersFeb 23, 2023

@anildash Worse, I'm in Australia so it was also international postage! I remember being very dubious even as I ordered it, even though it was a lot of money for me back then.

But yeah, all the internet stuff in that era, a lot of people seemed to treat it like a passing fad and everything seemed so half-hearted. Which always made me a bit confused.