Does Prince genuinely believe that the release of ONA and ONA Live (+ yet another copy of ONA) will make members happy? Is he really that dumb that he assumes that we'll all be happy because we received a CD consisting mainly of music that we'd already heard (and is no longer exclusive because we're now allowed to send our extra copies to non-member friends) and a CD set of material that you will be able to buy at your local Wrecka Stow anyway?

And while we're on the subject, I thought that the whole idea of the NPGMC was that Prince could send his music to us without the need for a middle man. That a record company and a retailer wouldn't be taking a large cut of the profits and therefore, the music would be cheaper to buy?!?!?!!
Why then is the music more expensive than ever? Why are we, as fans, the ones being exploited? Prince seems to be happy taking the profits that the record company AND the retailer were taking.

Let's not forget that the concert perks were just that - 'perks', an extra for joining the club. Your $100 were ultimately only paying for the 4 CDs. You still paid extra for the concerts (quite a substantial amount, too. Prince must be making a mint out of his fans - It's not as if the NPGMC members got a discount to see their idol).

The saddest thing of all is that there will be a number of people who will follow this post with various cries of; 'I think membership is worth the money', 'You are stupid for daring to criticize the club because Prince is God and can do no wrong', etc. etc. And as long as there are people like this around who are happy to be conned, then Prince will be happy to con them.

And to the people who say that 'The promise at the beginning of Year 2 was that you'd receive 4 new Prince CDs, and that's what you've got!', I'll say this;
Would you complain if all you'd received for Year 2 were 4 blank CD-Rs with the word 'Prince' scrawled on them in Marker Pen as a completion of the CONtract? After all, that would still complete the contract, would it not?
The answer to that question is probably No, they wouldn't complain. The Prince ass-kissers would forgive him anything, and that's what he seems to thrive on.

My ultimate thought is this;

The NPGMC seems to thrive on the fans fears that they might be missing out on something. And that's where the club comes into it's own. The number of teases, suggestions that never come to fruition and broken promises (yes, the CD titles mentioned in the tour-book were PROMISES!) all seem to suggest that Prince takes a sadistic glee in whetting fans' appetites with suggestions that he knows damn well are only ideas and may never see the light of day (remember at the end of Year 1 when he asked fans how they'd feel if they had crystal clear copies of 'Witness' and 'Moonbeam Levels'? Was that not a way of making fans join Year 2 in the vain hope that they may have access to these songs?).
And what about Xenophobia? Promised in the tourbooks, and ACTUALLY played to waiting fans at concerts!!! In the members section of the NPGMCrap, it still says 'Xenophobia - coming soon to a monitor near you'. We now realise that the name was changed to ONA Live, but the message is still there, as a hint that the Xenophobia studio album will be winging it's way to NPGMC fools soon. Any club that had any respect for it's members would have removed the reference the moment that they knew that the project had changed names...

Anyway, I'm done waffling. Anybody who want to disagree with this post may do so with the usual attacks and judgments on anybody who dares to disagree with their idol. I just wanted to post how I feel in the vain hope that someone from the NPGMC may read this and think about it. I would e-mail it to them, but they just seem to ignore any criticism, and just post cryptic crap about how we should all be eternally grateful because we've had the privilege of giving Prince our money direct. And that in itself is amazing, isnt' it...! Well, isn't it?



_____
[This message was edited Thu Dec 5 17:00:21 PST 2002 by Haystack]
[This message was edited Fri Dec 6 15:03:02 PST 2002 by Haystack]

you are right about one thing, this is the USUAL attack...Rag on Prince, Rag on Prince, Rag on Prince. Damn, do you guys ever stop??? I know this is a place to express your feelings, but I feel like I have entered the "hate zone". Some of you guys call yourselves fans, I would hate to see how you would act if you were non fans.

preciosa863 said:

Now can you actually post something that intelligently responds to the points that I've raised? I doubt that you even bothered reading my post in full.

'Oh Lord, someone's dared to criticize the NPGMC, I'm going to reply by demanding that they stop doing so'.

Hi Haystack,

Please continue discussing this very question in an existing forum of the same name:

Is that really it? : http://www.prince.org/msg...&tid=29133

Thanks!

geminito said:

No, I'll carry on with my own thread, thanks!
(Who made you moderator?)

u wonder? don't we all...

Haystack said:

Eye feel ya man, Prince could get away with farting in a microphone and some peeps would still sh*t in their pants if u even discuss opposing it or differ.


hehe..

PLEASE PPL: how can so many supposedly intelligent people keep complaining about prince and his club. it's 100.00, not 1000.00. to b so picky for 100 bucks overwhelms me. it IS important to let your expectations b known, & prince probobly wants to get an "idea" of what the fams like and want, but whatever he decides is HIS to do so. either go with it OR dont join. dont join just to dis him & complain constantly! it's so tiring. u get your moneys worth & then some, ppl, and if a person doesnt feel it, no ones putting a gun to their head to join. its simple: LIKE IT= JOIN. DONT LIKE IT=DONT JOIN. it's irritating as hell to hear about the damn cds all the time...not enough, not the ones promised, not sent on time, overdubbed, will there b more? never satisfied! if prince reads the org as he probobly does, he probobly wont 4 long. this would drive ANY ONE crazy. dont they say musicians r sensitive? he probobly hears these assinine complaints in his sleep even. no wonder he smashes so many guitars lately. STOP!

grandebelle said:

Say WHAT!??
The fact that $100 is shit to you doesn't mean it's shit to me. $100 is still a lot of money. You too should realise that.
That's my .

udo

grandebelle said:

Everybody hears things when they sleep sometimes and everybody wants to smash something when enraged. Sometimes. Maybe one day one of his fanatics will want to smash him. Perhaps even someone who works for him. Generally people don't take tooo kindly to being ripped off. If someone swindles $1 from me.. they are going to have to earn it.

grandebelle said:

I could feed a hungry child for a year with $100... but I agree with you that it's better that I give this money to Prince so he can order extra straws to go with his red wine.

BanishedBrian said:

ooh.. even i'll say, that one was below the belt.

...there also seems to be a mentality that says if you are happy with the NPGMC then you must think prince is God...

..well, i don't believe prince is God..and when i was at the celebration, i was very satisfied with the club...so...i don't necessarily believe ev'rybody is on one side or the other...i mean, some of us may have gotten our money's worth in our opinion..others have not...

rio said:

I promise you that I wasn't having a go at everybody who is happy with the club. Most people who are happy with it don't even bother to respond to threads like this - they're satisfied and that's all that matters to them (and quite right too, why should they bother about others' opinions?). I was, however, referring to the people who do fit the criteria that I mentioned and do post messages that suggest that Prince rules their life and can't accept that anybody could possibly have a problem with him or his club.

preciosa863 said:

the
man
himself
is
full
of
hate

short
changing
npgmc
members

bitterly
grumbling
bout
his
"truth"

i
wonder
u

BANISHEDBRAIN & HAYSTACK; I know what 100.00 can buy & it isnt much! granted, some ppl have other things they would like 2 spend it on, that they feel is more worthwhile. these ppl SHOULDNT JOIN. PERIOD. also, i didnt respond to these "few" threads out of the MANY that there r, to convince MYSELF of anything! it IS MY opinion that I'M satisfied with the club. PERIOD. thats all. finally, believe me, if I felt ripped off in some way by prince, i wouldnt join. no one forced me. plus i dont consider myself an ass kisser or fanatic. i tell it like it is, 4 me. i dont expect everyone to hold my same opinion of the club, but lots do, also lots dont. live & let live. complaining ova & ova helps nothing. i think ppl dissatisfied with the club, BUT would still like to b members, should write the npgmc. i think prince reads lots more than one knows... drop your ideas off in a clear, concise manner. dont xpect overly polite replies or maybe dont xpect any, but i think prince is interested in what the fams think and say, but it will always b his decision on if he complies or not.

rio said:

True, but conversley, there's also a tendency from some to think that if you are unsatisfied with this Club than you are an unsupportive, whining, cheap, complaining baby. I've been quite critical of this club recently and I get the same tired responses: "Don't join" (I'm not), "what did you expect?" (what they promised/advertised), and, my favorite "You're not supportive of Prince". Now that last one is the ultimate fucking howl. That man has more of money and praise than I could care to add up.

And how much did your celebration cost? And your concert?

Prince needs us. There aren't THAT many of us left, and 6 months from now you're going to see that $50 "box set" (my second favorite joke - was Emancipation a "Box Set"?) in the bargain bin for $20. Nobody but us is crazy enough to pay that much money for this set. Funny, he eliminated the middle man, "freed" the music, and we pay MORE for less material...

3 cds does not a "box set" make/ I'm sure I'll love this disc(s), and MAYBE I'll get it before I see it in Target. I'd like to see somebody defend this from the Club. Whether or not they ever said "exclusive" (and they did - I have it saved), no one would argue if they ever said we would be "served first". Is that so?

Now they're e-mailing ME asking me if I've gotten the CD's.

Cheers, NPGMC, to wasted potential.

Haystack said:

I agree with you Haystack, I don't believe that the club has delivered in the spirit of what they advertised. When they promied 4 CD's, I expected 4 seperate CD's, not a double disc album to count as 1 disc. At a push I do feel like I have received 3 CD's as the ONA live is in a different case to It Ain't Over. So for me i got, ONA piano, ONA live and It Ain't Over. The second copy of the piano disc means nothing.

You are absolutely right about the perks too. It is the NPG Music Club, not the NPG Benefits Club. I have had a great time at the aftershows and concerts but I did pay more for the tickets and I sat further back than when I saw Prince last time before the club existed.

Now if they only send out the Xenophobia studio album before year end, or another CD, (not the best of symbol though), I will be happy.


The truest thing that you said though was the bit about the club thriving on peoples fear of missing out. That's why I will still join next year, I am too weak to resist!

"You are absolutely right about the perks too. It is the NPG Music Club, not the NPG Benefits Club ."

finally somebody said it.
amen bro.