Are you pondering joining the lotusflow3r.com site and paying $77 for membership? Not me! I was a fan of the NPGMC site and paid for what I thought was a lifetime membership. I was also not to fond of the drm's in wma format. I would gladly fork over $77 to see him live or the $12 to buy the three discs at Target, but I am not getting sucked into the website scheme again as he laughs to the bank. What does your $77 a year get you that won't be on the net in no time? Prince really needs to rethink his marketing skills. Hire a professional team to advise him.

I think I speak for many when I suggest that he release the stuff online for a reasonable fee. Heck, even follow the Amazon or iTunes model of letting people download just the songs or videos they want or the whole album at a decent price ($8-$12) and make your money off of the tours?

The model he has chosen limits him to only the most die-hard fans signing up and forces them to pay up front an annual fee that is essentially the cost of 8-10 Cd's. I doubt he will release enough quality material to equal the up-front asking price. I am a long time fan, but will sit this one out. I have been burned y Prince online one too many times. From 1-800-New-Funk to Crystal Ball to NPGMC I was treated like a stepchild. Not this time. Love you man and most of your music, but I have learned. Pay up suckers!

Time will tell how long LotusFlow3r.com lasts, but the Terms state clearly now that it is a 1-year subscription for $77. I don't think Prince will make the "lifetime membership" mistake again.

Sometimes Prince fans want TOO much. It's not enough for them to be able to view videos - they want to download and store them. I don't know of many artists who do that. He is offering WAV and MP3 downloads of the new albums, so the DRM issue is avoided.

$77 is a lot of money - but for some it's harder to justify than others. It's only been a few days and I've already gotten a lot of enjoyment from the site. If he offers even one ticket pre-sale or soundcheck, then the $77 is more than worth it for me. If he offers a digital download store for members only, even better.

Let me put it this way: I would rather regret spending $77 than to potentially miss out on something cool that Prince releases to members only.

It may also help Prince to (re)gain a bit of business sense, a bit of `web 2.0`-savviness, better feeling with the current fanbase, etc

I'm still waiting. My concerns:
* Cost. $77 seems a lot (about £50-something when converted to GBP). And what do we get? The ability to download three albums, maybe two of which are worth having, and from what I've read the volume levels are way too high so the quality isn't so great. For those who want the albums it is far cheaper to wait for the CDs.
* Ongoing cost! From the terms & conditions it said the membership didn't cover "premium content" which would be available at additional cost. So what would this be? Concert videos? More songs? So the $77 just allows you to access a bizarrely inaccessible website (for the record I wonder if any disability organizations have looked at the site yet - I'm sure they'd have something to say regarding its accessibility as it doesn't provide text only versions, ones with clear navigation structures, different colour schemes, no Flash etc. A lawsuit in the making?)
* What do we get? Three CDs worth of music available as an initial download. Videos to watch (streaming only). Pictures to look at (online only). Gee thanks. Sorry, but for $77 I'd want more than that, such as album downloads and then a CD mailed out for starters.) Sure, there will be ticket presales, but is there a tour lined up? So far it is a few dates in LA. I live in England and would happily travel into western Europe for a show, but NOBODY would make me go further afield just for a gig. If it was confirmed that there was going to be a world tour next year I'd join like a shot, I admit.

I'm not exactly "opposed" to joining - I'd just rather know what I'm getting for my money, and that I'm getting value for that money too.

I aint joining, fuck him? Prince, how does ticketbastard's ass in ur mouth taste? U should know, u shit on ur own fans with them!

rlj1965 said: