Here’s an interesting tidbit: Radiohead is asking Prince to allow footage of his recent performance of their song “Creep” to appear on YouTube. I heard that he absolutely destroyed the song at the Coachella festival, and apparently Radiohead heard that, too.Â
As of Friday morning, there actually is a short clip of the performance on YT, but it may disappear. See it after the jump…
Based on the Billboard.com story I linked to, it seems like Prince is going to release this performance himself, since he brought his own film crew to the show. Considering how much material he drops every year, I expect that iTunes will carry “Creep 2 U: Prince Live” by August.Â
However, Radiohead says they have the right to block or unblock the song, since it’s theirs. But I think they’re only half right. The performer should have just as much authority to control the distribution of a performance as the writer, otherwise no performer would be safe from exploitation. I realize that performers do get exploited via the internet all the time, but that’s part of the reason SAG is threatening to strike.Â
If both Prince and Radiohead are happy, then the video should run free. And either way, people should stop making bitchy videos complaining that Prince’s lawyers demanded they remove their amateur footage of “Creep” from the web. (I’m not even linking to one, because… ugh.) Prince doesn’t owe you that, fans. Sure, it’s weird that he shut down his own website, but that doesn’t give you the right to fill the void. Bootlegs will always be around–I have a few myself–but part of the deal is that if you get caught, you gracefully bow out.
What do you guys think? Is Radiohead right? Is Prince? Are the fans? Should we just forget this mess and crank up “I Would Die 4 U?”
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1 Bylines: Prince as Performance Art // Jul 14, 2008 at 1:11 am
[...] written about Prince on The Critical Condition, but I’ve never written about him in Variety. Until now. I am pleased to present my [...]
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