Lessons from Prince: Why artists should take control of their work

A month or so ago, The Standard’s online edition carried a curious item on the late artist Prince. The article’s author speculated on the possibility that Prince’s financial status may have been negative at the time of his death and alleged the possibility of an indebted estate.

The author of this article seems to have been the only one privy to this purportedly dire state of Prince’s finances. One suspects that given the anonymity of “sources”, the origin of the article, and some of the other rather salacious allegations made in the piece, this was an angle adopted merely to drive up sales.

Indeed, the unnamed sources went on to claim that Prince lacked business acumen. I have no knowledge of the status of Prince’s estate nor do I possess expertise in either business or economics. I, however, admit an abiding admiration for the Purple One. I was recruited into the “Purple Army” early in life, my only regret is that throughout the time I lived in the Twin Cities, I was underage and never got to see him perform at First Avenue. It remains an unfulfilled aspiration of mine.

I also confess that one of the things that always fascinated me about Prince was not only his mastery of his art, but also his clear comprehension of the importance of ensuring control of the economics of it. Not only did he display profound intellectual dexterity by dominating a diversity of genres, Prince also had mastery in the various aspects of musical production and a deep understanding of the industry.

No musician who seeks control of his or her masters can be said to be lacking in business acumen. As a musician, one’s primary and perpetual income is vested in copyright. It is precisely because they did not own the rights to their work that so many older artists died penniless and their families languish in poverty. Prince understood the enslavement of a bad record deal. The digital age has birthed new challenges in respect of protecting intellectual property. New technology makes it so much easier to appropriate other people’s work. But it also enables one to share work.

In an age where so many young Kenyans can finally live as artists, one would do well to study Prince and Eddy Grant, not just as masters of their art, but also as belonging to that minority of artists who truly understood the value of their work. Fortunately, Grant is still among us should we choose to avail ourselves of his knowledge.

Were I to set up a school of the arts, the study of princenomics would be mandatory. Various skills go into the production of one song. Prince not only wrote his own music (most great singers rely on other songwriters and producers e.g. Michael Jackson’s Thriller and Bad were the result of a collaboration between him and the inimitable producer and composer Quincy Jones who in turn sourced songwriters such as Rod Temperton); he could play various instruments and produced not only his own music but that of many chart topping musicians. Chaka Khan’s I Feel For You, the Bangles’ Manic Monday, Sinead O’Connor’s Nothing Compares To You and even Alicia Keys’ How Come You Don’t Call Me Any More were all written by Prince.

Song writing in it of itself is an extremely lucrative line of business. Prince was a major influence and mentor in the eighties and nineties R&B sound. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, some of the biggest producers of the eighties and nineties, had been members of The Time, Prince’s opening act in the mid-eighties. Jimmy and Lewis were behind Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation. This duo earned more than 100 gold and platinum, multi platinum and diamond albums. There is a sound reason why Prince’s band was called The Revolution.

The value of Prince’s estate is therefore not only in the music we directly attribute to him that had been released prior to his death but also in the music said to exist in his vaults and the copyright to the music he wrote and produced for others, not to mention the royalties he would be entitled to any time his work is used amongst others. His estate is still being valued.

But the lesson we can take from him is that art is a lucrative enterprise and industry and young artists need to be trained and encouraged to value, understand and manage their work. It is critical that all artists understand the value of intellectual property and how to protect it. I implore The Standard to be careful as to whose narratives of African descendent peoples it publishes. I was perturbed that an article on Prince had been sourced from the National Enquirer. I have previously seen pieces in The Standard online sourced from The Sun. Both these publications are part of the Western tabloid press responsible for stereotypically racist narratives about persons of African descent and often seek to promote a mythology of us as failures. In The Sun’s story about our own Lupita Nyongo, for example, it was alleged she had performed so poorly that the director of Star Wars was considering cutting her scenes. Now that the film is out, the fallaciousness of The Sun has been exposed.

When Prince chose to seek economic control of his work, he challenged powerful economic forces. Due to the legacy of slavery for many diasporic African people, sport and the arts were some of the only routes out of poverty. The intellectual complexity that enables artists to innovate is often disparaged. Whereas they work in profitable fields, artists, entertainers and sports persons often end up making money for others rather than themselves. William C Rhoden refers to this phenomenon amongst African American athletes as “million dollar slaves”.

I celebrate the inspirational and liberatory narrative Prince offered all artists by wresting control of his work. Economic emancipation enables artists to access power and decision making. It is actually an act of self determination. Artists often catalyse, spur on, inspire and document the emancipation of their peoples. Miriam Makeba was an important ambassador for the anti-apartheid movement. Mzwakhe Mbuli’s poetry was banned by the apartheid regime because they believed it contained coded messages to uMkhonto we Sizwe.

This is an ode to the mavericks. The inherent dissenters, eternal dissidents, those who dare dream a different world. Hail the persistent pursuit of excellence. May we be blessed with many more.