Prince Videos Back Online

July 13, 2017July 12, 2017 Amber Healy 0 Comments

Let’s not go crazy: Prince’s videos might be back online but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be everywhere.

As of July 7, any and all videos Prince formally released were available on YouTube and Vevo. It’s not a huge number, just five: videos from Purple Rain. Fans can now watch “When Doves Cry,” “Let’s Go Crazy” and live performances of “Take Me With U,” “I Would Die 4 U” and “Baby I’m a Star” on dedicated channels on both sites, NPR and other sites report.

Remember that Prince’s label is still involved in a longstanding lawsuit against a Pennsylvania mom who posted a 29-second clip of her baby dancing to “Let’s Go Crazy,” in which the focal point is the child, not the song. Remember, too, that the dancing baby in question is now pretty much a teenager, but Prince’s label claims the mom violated their copyright by posting that video to—wait for it—YouTube.

Anyway.

Prince didn’t want too much of his music available online for free. He was staunchly anti-streaming before his death. His presence on YouTube, in terms of official video releases, was pretty much nonexistent.

But things are changing. Prince’s catalogue, with Warner Brothers, “including his biggest hits, returned to major streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music in February, and previously unreleased material has been trickling out,” NPR continues.

“These videos’ official appearance comes two weeks before Warner Bros.’ release of the 30^th-anniversary deluxe edition of Purple Rain, which includes a full disc of songs newly uncovered from Prince’s famed Paisley Park vault,” the article concludes.

Is this all just a ploy to increase sales? If so, it’s a tactic that’s hardly needed.

When Prince’s music went back up on streaming sites, it led traffic for days, if not weeks.

If it matters, remember that Prince was pretty much anti-internet, telling The Daily Mirror in 2010 that the internet was “completely over,” as Uproxx reminds us. He didn’t like that artists weren’t paid in advance for their music’s presence on streaming services of any kind.