I have thought about joining for a while, and after experiencing the One Nite Alone show in Oslo I am thinking SERIOUSLY about joining. BUT is it worth the money?? Have read some of the posts here and not all are that positive.

So can anyone give me a general and objective answer to this?

thanx!

I'm quite satisfied with it.

I think certain aspects will be improved as the club grows and evolves.

It will certainly be worth it for you as you will recieve at least 4 new CD's in the next 3 months.

i would think long and hard about joining right now...the shows have been and gone, and so far all you are missing is the ONA CD. sit tight if i were you are see if he actually fulfills his promises.

so far levels of customer service have been piss poor to put it nicely, and as the year draws to an end it looks like our promised four cds will actually include three which you will soon be able to buy in the shops.

but read what others have put here - and ask yourself if it was that good why are there so many disgruntled fans. you never know, he may sort it out for 2003.

ps. and before people say it, i am sure that if you met prince during the recent tour and were front row and got to the aftershow, you consider the money well spent, but bear a thought for those who didn't or who went to shows with no soundcheck or aftershow.

in 5 words or Less: it's worth Joinin'

I joined in June, I had no idea there was going to be a tour, I was just going through one of those Prince phases. Although, I have not received any c/d's as of yet I got member tickets to London & Dublin. Both concerts were wonderful and I even got to an aftershow, for me that alone was worth the $100. I have also purchased merchandise direct with no problems.

p.s. However, if there hadn't been a tour and to date I was sitting with nothing to show for my money, I may not be feeling so satisfied.

I joined this past May. I've read a lot of those "bad" posts too but, I also know that Prince likes to have control of his endeavors. We all know he is in the midst of a World Tour right now and besides he just recently got remarried. Seems a little like a busy schedule to me. Hell, I have a hard enough time just raising my two kids. I'm sure when his tour is over things will improve at the NPGMC. He will have more time to take care of his fans and fulfill promises made in regards to the NPGMC. Personally I'll wait and be patient until then. Besides the club is only in it's second year.

Sorry for getting a little carried away, but yes, I think it's worth it.

I'd say yes. I've enjoyed all the shows and music I've received so far. The Celebration being the tops.

The decision to join the NPGMC is all up to the individual.

You've got to weigh up the difference between what's actually promised and what your expectations are. There's a lot of things that members were led to believe for year 2, which kind of got everybody excited, but ultimately your $100 only guarantees 4 CDs and, as we know, that doesn't necessarily mean 4 albums.

Certainly, I won't be joining next year. I tend not to support businesses that don't treat the customer with respect.

I agree with Haystack,i won't be rejoining next year.In year one we got monthly mp3's,videos & one hour ahdio show music (marathons of prince & prince related music) & the chance to get good seats for concerts & the celebrations.In year two i got 1 cd(half of which i downloaded in year one) & the promise of 3 more cd's by the end of the year.Now we find out it will be one cd(a 2cd live set with a FREE bonus cd from the NY aftershow!lol!).No concerts(soundchecks or aftershows)were available or performed in my area-so i spent $100 for 1/2 a cd & 2cd's(i don't count the one that's suppose to be FREE & which will be sold to the general public soon).So do i think it's worth joining? absolutely NO!

Even though I think it would be very bad if he fullfilled the 'four discs for memebership' promise with the triple live album that he plans to release to the public... I think it was worth it.

For $167 Canadian dollars, I got into an aftershow free (wife and I , that would have been $50)

I got to go to a soundcheck which blew my mind ! That I would have paid $100. I got an exclusive album 'one nite alone' which I would have paid for as well.

And also, even if he does give us the triple live album, it would mean I wouldn't have to shell out another $50 in the stores to get it.

It's worth it when it comes to $$ but I'm not sure if giveing us a live set early is exclusive enough for us die harrd fans.

Why not send us something different ?

RONNY

Only you can answer this question. My own feeling is that if he's touring in an area near you, or you intend on going to the Celebration, then yes it is. If he isn't, then my own opinion is that it's not great value for money.

A lot of you are talking like the $100 club fee was all you needed to get into the concerts or aftershows, which is just ridiculous. Paying $100 entitled you to do nothing more than spend another $150 or more per ticket if & when Prince came to your town, & if & when tickets were still available. In many cases, non-club members got to see the soundchecks or paid little or nothing for the aftershows, just as in many cases many club members did not get into a soundcheck or had to pay to get into an aftershow.

When evaluating the club, it's best to consider only what ALL members are supposed to get, which was originally advertised as four new Prince CDs "just like in stores." Now, it seems that most of those CDs will in fact be in stores, so unless you really want to drop $100 for a half hour of piano music, half of which you'd already have if you were a member last year, don't waste your money. I wish I could say differently, but it's truly not worth it.

mediadarling said:

You're speaking the Gospel Mediadarling!!!

I was surprised that the tickets I bought for Frankfurt, Berlin and Oberhausen were each on everage 10 $ cheaper than comparable tickets in the normal presale. Thus I bought 6 tickets and saved about 60$. So I actually spend only 40$ for the CD's.

I think the reason for this is that NPG and the German concert promoter calculated the ticket prices seperately.

Did anybody made the same experience outside Germany?

Here's another one...why is this so hard to grasp? You, as a member spent $100 for four CDs. That is what you are entitled to for joining the club. That is what you paid for & will get in common with everyone else who forked over $100. Any other "benefits" including concert tickets cost you extra money. How can you say you only spent $40 on the CDs? It makes no sense.

U know one thing i've noticed over the years.. is that these poor Prince fanatics (sheep) purple bible bunnies.. call'em what u want but they've never been so swift with money. That saddens me. Sure we all get a good laugh out of these clowns who create multiple org accounts and keep releasing brainfart after brainfart of illogical commentary concerning the value of a very un-wise consumer rip-off.

Then they go on and on about positivity and negativity.. which can be fairly measured within things such as art. But this is a Consumer Debate that is purely positive in the nature of sharing information in the midst of NPGMCs attempts to weasel its way out of telling the truth to paying customers. Does the truth upset these fanatics so much that they think there will be no more Prince music if they complain, even when its clear to many members that they..

1. R Clearly misled by claims (such as the tourbook ads)
2. R Not "really" getting any new songs that we haven't heard before 2002.
3. R waiting blindly for months and months with poor support with a very flip attitude toward $100 customers.

What the f@%# are they hiding?

And I roll my eyes at some of these letters that you're writing to NPGMC.. with no clear,short and direct questions, no time limit to answer, and no threat of consequences for non-answer. Some of U have written to the BBB and yes they have responded.. it took them only a few days to send an inquiry to New Power Generation

DEMAND YOUR VALUE!

Hey at the end of the day... hes got your money.. he sold and toured, he sold tickets to a celebration.. he sold overpriced goods.. he's making some good bank! Good for him! But that $100 investment (just to have the chance to pay more money?) and jerk his fans around like he is doing just isn't right.

Someone somewhere had to decide how much to charge for the membership... Hmmm $50 for 4 CDs and no middle man and absent customer support in two easy shipments.. NO WAIT charge em DOUBLE THAT.. and the sheep - these fanatics that even Prince's staff knows have never been good with money will (even into November) swallow it. Hey .. if Prince is your IDOL.. then why not follow in the footsteps of the man who has spent years bitching, moaning and complaining about where his money goes.

In closing... (i have this suggestion)

Yall in the first row at the end of Prince's next concert.. bring a few euros/dollars and throw some money on the stage and see what his reaction is..

NO

I joined a few months ago after much consideration and wish I hadn't.

I'm not a fan as such, I just like his music and that's what I joined to get, nothing else.

From my point of view, I spent $100 on one album and a three disc box set. That works out to be around $21 for One Night Alone', $63 for the live set and $16 postage. He played in my town (Manchester UK) and I couldn't get tickets, they were sold out before I even read the email notification!

I recently purchased a three disc DVD boxset of a classic movie complete with a hardback book, cd soundtrack and beautiful packaging for $57, a great deal more value.

Seems Prince has cut out the middleman only to charge us more than the middle man ever did.

Finally, remember, when/if you join you are paying for something you haven't seen or heard. The NPGMC (Prince) promises only four cds and no guarantee of its contents or quality. They (he) could just as easily release ONE four disc concept album set comprising of white sound. Technically he would be honouring his 'con'tract.

We were better off when he was with Warner Bros. He released more music and there was a level of consistancy and quality control.

Oh, and I haven't received any cds yet.

DMighten said:

And how did NPGMC respond when U complained about this ??

Is it worth joining the club - I would have to say yes and no (more no Im afraid).

The possitive parts are that you do get some prince stuff (all be it very poor prince stuffa nd not very offten at all) and,had it not been for the NPGMC,I wouldnt have known about the latest tour (even though I couldnt get the NPGMC tickets).

However those are the only good points I can think of but,on the negative side,there is plenty:

Prince vision has become so blinkered these days that all he can see is this damn music club which is great for him because,for a minimal effort,he gets $100 from each of his fans.

They NEVER EVER do what they promise they will (see various other threads - especially ones relating to this years CDs) which,in many,organisations is criminal activity.

Prince seems to be becoming rather hostile and insensitive in his old age. I particularly object to the chants of "Join the Club" at the gigs when I am a member but his poxy club ruined my chances of getting good seats.

Their customer service and willingness to help or take any responsibility is amazingly bad...almost untrue.

The whole thing has turned into a political/religious/propoganda tool with careful editing of members reviews and comments so that they imply excatly what the club wants tehm to (my concert review was altered so that it read like I would have died if I couldnt go).

Year 1 was a nightmare and they very rarely stuck to their word but at least there was something new everymonth...this year is tosh ONA album is,to be honest,guff and is not really anything to be proud of (its ok as a collectors item but can never really be called an album) and teh final CD is simply live recordings Prince didnt know what to do with.

You want new music at a reasonable price - download or bootleg now seem to be the best option...Ironic isnt it?

2001BC said:

And how did NPGMC respond when U complained about this ??[/quote]

Thay haven't!

not surprised.

http://www.newgrounds.com...nglish.swf

Savannah said:

Now, this link is funny! Thanks for that Savannah

U might find that people in the USA R better off joining NPGMC club then anyone else in the world. Us in the rest of the world miss out on alot of things. Eye can think off better things 2 spend $100 on. His concert tickets were double the price now, then what they were back in the day. Most of us R slaves 2 Prince. People who join 2 NPGMC club R Prince's slaves. They will always dance 2 his tunes like the Pipe Piper.

Savannah said:

Hey - fuck you!

Haystack said:

And fuck you too!!

Haystack said:

You're most fucking welcome!

Bring back controversy. That was the good old days. Eye still have the books that was sent 2 U. At least we have proof of what we paid a small amount of money 4. Books we can keep 4ever. We also had the choice of concert tickets before anyone else, that way we always got good seats.

Veronica said:

Yeah that would be great.
Of course that has no bearing on the NPGMC but yeah - bring back Controversy.