Prince embraces the "freedom" he's enjoying late in his career, now he has full control of his live band and no record company pressure.

Prince embraces the "freedom" he's enjoying late in his career.

The 'Purple Rain' hitmaker has always looked forward to a time where he would have complete freedom over his career, and believes now he has complete control over his live band and no record company pressure he believes he has achieved it.

He told the Chicago Tribune newspaper: "I don't have to record to eat or to get out of debt or to pay my taxes. I looked forward to the day I could do this.

"Freedom is an interesting thing. You have to work really hard to get free."

There was a time when Prince was regular putting out records each year - releasing three new albums in both 2003 and 2004 - but he isn't planning a new record any time soon, as he believes it is not the preferred format anymore.

He added: "We're in a singles market again. It's crazy for me to walk into that with a new album."

Prince, 54, also remains unimpressed by the way technology has compressed music to small electronic files and onto small devices, which restrict sound quality.

He said: "Young people have decided they like to listen to music in a certain way, through ear buds, and that's fine with me as long as it doesn't bother them that they're not hearing 90 percent of the music that way."