i'll get this out of the way first, i'm not a member.from what i've read about how it's run i don't think i'll become one either.Members have had problems getting tickets for gigs,it seems ridiculous that you can pay $100 dollars and get next to nothing for your money.Why did the downloads stop? he's supposed to have hundreds of songs hidden away, so why was the majority of the downloads relatively new songs only? if they were still available i might have joined, but i only got my computer six months ago.(as it is i have all the downloads and ONA via other sources)

why all the pseudo-religious preaching? it's really annoying (is Prince responsible for what is on display, or does he have nothing to do with it's presentation?).He should have a messageboard on there and at the least a daily news section.I hope he has a rethink about his site, it just seems to be very poor.

Rant over.
[This message was edited Sun Sep 22 7:45:47 PDT 2002 by Thecherryloon]

I have been an member of the NPGMC from day one and have no complaints at all.

I have been allocated the tickets asked for and I am sure all the other members have. I have e.mailed the music club on many occasions and have always received a prompt reply.

Prince's religion really is his own business as is yours and mine. I am happy with every aspect of the way Prince treats his fans. If you're not a member, how do you know how he treats us?

Looking forward to the concerts and getting the perks the music club brings.

I agree. I only joined this year because I don't own my own PC and liked the idea of cds, as opposed to downloads. I have no complaints either. There is lots that COULD be done but, hey, this is Prince. Hopefully, next year, the suggestions yuou've made will be put into place. Remember, the club is still in its' infancy.

Just to clarify, I agree with SPUD80.
However, you do make valid points, CHERRYLOON. I'd like to see a return of the Q&A section. And a Prince Diary would be amazing (even if it was totally cryptic).

spud80 said:

All? get your head out of the sand.

lots of the European members lost out on the ticket front.A friend of mine who is a member had to ask me to get him a ticket thru ticketmaster.fortunately for him, i got lucky.

The ticket siuation HAS to be improved, no doubt (and I'm talking as someone who got two tickets for both the Friday and Saturday nights). However, who knows how efficient it may be in a few years' time? They need our support AND constructive criticism. (If I hadn't got tickets, though, it might've been a different story!).

What I'd like to see:
Q&A's with Prince.
Message board.
Prince Diary.
Vault material (music or video).
Live Webcasts
Competitions
A copy of 'Xenophobia' in my hands!

onenitealone said:

i agree! if the official site's format improves, i'll join.I love Prince, no doubt about that, it just needs a little work from what i hear.

In fairness to the NPGMC, they must have quite a difficult job. We all know how erratic and prolific Prince is - I bet even HE doesn't know what he's doing from one day to the next! How they're supposed to keep up-to-date, God knows...

The one thing that stands out from most threads, though, is that people just want INFORMATION. We never seem to know what's going on. (He's SUCH a tease!).

onenitealone said:

OOOh yes! A Prince diary would be
Live webcasts!! I would be so damn zany!
Q&A would B a delite...if it would B like every week he would answer back!
U Prince. U R an

If you had the opportunity to buy videos/DVD's of those webcasts, how great a thing would that be?
[This message was edited Sun Sep 22 8:48:52 PDT 2002 by Thecherryloon]

those seem like pretty cool ideas...x-cept 4 the diary, i wouldn't really wanna read that...

btw...rofl @ the acronym...good one!!!

love your interpretation of the acronym roflmao

I always thought it stood for New Power Generation Money Club. lol.

Prince is gonna do the absolute bare minumum to fulfill the clubs obligations, even if it means weaving around his words. All he is worried about is getting your $100 bucks, plain and simple.

Billy Corgan occasionally responds directly to his fans questions on his site. It can be done

lol

bahhh

Thecherryloon said:[quote]i'll get this out of the way first, i'm not a member

That says it all.

I've been a member since day one and I'm quite satisfied.

If you've not supported the venture you've hardly any right to complain about it.

Sorry Tom, I have to disagree, NPG Music Club members are well looked after - join and see - the cost of the membership if well worth it!!!

N.P.G.M.C. Acronym for Now Please Give Me Cash
That is very funny.

Now Princes Got My Cash

Now Please Give My Cd's

The NPGMC is a work-in-progress that so far I have been pretty pleased with, moreover pleased with all the releases from last year and more pleased with the ticketing system this year.

I think they do need to take more consideration from the members because we are the "source of existence" and know first hand what needs to be improved. I think a telephone number should be provided, specifically for the ticketing problems because with all the emails they receive it is difficult to get a quick response or for them to tell which emails are a higher priority than others. When money is the issue on hand, we need it to be prompt (less than a few hours) especially if there is some type of overcharge which can and has occurred in the past. Granted, I have seen a great improvement with the email services of the Club and am very pleased. But, I still think a help hotline will be necessary, especially if the Club continues to grow, which it should. I don't even know if 1-800-NEW-FUNK is still in operation. They should change it to 1-800-NPG-CLUB or something catchy.

I also wish the Club had more "involvement" with us, after all we are members of a Club and should have more interaction with one another (which I thought was the idea of the Celebration this year but the public was allowed in with a higher cost). An idea is possibly holding some more TRC room chats that could actually be somewhat productive and mostly enjoyable. I would like to see some type of diary section or a photo/goofy section (not like the Celebration-related photos even though those were very nice), but I don't really see that occurring, at least anytime soon. The competitions are nice, too.
One thing about our remaining CDs, correct me if I am wrong but I don't think Prince set a date to when we would receive them. Who says that he won't send 2 or 3 of the remaining CDs together instead of separately? Who ever said he was supposed to send them out in 3-month increments? Personally I am not worried about receiving my CDs. When Prince finds the time or makes his final decisions about the CDs I'm sure he will send them out. He can take his time as far as I'm concerned.

The Club should do nothing but improve from this point on into the future. In the meantime I'll keep thinking of improvements I would like to see.

Note to the moderators: It would be nice if we could actually indent the paragraphs and be able to use more than 3 ".'s" in a row. When I choose to post in a "stream-of-thought" manner I like to utilize my ".'s" for emphasis. Why is there a limit on the number of spaces and number of "."?

Erendira said:

No dates were ever specified - I think a lot of [eople assumed they would be in evenly spaced intervals & when that didn't happen the frustration caused some meltdowns. The lack of info to the members is my only complaint. I'm happy with ONA & the cd singles I've bought. Just wish I had some idea of what the other 3 cds were going to be. Not concerned about when they are coming so much as what they will be.

Hmmm a funny acro for N. P. G. M. C. (looking into the crystal ball) "Ahh.. the plight of the disgruntled fam."

N New Album!! Whoo hoo!! Excited

P Post Removed from Website. Uh Oh, here we go again

G Gonna be delayed again? @#$%&!!

M Months go by.. Maybe coming next month

C Cancel membership.

N No news from Website. Refund

P Purchase Burner with your $100

G Get Nero

M Music appears on net the day after release

C Copy files and enjoy!

((Kids don't try this at home.))

Well, since joining the NPGMC, I have seen Prince front row 4 times... (missed the celebration)

got to play on stage with Rhonda's Bass... got to talk to Prince on stage before the show...

was close enough to see the sweat on Prince's fingers during his guitar solo's

got One Night Alone ... and took my girlfriends virginity to it.

Met some amazzzing people...

Got treated like roalty at all the shows I attended..

and still...'might' get 3 more original CD's

all for a hundred bucks...

NPG you can take my cash all day long!


To improve the club...

NO... I don't want to read his journal (I have been listening to it for 15 years)

NO... I don't expect Prince to update a site (I would much rather him be writing... that is what we pay him to do)

I would like to see more downloads... some video footage from some of the parties... maybe in DVD format...

and somemore essays, paintings... and anything else artistic he dabbles in that we haven't seen...

The front row seats at the amazing ONA shows was well worth the membership fee, and I happen to like the ONA album very much. Totally worth it.

Not that I don't wish things were different. I wish Prince, as a person, would be kinder and more respecful of people's beliefs, and that the website would reflect that. I wish that the npgmc could feel more like a community than a soapbox. I wish we could have better access to more music, even if it is very old stuff, and a complete catalogue of streaming videos would be heaven. Live webcasts of PP events would be nice.

But all that said, yeah, totally worth it.

Doves,
Mel!ssa

Nice to see so many positive replies!!!

We Pray, We Prey

This is actually pretty funny.. when i'm walking through the tourist trap areas of the old city of Jeruslaem and howling at how some fools will pay bookoo dollars for a rock, a hunk of wood or flask of local tap water if it has the word "from the holy land" slapped on it. The salesman see them coming from a mile away as easy prey. Whenever I see religious fanatics and TV evangelists preying off the spiritually weak I have to stop myself and marvel at some the salesmanship tactics that actually still work today.

Now I have to tip my hat to "Now Please Give Me Cash" who caughed up an album of old dinner music that "LAST YEARS MEMBERS" already had and already into October and his followers are still satisfied, filled with blind faith that the $100 is in the purple nest.. just waiting to hatch into a long awaited and expensive Christmas present of surprises.

I really hope this pans out in the end and everyone who couldn't pay for all the extras gets something for the value of $100 that won't be resold like TRC was... I would hate to have the music community continue to completely associate the Prince music loving community as followers of a greedy religious fanatic. When I was at Paisley last year I noticed a drastic change in some ofthe Prince community. Looking at some of the more humorous posts i've read in the past week its clear that some people are blindly supporting alot more than just a struggling musician. An ounce of concern and an ounce of patience goes far but ask the business you've invested in if this all you're getting and don't be "prey" and treat the business as some higher power.

Well, the NPGMC has given me a splitting headache! I joined last oct.for a year, membership would have been up in oct.2001 and was told in march 2002 my membership was up in the first part of March! All i was able to recive for the whole 2002 year was a few downloads! I was so bummed i cried. I sent many e-mails, all the responses were the same, nothing we can do, renew now! I sent at least 10 e-mails and they just quit responding. I saved all my mail 2 them and all responses. So yes i was ripped by the man i have been dedicated 2 for , many,many years!I was going 2 renew this year , but after reading about all the trouble everyone is having, NOT!!! I am such a true fam, and have never downloaded a bootleg, but it seems thats the only way 2 get his music these days! P if by chance u read this, get the NPGMC shit 2gather PLEASE! Annastasa

Annastasa+