This past weekend on Hot 102.7FM’s Classic Countdown, Prince made his mark once again — not just as a chart-topper, but as a trailblazer who changed the music industry from the inside out.

Behind the grooves, glitter, and genre-defying hits lies a deeper story — one of creative defiance and a fierce fight for artistic ownership. When we spin a Prince track today, we’re not just hearing timeless music. We’re hearing the legacy of an artist who stood up for the right to own his work.

The Music Industry Didn’t Own Prince — He Owned His Work

By the time he was recording his third album, Prince had stopped accepting big advances from record companies. He was recording in his own studio, funding his own work, and doing it all on his terms. To him, that meant ownership — but the labels didn’t see it that way. They clung to contracts and claimed the rights, while Prince pushed back.

“I paid for it. I created it. So I felt like it should belong to me,” he said in an interview. “Even FedEx doesn’t say they own the thing they ship.”

It was a simple argument with revolutionary implications — especially in an industry that often treated artists like assets rather than creators. Prince didn’t want to walk away from the system. He just wanted a fairer deal. And when that didn’t happen, he took the fight public — famously changing his name to a symbol, writing “slave” on his face, and becoming the face of a global conversation about intellectual property.

Today, artists everywhere benefit from the groundwork Prince laid. And every time we play Purple Rain, Kiss, or When Doves Cry, we’re reminded that true artistry isn’t just about sound — it’s about standing for something.

That’s the backstory behind the music. That’s Prince. And that’s why he’ll always have a place on the Classic Countdown.

Listen to the actual Backstory here: