It was Xpectation a few years ago. What a great gift to the club members. Gee I wonder it that will ever happen again.....

Ahem . . . a great gift he says!

Totally different from the way I see it . . .

Remember, that was the year where membership was $100, and for that he promised us 4 NEW CDs (even giving 4 titles in the tour book). After delivering the ONA demo CD and the 3-CD ONA Live, he considered that deal "complete".

Anyway, C-Note and Xpectation were kinda meant as a "fuck you" to fans. That's how I see it. C-Note means a $100 bill and the original title of Xpectation was Xenophobia. I think the title Xpectation was also a slap in the face to club members, like WE were the greedy ones for expecting more.

Sorry to rant - still kinda sore about that!

Se7en said:

Hmm, good points, actually...not to say you're necessarily 100% correct, but it makes sense.

Regardless of the motivation, getting to download Xpectation on NY Day was awesome. I love this album!

I have gotten many people hooked on it too - they cannot believe that it's Prince. I usually play it for them first without saying who it is. I ask them if they like it before I tell them it's Prince. Seem to get a more unbiased opinion that way!

Any idea if the Xpectation that he's selling in the Musicology store is exactly the same, music-wise? I'm wondering if any of the tracks are longer.

I have to agree with pkidwell on this. We were promised 4 CDs for the year and 4 CDs is what we got. And then some extra stuff.

I don't consider One Nite Alone to be a demo CD but one of his finest albums for years. ONA Live is Prince's first ever live album, in an excellently packaged box. The CDs were all 'new' (even if some tracks were previously available).

For those of us who signed up near the beginning of the year, we got One Nite Alone twice - which you could sell on ebay for a couple of years for around $100 if you were so inclined, and get all your money back.

I can't remember there being any guarantee as to what the CDs would be.

So I thought it was a great bonus and surprise to get the 2 album downloads, especially in the secretive and cheeky way we were alerted to them through emails.

Se7en said:

Absolutely spot on!

Considering the Club shut down earlier in that year than it was supposed to, the amount of people who complained and the rumblings about investigations by the BBB... I think it's safe to say that C-Note and Xpectation were delivered 'reluctantly'.

http://www.mnd.bbb.org/co...d=21003796

And it's now easy to see why that year saw the end of the $100 pay in advance scheme and therefore the end of the NPG Music Club as it was envisioned.

I much prefer the current version anyway. You get dry periods sure, but you haven't paid for anything, so can't expect anything (well okay, $25, but I feel I've already had my money's worth there) and right now, it's starting to get exciting.

Enigmoid said:

at that BBB page! "Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to unanswered complaints"!

I agree...I only joined NPGMC early last year at the $25 level, and you could easily make that back through the savings by buying a pair of Musicology tour tickets through the site. As dry as its been the last year or so, and knowing what happened in the past, I wouldn't pay a bunch in advance based on the promise of new music every month or whatever. I'd rather pay as I go.

The tourbook for ONA said this exactly (WITH TITLES):

Join the NPG Music Club 2002
Access these new CDs . . .
Last December
One Nite Alone
The Best Of
Xenophobia

So don't tell me that he "implied" 4 new albums - it was officially printed on the tourbook. I for one would not have paid $100 if I didn't think I was going to get at least 3 discs of new songs (not counting the Best Of, since that's a greatest hits package). He hid behind semantics of 4 new CDs vs. 4 new ALBUMS.

Now I understand that certains names and titles might change due to creativity (in the case of Xenophobia it just became Xpectation) - but as far as I'm concerned, we were shorted at least one new album. I will consider ONA Live as a suitable replacement to The Best Of .

All said, we were shorted 1 album of new material - Last December (or equivalent).

I love what I received, and I am proud to have supported Prince, but this could have been handled better IMO. I have been a fan of Prince since 1982, and this was the first time I think I've been disappointed (I was not affected by the Crystal Ball ordering mixup).

Below is a link to the ONA tourbook - hopefully it works. It's on Housequake.

http://img.photobucket.co...Large_.jpg

Se7en said:

And lets not forget the lovely dig he had at the English on the end of one of the Ahdio tapes...good job he aint seen Spike Lee for a while ...he was starting to become a racist too

I think it's clear that Prince planned to release those 4 seperate albums - but like so many projects, it got ditched. If I'd only got ONA live and ONA that year, I would definately have been a bit put out - especially because the 3CD set of ONA Live quickly hit the shelves, and it certainly didn't cost $75!

Thankfully, the club did come up with C-NOTE and Xpectation for no additional cost and it did satisfy most people - at least the club listened and responded to the general groundswell of complaints rather than just ignoring them completely, even if it was a rather cynical after thought.

Hmmm....well, in addition to the music, we also got access to soundchecks and I saw 6 of them in all. They were all priceless. I forget the songs he did during them but I do remember Crucial and Calhoun Square and I could have gone home after those. I also got 1st row, 2nd row and 8th row seats due to the way the club was set up back then. And the after-show in NYC! First in line, first pick at seats for members. It is kind of odd to see that people were upset though. I guess I can't blame them but in my opinion, the club was tight back then. And the new one isn't bad but will never come close to how good it once was. I say they should charge $100 again and then just make it better for us true fans.

pkidwell said:

Well, we still get first dibs on concert seats, but now for only the $25! I never really thought that should be seen as 'inclusive' in the price of $100 since a) aren't those sort of perks what fan clubs are there to provide for automatically? b) not everyone that payed the $100 could necessarily get to a concert or see a soundcheck. c) the good seats and soundcheck weren't included in the $100, we still had to pay pricey tickets for those good seats.

I saw 2 shows on the ONA tour, we were only allowed into 1 soundcheck, the other occurred but for whatever reason we weren't allowed in to actually see it. Still, it was worth it for that one sound-check and the good seats. Also, no aftershows, just a free-entry disco.

Se7en said:

"funk you" to fans? How ridiculous and selfish.

pkidwell said:

I remember it and it was great. Xpectation is a album I still play and it is excellent.

leecaldon said:

Excellent point about the ONA CD - you know someone at NPG knows the resale value of a rare online only Prince recording.

Xpectation is a great album. A shame it's never released as a hardcopy.
And indedd it was a great surprise. Part of a deal or not. I didn't give a shit.
Let's hope indeed that those 'surprsing days' come back again. It was a sheer delight to find that kind of surprises in your (e)mailbox.

Art.

the Credo of the NPGMC

join now and get a 12 cd set...












































































SIIIIIKE!!!

[/quote] c) the good seats and soundcheck weren't included in the $100, we still had to pay pricey tickets for those good seats. [/quote]


The tickets were the same price that non-members had to pay (minus the ridiculous ticketmaster charges, so actually cheaper) but they were better seats, plus soundcheck access (for the huge majority of shows) and free access to the aftershow/party (I believe people were paying at least £20 on the door to one aftershow I went to).

Prince toured North America, Europe and Japan that year, which covers a large portion of his fanbase.

[quote] Well, we still get first dibs on concert seats, but now for only the $25! [quote]

Yes, but without 4 CDs. And no Celebration. And that price also bought us an exclusivity that we no longer get. Personally, I would welcome the return of $100 a year.

Se7en said:

Spot on.

He did it to avoid being sued for breach of contract and misleading advertisement (which he would have lost if he hadn't delivered the new year's eve additional package) and of course to say "fuck you" to his paying customers and fans. Typical arrogant and dumb Prince move.

leecaldon said:

Most members back then did remember the four new album titles that were promised.

metalorange said:

Also spot-on.

The $100 NPGMC was the best. We got music every month. In addition there were the CD's, soundchecks, and after parties. You could not get all of that for $100 if you tried. I would have paid $100 just for the soundcheck and conversation. I might be incorrect, but there was the Ahdio Show plus separate singles every month. I guess it depends on when you joined. I have been a member since day one. No real complaints here. Yes, maybe it could have done some things differently. However, how many of us can say other than that about ourselves.

Also, I know that people like to believe that Prince is this man who is in total control of everything he does. Don't believe that. He is a man but his music is a corporation. Corporations need to be operated on sound business principles. Now and then, they fail to do that. That is why they reorganize. I would even suggest that he has never been in as much control as some would like to believe, even with his "emancipation".

Remember, the NPGMC is our club. We provide the direction. We helped to shape it into what it is today. We can also shape it for the future.

Love God

Coi

COI said:

I think you are confusing the first year, which had ahdio downloads every month for $100, and the second year, which promised 4 CDs for $100 but there was not new music every month. Though during the first year was a week long celebration at Paisley, which you could buy tickets to go see, the good seating and soundchecks/aftershows only started during the 2nd year when the ONA tour was on.


Prince is ultimately the boss - there is no one above him now. He has Llondell McMillan (a famed lawyer) as his business manager for day-to-day running of his 'empire', but ultimately every major decision must pass Prince. It is not like he is owned by a corporation with a board of directors above him that make decisions on his behalf. I don't know how more in control he could be.


That should be true, but it is not, otherwise we would at the very least have new previously unreleased music in the 'glam slam' room at weekends, or we would have information before it has already leaked out by other media.

Abrazo said:

The titles were only mentioned in the tour programme. They were not announced on the website, and they were not part of the contract.

And as the tracklisting for these was entirely unknown (although Last December was rumoured to be a live album), it's difficult to argue you didn't get what you were promised (which was 4 CDs, which is what we got, plus more).

Also, wasn't one of the albums orginally going to be Madrid 2 Chicago?

I must admit, I was expecting to get one CD every 3 months, which didn't happen, but again, it was not promised.

leecaldon said:

If not breach of contract, then false advertisement.

I'm not going into an endless debate about this when in any other case in which a major company would be involved everybody would have been up in arms about it.

Fact is P is a business that offered and promised product. He didn't deliver what he offered and promised. He 'settled' it with the new years eve downloads and gave his paying fans and customers a big fuck you. End of story.



--
[Edited 12/13/05 2:10am]

Hmmmm...I never knew about the promises for the 4 cds (so I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised on New Year's Day) and I wouldn't have gotten such good seats and soundcheck/aftershow admissions if it were not for the club. It is amazing how people who claim to be fans can have such negative opinions about Prince and his business sense. Would you rather deal with WB or Prince. I'll take Prince, thank you.