Funk legend Prince has raised the ire of music retailers across the UK after giving away copies of his new album to purchasers of a Sunday tabloid newspaper.
'Planet Earth', which isn't commercially released until July 24, will also be given away at Prince's forthcoming run of London shows.Co-chairman of the Entertainment Retailers Association, Paul Quirk, told the Reuters news agency that the decision "beggared belief", and that "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. It's an insult to all those record stores who have supported Prince throughout his career."
Prince responded by explaining, "It's direct marketing and I don't have to be in the speculation business of the record industry which is going through a lot of tumultuous times right now."
Music retailer HMV decided to sell copies of the June 15 edition of the 'Mail on Sunday', noting that it was "the only way to make the Prince album available to our customers, which, ultimately, has to be our overriding concern."
The move follows the decision in May to distribute the single 'Guitar' free-of-charge through Verizon Wireless.
