Prince Vs. Radiohead In YouTube Clip Debate

WASHINGTON — After word spread that Prince covered Radiohead's "Creep" at Coachella, the tens of thousands who couldn't be there ran to YouTube for a peek. Everyone was quickly denied _ even Radiohead.

All videos of Prince's unique rendition of Radiohead's early hit were quickly taken down, leaving only a message that his label, NPG Records, had removed the clips, claiming a copyright violation. But the posted videos were shot by fans and, obviously, the song isn't Prince's.

In a recent interview, Thom Yorke said he heard about Prince's performance from a text message and thought it was "hilarious." Yorke laughed when his bandmate, guitarist Ed O'Brien, said the blocking had prevented him from seeing Prince's version of their song.

"Really? He's blocked it?" asked Yorke, who figured it was their song to block or not. "Surely we should block it. Hang on a moment."

Yorke added: "Well, tell him to unblock it. It's our ... song."

YouTube prohibits the posting of copyrighted material. If the site receives a complaint from a copyright owner, it will in most cases remove the video(s). Whether the same could be done for a company not holding a copyright is less clear, but Yorke's argument would seem to bear some credence according to YouTube's policies. YouTube, which is owned by Google, declined to comment.

Prince also did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The dispute was an interesting twist in debates over digital ownership, held between two major acts with differing views on music and the Internet. Radiohead famously released their most recent album, "In Rainbows," as a digital download with optional pricing. They also have a channel on YouTube.

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When Prince performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., on April 26, he prohibited the standard arrangement of allowing photographers to shoot near the stage during the first three songs of his set. Instead, he had a camera crew filming his performance.

Prince, who founded NPG Records in 1993, has been innovative when it comes to music distribution, too. He released his 1997 album, "Crystal Ball," on the Internet and in 2006 was awarded a lifetime achievement award by the Webbys. In 2007, he gave away copies of his disc "Planet Earth" in a British Sunday newspaper.

But the Purple One has also shut down his official Web site and in September of last year said he would sue YouTube and eBay for not filtering unauthorized content.

Prince fans have organized to urge him to relent in his legal fights to control images and photographs of himself. As of Thursday, the most popular YouTube clip about Prince playing "Creep" is an expletive-laden rant from Sam Conti Jr., who describes himself as a "former Prince fan."

___

On the Net:

http://www.youtube.com

http://www.radiohead.com

Comments

[mikelartist]

Prince is too arrogant to feel sorry for him. What an odd little con-TROLL freak. If his 'music' is so great why does he need all the outfits? The image? The embellishments. He uses so much post production in his product that it could be anyone in the electronic mess. He once tried to compare his sound to Phil Spectors and the Motown Wall of Sound. The interviewer laughed out loud and Prince had a hissy fit.

There is a reason he con-TROLLS his mediocre performances, because he doesn't want his fans to peek behind the curtain and see the shriveled old wizard working the controls.

I still call him by his symbol name. What does that sound like? It sounds just like a raspberry. A Bronx cheer. For the younger set that wonders what that sounds like.... it sounds like Prince's music.... a wet fart.

[NoSillyName]

Tried to watch Radiohead and it kept pausing. Irritating! Will try again another time.

It is a great song.

[NoSillyName]

I think Prince is a true artist and I really like his "Purple Rain" era music and some other stuff. He's so talented that he never sticks with one style and I find some styles more appealing than others.

That said, his "Creep" did not impress me.

IMO, the very best version ever was by Marty Casey on the show "Rock Star: INXS" two summers ago. That man is quite talented. I don't watch "reality" shows, but I figured a network show with rock music might be worth watching. I enjoyed seeing Marty every week. Glad the videos are still online.

[NoSillyName]

Check him out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBAlqTAl2O0

Not perfect, but it was a tough competition and he improved every week.

Also good are "Lithium", "I Alone", "Take Me Out", "Wish You Were Here", well, I liked just about every song he did.

[Counterglow]

The usual model is that an artist whose song is covered by another is compensated through royalties. Of course, record companies are famous for screwing their artists, so I'm not so sure Radiohead will be seeing a lot of green from Mr. Purple.

[dgtlgrl]

That's true when an artist records another's music. But here, Prince did not record anything. He merely publicly performed a cover. Reproduction and performance are two separate rights. The arena that the music was played at would have license through ASCAP that allows public performances of songs in their repository ("Creep" is in there). Then ASCAP is responsible for paying the copyright owners. Of course individual agreements can be made outside of these organizations, but given Radiohead's response, I doubt that happened. I'm not sure exactly what the structure is for ASCAP to pay nor the pricing structure for venues/public performances, but you can search through ASCAP's website to find that info I'm sure.

[Counterglow]

Thanks for filling me in. I had a general idea, but your description is better.

[PlanetKansas]

I'm not defending Prince's eccentricities, but his talent for business and image are often confused with the former. In the 1980's he changed his name to a symbol as a legal trick to get out of his Warner Brothers contract. It is only a small chapter of a real artist trying to control his image and preventing others from profiting from it.

RadioHead will also profit from the free publicity, but it isn't thier image being used to promote their song. If this were so, why didn't the Foo Fighters protest the removal of Prince's SuperBowl performance where he performed one of their songs?

The current challenge is how to control one's image and product while preventing others to profit from it. Noone wants to end up like the Beatles, whose entire catalogue rights are owned by Michael Jackson, and Google profits from every viewing of Youtube without reimbursing the contributers.

Radiohead may be cool with the new model, but Prince does not have to agree, because it is his own image.

[JamieStarr]

Correction: Prince changed his name in the 90's - 1992 - 2000 to be exact.

[ClydeSloppers]

Prince and Radiohead should quit their whining ways and just retire before they totally destroy the future of music. Are your kids already contaminated with this dreak?

[jrb35]

What are you talking about? Radiohead hasn't whined about a thing. They have consistently been one of the most innovative, dynamic and prolific bands over the past fourteen plus years. Their "pay as much as you like" model of releasing their latest album is a revolution in an otherwise stagnant music industry. Like their music or not, they have been the "future" of music for many years now.

[photobearcmh]

Well said. I couldn't agree more.

[walk0nwalls]

Damn skippy. Even though I continue to try to get into them with no avail.

[rini]

You gotta be kidding me, Clydeetc.

Kids ? Radiohead? Prince? Um, these are old guys. I like them and I'm 42. The future of music???? I think that they are the past, and the present if they are lucky. '

What, are the Beatles too rowdy for ya?

[DocManhattan]

You clearly haven't a clue what you're talking about, ClydeSloppers.

[Dap]

Peace *NOT* Apartheid,

Shame on the Israeli war mongers.

Israel deny Children Hope.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/30/us-withdraws-gaza-fulbrig_n_104292.html

Exactly, President Carter's point.

[dgtlgrl]

But section 1101 of the Copyright Act says that "Anyone who, without the consent of the performer or performers involved (1) fixes the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance in a copy or phonorecord, or reproduces copies or phonorecords of such a performance from an unauthorized fixation, (2) transmits or otherwise communicates to the public the sounds or sounds and images of a live musical performance...shall be subject to the remedies ... to the same extent as an infringer of copyright." I'm no expert, but nothing in that statutory provision states that the performance must be of a song that the performer owns the copyright in.

[Lex10]

Prince's a creep;
he's a weirdo;
what the hell was he doing there?
He didn't belong there.

[galaxian]

Irony isn't a strong point with many. You'll get better.

[spiderbucket]

Hands down, Prince is the greatest living performer on the planet but his policies about the internet are facist. C'mon Prince - open up the vaults, release the reigns, let it go and you will OWN the internet.

[DebofMD]

I agree.

[rini]

Ditto,

he can be creative, but he doesn't sound at all generous. Isn't he rich enough?

Radiohead,

they are all about sharing the music. What else is music for?

[bwmack]

See a portion of it here

http://forums.rokked.com/showthread.php?t=8700

[trebledamages]

Thanks for posting the link to the performance. Prince's cover of "Creep" was not that impressive and somewhat disappointing. If Prince's rendition was performed by, let's say mmmmmm, David Cook or some other Idol contestant, it would have been considered "hideous" (per Cowell).

Now, if you want to see the best cover version of "Creep," which was performed by The Pretenders, you can actually view it at YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lML2N4xB9GU. IMO, this version is way better than Prince at Coachella.

One final note, thank god, Radiohead will be performing at Liberty Park, New Jersey in August, which is the same festival as the one in Coachella. Maybe they'll perform "Creep" and allow it to be viewed on YouTube.

[HuffyChick]

Just saw The Pretenders version........My God..."I feel fu*kin special"! Thanks for that.

[Maka]

That Pretenders version is very pretty, thanks for linking. I liked the Prince version too though, quite a lot, it was so odd and beautiful to me.

[NoSillyName]

Very nice version! Chrissie Hynde is not a creep; she is SPECIAL!!

[Maka]

Thank you for linking that. I loved it, personally. Radiohead is, by far, my favorite still together and touring band, but I thought Prince's version was completely entertaining, and even beautiful at points.