Hello NPGMC,

Just a reminder, u can now download "The Vanguard Jam" video from the
Musicology Download Store featuring a 12 minute live per4mance with
Prince, Sheila E., Morris Day & Jerome Benton. The video download is
presented in wide-screen 4mat with superior audio quality 2 the television
broadcast. Don't miss this historic jam!

The only way the NPGMC will succeed and grow is thru the support of
it's members. The more participation we get, the more the club will
unfold. Remember, we no longer charge u a renewal fee each year. U can stay
as long as u like without paying the cover charge ever again. But in
doing that, we need ur help 2 keep the club growing. If we can get every
member 2 buy a download thru the store as a show of support, and get
their friends and family 2 join in 2, we can guarantee the NPGMC will have
a future.

Spread the word, tell a friend! They don't need 2 b a member 2 buy a
download from the Musicology Download Store. Let everybody know where
they can get real music by real musicians!

http://www.npgmusicclub.c...xer_1.html

Also available:
- "GlassCutter," the hot new jam from Prince.
- "Strange Relationship (Live)" recorded in 1987 with the Sign O The
Times Band
- Live From Paisley Park EP featuring 3 trax recorded live in 1995
- One Nite Alone, solo piano and voice CD
- The Kamasutra CD, recorded with the NPG Orchestra

Love4oneanother,
The NPG Music Club
http://www.npgmusicclub.com/

i don't feel great about this e-mail. i don't like the implication of pressure on club members to "spread the word" or else we won't have the one-time cover fee.

i dig the whole concept of NPGMC being a "club", but the real bottom line is that it's a business, and we're customers. customers shouldn't have to worry about doing PR for the businesses we patronize. it shouldn't be our problem. if they wanna give fans the tools to promote NPGMC - banners, clicky-HTML-thingies, whatevs, then fine. but nobody should feel like "i'd better get people to join or else it's my fault that i can't have a five dollar oprah interview download!!!" naw.

messages like this make me really wonder if npgmc knows if it wants to be a business or a 'collective', or if it just wants to try having it both ways by being a business that poses as a 'family' in order to yank more bucks from the fans.

sorry, i love prince and i love the club (yes indeed i DO), but this pressure stuff doesn't fly. especially not after that stuff with "the e-mail" (you all KNOW what i'm talking about).

Now I understand that NPGMC is in the business of making money. But c'mon, I didn't think they were in the business of begging for it. I feel that this e-mail is very unprofessional coming from a business that primarily supports an individual that, isn't necessarily filthy rich, but is extremely well off.
[Edited 4/12/05 15:52pm]

Anxiety said:

I don't think I'm sure what e-mail u're referring to. Can U refresh my memory?

"Spread the word, tell a friend!"

Sorry, but when I go down the pub with my mates, I'm not going to start evangelising at them about internet downloads!

Anxiety said:

i agree. this e-mail gave me a weird feeling. a kind of guilt? been ages since i've visited the club and i haven't even heard glasscutter or the vanguard jam yet. it's just... i dunno. i'm glad prince is having such a ride! he totally deserves it. but, other than this website i've kind of been moving on musically. checking out other people's stuff. . . .

still after this e-mail i. . . i . . i feel like i should go to the NPGMC right now and show some damn support!

Anji said:

don't like this either, sounds like blackmail (buy or we quit)...

i buy every new track, anyway, & i don't give a damn at all about the club, as long as the download store keeps existing. That's the only intersting thing 4 me, & i just wish there was more music 2 buy : i'd gladly spend $10 every months buying new Prince music !!!

Jeez peeps. Just forward the email to to people on your contact list that might be interested. That's all I think they're asking.

Prince gotta eat. Mani gotta get new draws now and again.

squirrelgrease said:

yeah, cuz i haven't thrown enough draw money his way over the past twenty damn years.

Anxiety said:

No shit. I think I financed at least one bad Paisley side project over the years.

squirrelgrease said:

i think my poster purchses alone might have made 1999: the new masters possible.

today's e-mail hasn't exactly gone over like gangbusters over at the club either, i've noticed...i've never seen the complaining over there outdo our fine brand of whine!

Anxiety said:

Box wine? Did I hear u mention Box Wine?

Ah hell...had 2 slide that one in.....

Larry and Prince?? Bartles & Jaymes??

realm said:

Oh lawd

I agree with Anx -- I like the club a lot. No, check that, I like the MUSIC a lot -- the download store is cool and could be even better. I like the presales for concert tickets, too...basically everything about the club that has to do with MUSIC. Everything else is nothing I can't do without. And I'm not overly inclined to do the legwork of writing to my friends, explaining to them what I like about the club, how to access it, what the deal is with the DRM WMA files and how you can and can't use them, etc. etc.

But, I WOULD spread the word if the club would supply the tools. Set up a cool Flash promo about the club, put it online, and provide a "send page to a friend" link where club members could just enter e-mail addresses of people they'd like to share it with. Place some cool freebies online that we could share -- desktop wallpaper, ringtones, photos, ANYTHING to give others a taste of the club. Essentially, there's nothing "free" to preview at the club other than browsing the retail section and the download store if you're not a member. Perhaps more of a "we're YOUR club, and we're going to help you share the news" attitude would work better.

Another idea -- "Thanks for all your support -- please send your friends to the club's homepage, ask them to fill out their contact information so that we can e-mail them about the club, and when they submit your e-mail address as a reference, we'll give you $5 credit at the download store."

This isn't rocket science.

Oh, and for the love of everything that's good and holy, get some freaking Macintosh support. All my friends are on Macs and I wouldn't dare subject them to the horsecrap I have to go through every time I purchase a song at the club just to get it to play in iTunes and burn it to a CD.

AND, while we're going through such brilliant suggestions, how about putting the tracks in the download store in some kind of order...i.e., date of release, alphabetical, singles then albums, SOMETHING. It is far too slow to surf through four mixers worth of stuff and wait for it all to load in search of the song you want...even with a broadband internet connection.

:exit soapbox:

Neither do I.

It makes it sound like they are hurting.....and I highly doubt they are!

I, myself, in just the last Month have purchased about $45 worth of downloads from the Download Store, and bought the Rainbow Children CD from the Retail Store.

No, I did not download the Vanguard Jam, because I recorded it. But with just one person, myself, I am not going to exactly figure, but they tripled their "profit" then if I would have just downloaded the Vanguard Jam.

Ok, I'm done.

Anxiety said:

Man,
I hate stuff like that email NPGMC sent. It left a bad taste in my mouth, and left me just short of angery.

It's very simple, Prince is a musician, his fans like his music. Design a descent website with INTERESTING content and offer GOOD music that is worth buying, we'll all get excited and spread the word without thinking about it!

What, has he got a shortage of songs or something? I don't think so.

I'm not a fan of Downloads, though I do buy them, but I'm about to quit. I like cds. If Colin Vearncombe (Black) can manufacture cds, package them properly and sell them through his website with a fanbase a fraction of the size of Prince's then why can't Prince get his act together and do the same?

Prince needs to take this shit seriously and put a little effort into his presentation.

The website is an ugly design (in my opinion), there are no worthwhile downloads (wallpapers, hi res photos, artwork etc), no descent news section, and no suprises.

I'm sorry, I love the man's music and all, but the odd song here and there is not enough to capture my imagination anymore. It all feels PASSIONLESS.

Prince is a superstar, a legend, an icon - he should have one of the best fan friendly websites out there.

Back in the day, I used to get into his albums because of the complete package he offered: an album based on some kind of theme or concept, packaged in great (Laura Lipuma, Jean Baptiste Mondino) graphics that ran through all the releases relating to the album (Around the world in a day, Parade, Sign o' the Times, Lovesexy), extended versions and b sides. Prince had a style that captured people's imagination and defined his work.

Hell, even Bjork (like her or loath her) has themes for her work and offers a complete package (sound and graphics) with her releases.

Once a Prince release would be the theme for summer (1999, Purple Rain, Parade, Batman, the Symbol album). What went wrong? What we've seen recently (apart from the Rainbow Children) is a bunch of unrelated songs. If I want that I'd just go to the apple music store and just download a bunch of random songs I like.

Imagine looking back 5, 10 years from now at a bunch of MP3s and thinking; "That was a great album, that was the year I..." When you look at the cover of an album, it usually represents something, a time, a place...

C'mon man, asking fans to do all the work to publicise a bunch of random songs and a poorly designed website is just lame.

I'm no sheep, I don't follow blindly, and I don't worship Prince, I just love his music and used to love his style but I am rapidly loosing patience with him.

I hope the next release is a little more considered (in presentation) than his last (Musicology - I thought it was okay, reasonably enjoyable, certainly nothing special).

cool post, rexington.

if they'd use a format that supports the iPod, I'd buy all of the new stuff. I told them from day 1 that they needed to support that and have refused to buy any of the music until they do. Here's what I wrote in U Tell Us.

is this like one of those pbs pledge drives?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

you bet your tote bag it is!

BobGeorge909 said:

this.

Anxiety said:

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

ooooohhhhh! Yes, I remember tat. Bad Bad npgmc....BAD!

(Since the duplicate thread was locked...)

I'd rather see the music up on iTunes Music Store anyway. The overhead of maintaining his own download site, with bandwidth costs (and possibly people running it of questionable competence) vs. the cut he'd get from Apple, I believe he'd come out ahead (if I remember right, the label gets something like 70% of all sales, and since Prince IS the label now, it's all his)...

amyhr said:

i think that's what bowie does on his official site. i know he had a download-only exclusive single last year and there didn't seem to be any problem with bowienet posting it on itunes.

i have to wonder, though, how sales could change if npgmc gave the option of selling their selections on CD via snail mail. i know it sounds backwards, but people seem to want it. heck, you can go on mp3.com and order music either as downloads or via mail as a CD. i ordered a CD from mp3.com once, and got a pretty decent product, with liner notes and a designed CD and everything. makes me think it couldn't be that hard for NPGMC to offer a similar service.

i think there's a lot of things NPGMC could do. it just takes a bit of imagination and effort. in all fairness, though - it can't be easy running a retail site where prince is your boss. i'd imagine you'd get all the pressure to perform with precious few resources to succeed.

If they want to attract more people to the site, and encourage more purchases, they should...

- Dip deeper into the vault and start offering the good stuff, and lots of it.

- Stick with clean code, HTML, CSS, W3C compliant, and place all relevant links and information upfront on the home page. The site, while pretty, is a pain in the rear to navigate through. Waiting for a poof of clouds to zoom into the screen, or a status bar slowly scroll by between each page, or interface elements animate into view one at a time, gets really annoying and really old fast.

- Lighten up on the message boards

The way they are selling the files is nice though. I bought a track or two a while back and everything went real smooth. I don't mind the DRM really, since the tracks burn to CD just fine.

This is a huge improvement over the several-month ordeals we went through in the past. The only reason I haven't been buying much from the store lately is because they weren't offering any tracks that interested me.

give people that chance to pay in different ways, that will make your
sales skyrocket.

give them a chance to allow NPGMC to write one time amounts off your
account for stuff etc etc.

oh, and some NEW music. throw on a couple of unreleased albums will
ya?

"Madrid 2 Chicago" seems to have fallen off the radar again, but it
was reportedly 'finished' 2 years ago.

Promotion people, and get something decent to offer the members.

A lot of the members have been here since the inception of the club
and so they should know that we already have these so called obscure
releases they're re-selling over and over again.

New music, more ways to pay, and less nonsense. Don't send me mails
about hoop earrings, send me mails about new music.

Or old live shows, polished and now available. Sell "Small Club" or
"Bataclan" or "NightTown". See if that attracts people

rexington said:

I posted my own babble before I read this. All I can say in regard to your
post is



you said it right. all of it.