However, surely the judgement on the subscription should be made a year from now when we've seen just what it offers over that time period?

alxndrstff said:

Quite right. And presumably, based on what happens in the next 12 months, we'll all be able to make a more informed decision as to whether we want to pay another $77 for year 2, than the decision we are/are not making to pay up in hope & expectation now....

A lot of posts saying "What a waste of $77" or such like.

I can understand frustration at download issues, or missing out on tickets, or even that the content isn't as good yet as you hoped (unfortunately, my computer just can't handle the video streaming - I really wanted to relive the Superbowl and Brit awards stuff). However, surely the judgement on the subscription should be made a year from now when we've seen just what it offers over that time period?

A lot of posts saying "What a waste of $77" or such like.

I can understand frustration at download issues, or missing out on tickets, or even that the content isn't as good yet as you hoped (unfortunately, my computer just can't handle the video streaming - I really wanted to relive the Superbowl and Brit awards stuff). However, surely the judgement on the subscription should be made a year from now when we've seen just what it offers over that time period?

well the site has been an absolute shambles so far....i am sitting here nearly 20 hours after the site opened and i still cant get a working download of mplsound....it is incomplete each time i have downloaded it ....and i only managed to get lotus working because i found out that you had to unzip it twice and rename it.....wtf...i know the site is very busy but i cant see any excuse for not being able to get working downloads....it is not difficult to set up mp3 for download so what has gone wrong.....if possible ...i would take a refund right now but i know thats very unlikely .... ???

alxndrstff said:

It seems to me that the professional way to handle this would be for Prince's people to CLEARLY state what will be delivered over the next year and then customers can more fairly judge if it's worth the price and if it's lived up to the promises a year from now.

It's not quite fair to judge the service on one day of availability but there are FAR more widespread issues than there should have been for a site like this. It was, apparently, not tested well by anyone and now the customers must suffer as guinea pigs.

alxndrstff said:

I completely agree! How can u judge it all in 1 day...im sure theres tons more stuff 2 come and the issues with video and navigation around the site will surely be sorted out soon! Im pretty excited about the site and for the $77 i thinks its gonna turn out 2 be a complete bargain! Already got 3 new albums and a tshirt and its only day 1!!!
Peace & B Wild!

unless you get near the front at gigs, are you getting value for money? i really do doubt it.

jtfolden said:

Right. Because Prince always decides what he's going to do a year in advance - and sticks to it.

There they go as if prince, rhonda and renato held a symbol shaped gun to your temple and made you join. You knew what to expect going into this..don't trip now. Its entertainment people not surgery

popgodazipa said:

Well i've not joined so far.

I've been proved right so far.

Marrk said:

And I guess that's what's important... being right

There they go as if prince, rhonda and renato held a symbol shaped gun to your temple and made you join. You knew what to expect going into this..don't trip now. Its entertainment people not surgery

popgodazipa said:

if this is your position about the importance of the problems then you need to apply it to the problem you have with the people who are complaining. if complaining about the return on $77 is blowing things out of proportion then complaining about the complaining is likewise blowing things out of proportion.

you have to be fair. a lot of us have been burned by prince multiple times in the past. given the previous pattern, and now seeing what lotusflow3r.com seems to be all about, it's not hard draw conclusions about what this site will amount to.

sure, it's not "fair" to prince to judge the first day of the new site against the $77 annual fee. but prince hasn't been fair with fans over a very long period of time. it's natural that some people are going to start to put two and two together. you can't blame folks for saying this seems like more of prince's standard operating procedure. he established the pattern, not us.

furthermore, paying customers have purchased the right to complain. we didn't sign one of the gag contracts prince requires of his face-to-face associates. we're consumers and we (the market) set the value of his product. if everyone has a problem with that then ask yourself, why is he still selling music when he never has to work a day again in his life?

art for art's sake doesn't require an audience.

in summary, i'm happy with my experience so far (sign-up and downloading went okay; the video orb didn't function properly), but i have a lot of sympathy for those who've experienced technical problems. i still haven't received my 'crystal ball' set ordered from 1-800-new-funk. back in the npgmc days prince's organization routinely charged my credit card multiple times. this kind of thing happened to a lot of people, and for a lot of people it never got resolved. you have to give us some slack if we approach new situations with cynicism.

i'm not sorry i paid but i knew i was probably throwing away my money when i signed up. the anger comes in when people (rightly) expect more than that from prince.
[Edited 3/25/09 16:31pm]

stanleylieber said:

Now let's see. The NPGMC gave us a few albums worth of material and access to a host of shows with premium seating, merchandise including cloud guitar and a soundcheck with a Q/A..but you would rather hold on to the memory of your 199something "crystal ball" order. The sight delivered the goods exactly as the official press release stated. I sympathize but recognize these folks don't no a good thing when they see it. The past few years have allowed "club" members unprecedented access to one of the most notoriously reclusive artist of all time!!!! Nuff said

popgodazipa said:

now hold on here. i signed up for the new site and my experience was fine. i just think you're letting loose a little too hard on people who have valid complaints. you're acting like prince screwing over paying customers is somehow the customers' fault.

stanleylieber said:

See my problem is with you and their verbage "screwing over"...there was nothing mendacious in anything that officially came out of the prince camp when compared to what the site really is, "Screwed over" implies an overt intent to damage or deprive...like AIG taking tax payer money and doling out extravagant bonuses..that's screwed over...or someone in the White House promising relief for mainstreet but can't seem to lead the motorcade out of wallstreet...or stop loss extended duty stays in Iraq when you've done your time..that's screwing ova!! Griping about glitches day 1 on a 365 day membership is just whining.