It's definitely not a new thing to hear someone say that signing up for a record contract is like depriving oneself to their own music. However, it's probably the first time to hear a statement like this from Prince, a seven-times Grammy Award winning music icon, who describes working for a record label company as 'slavery'.
"Record contracts are just like - I'm gonna say the word - slavery. I would tell any young artist.. don't sign," he said during an event on Saturday night.
His statement was made during his meet-and-greet at the Paisley Park Studios in Minneapolis, where he invited a group of journalists for the launching of his new collaboration with Jay Z's Tidal.
Though others think it was a complete diss to the music industry, some have taken Prince's striking words the other way around.
For the 57-year old musician, it was not a diss but rather an insight concerning artists and how they can wisely maximize the profits earned from their music. He pointed to Jay Z's 'Tidal' as his example.
"Once we have our own resources, we can provide what we need for ourselves," he said. "Jay Z spent $100 million of his own money to build his own service. We have to show support for artists who are trying to own things for themselves."
Prince, who just recently joined Jay-Z's music streaming service 'Tidal', claims that the Jay Z-owned streaming service offers other services that similar companies do not have.
Reports say that Prince's deal with Tidal gives him the freedom to record the music he wants and work with the artists he likes to make an album with, while working on his own projects too.
Moving to Tidal was one of the reasons why he apparently decided to pull out his music from other streaming services he had previously worked with.
Last year, Prince also signed up for his newest deal with Warner Bros which made him realize more about his rights as a music artist.
"A brand-new studio album is on the way and both Warner Bros. Records and Eye are quite pleased with the results of the negotiations and look forward to a fruitful working relationship."
Also a record producer, he is recently putting his focus on other problems in the music industry, particularly some issues in the radio community.
Prince just announced his new album 'HITNRUN' via Tidal which will drop on September 7.
