Prince just compared record deals to slavery

Prince
(Image credit: Bertrand Guay/AFP/Getty Image)

Prince's advice to younger musicians is perfectly clear: Don't sign record deals.

"Record contracts are just like — I'm gonna say the word — slavery," he told a group of journalists in Minneapolis on Saturday night, NPR reports.

Prince said he wants artists to have more control over how their work is distributed and the revenue they gain. He also talked up Jay-Z's Tidal streaming service, which he now has a deal with. Ideally, he wants to see artists get paid directly from streaming services instead of through record companies.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

"We have to show support for artists who are trying to own things for themselves," he said.

Explore More
Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.