In 1993, Prince frustrated contract lawyers and computer users everywhere when he changed his name to glyph known as “The Love Symbol.” Though he never said so explicitly, it’s generally understood that the name change was attempt to stick it to his record label, Warner Bros., which now had to deal with a top-tier artist with a new, unpronounceable, untypeable name. But it wasn’t just Warner Bros. that had a problem: The Love Symbol proved frustrating for people who wanted to both speak and write about Prince. Writers, editors, and layout designers at magazines and newspapers wouldn’t be able to type the actual name of the Artist Formerly Known As Prince. So Prince did the only thing you could do in that situation: He had a custom-designed font distributed to news outlets on a floppy disk.
Lovely story.
When Prince signed onto WB, they had a provision that they (WB) owned “Prince” for a number of years, and that is why Prince changed his pseudonym
There’s no other word to describe him.
Just because somebody makes great music does not rule out other things they come up with are simply follies.
A lot of times the audience takes these people too serious. Also happens with sports stars.
And no, Bono does not know how to save the world…
It all seemed very pretentious at the time. Contract disputes were very common back then but his posturing with SLAVE marked on his face was too much for most. Instead of TAFKAP, people took to calling him Squiggle.
They ought to have paid more attention to his “posturing.” He was trying to make a valid point.
There’s a long and storied history of artists fighting with their record labels. This is one of the finer moments in the ongoing battle.
Prince was right, if not flamboyant. It’s partly why he died a very wealthy man and you can’t bootleg all his music online all day like most other artists. Chances are when you hear a Prince song it was paid for properly.
Ironically, Prince was very pro-tech initially. Very pro-internet. But he was never for hate or for stealing, and the internet devolved into a lot of thieves and haters so Prince pulled out.
I don’t blame him, really. He controlled his own destiny, brand, and most importantly his back-catalog. He played music where he wanted for who he wanted, charged what he wanted, and never disappointed fans. He was not particularly punctual, but when the party arrived it never disappointed.
He managed to release 40+ albums, wrote multiple hits recorded by other artists, and is rumored to have another 40 albums worth of unreleased material in the vaults.
In the modern world of ADHD keyboard jockeys and youtube arseholes, Prince stood out as a true genius.
He walked with much wisdom. Listen to an interview – it wasn’t just music. Guys like that understood the human condition and the struggle in ways that help enlighten the rest of us.