I would assume that all of us who post here on the ORG love Prince and his music. However, there are a LOT of disgruntled or dissappointed people as you can tell by the number of posts about the NPGMC (in particular). I honestly don;t for one minute believe all these people (me included at times) WANT to be disgruntled and unhappy about stuff. We just want to feel we are getting treated fairly and receive a good deal.

The membership of NPGMC is $100. To some that is nothing and to others it is a lot. Whether it is WORTH it to each of us (as posed by NPGMC website) as an individual is completely down to personal opinions, experience of the club so far and most definitely where int he world you live.

ALL I have ever wanted is a clear understanding of WHAT I will receive and WHEN for my money. If that was made clear to me I could then decide whether or not to pay over my $100.

As such I waited for a tour to be announced before joining (I live in the UK). It was really tough for me to hold off for so long because I wanted ONA paino CD. BUT I wanted to make sure I would get what I deemed to be value for money...

(For me) The opportunity to buy tickets for the London concerts before the general public and get within the front 10 rows (actually row 8 both nights I went) was a great benefit (I expected to pay for the tix) as I had never had such good seat. PLUS getting in to the soundchecks both nights AND the AfterPARTY at the Embassy AND the AfterSHOW at the Marquee (right at the front just a few feet from the man) all for FREE was simply brilliant (for me!)

I am now excitedly waiting to receive my ONA CD and ONA LIVE box set in the post (fingers crossed any day now as it appears to be 'shipped'). The quality of the packaging for the box set looks excellent, look here (thanks Lavish)

http://www.prince.org/msg...&tid=29026

So why am I 'asking' Prince not to screw up. Well for a start I really do not want to become disillusioned. There is simply no denying that certain things were implied and alluded to as a way of ensuring we signed up for membership and parted with our hard earned money. These included:

- A years membership (a year is 12 months and 2002 membership cycle started in February. So it CANNOT end in December)
- Xclusivity (concerts delivered this, ONA may well end up as exclusive but ONA Live obviously won't be)
- Receiving CDs BEFORE the retail release (if 2 Dec UK date for ONA Live is correct then this is not fulfilled)
- At least 4 CDs (this is obviously a moot point because we will receive 4 "CDs" but the tour brochure and text on the site alluded to these being 4 separate albums as opposed to 4 shiny disks)

This last point in particular upsets people and this is where Prince needs to be careful. Unlike me, there are a great many people who could not attend concerts (Australia) for whom the membership is JUST 4 CDs. That simply is not fair or value for money. I really do not want to have to wait for several weeks for my ONA Live while it sits on the shelves of my local wrecka stow (I was 'promised' it first).

I want the club to continue and to improve (clear communication with fans/customers is KEY) but I fear that unless Prince sorts some of the issues out the membership may dwindle to a point where it is no longer viable for Prince to continue with it.

There really is a 'simple' way to make us all happy(happier) and that is to exceed our expectations in the last few months of membership.

Prince, please release another CD/Album to members. You definitely have the material in your vaults. Just imagine how people (including myself) would have to eat their words and would rush to sign up again, if between now and February we received a CD containing some amazing vault stuff on an album (Crystal Ball 2, Roadhouse Garden, Xenophobia etc)

Well that would make ME happy. What about other people?

I agree completely.

This is so far the best thing i've read so far.. Well written. Bravo, I agree.

Thank you..good stuff. AMEN!

Thanks people. I tried to be objective because we all have our own personal experience and Prince will never make "all of the pople happy all of the time".

However, I just want to be treated fairly and one obvious way to do that is to communicate clearly to all of us what we will get and when.

who
said
he's
not
going
2
hit
australia?

Well said, jaypotton!

Not to put a shower of rain upon your bright glowing summation but:

The club did state that membership ends on 31/12/02

Hes got all that cool stuff in his vault but what's he waiting for? Well he's obviously saving the best stuff so he can sell more copies.
NPGMC by its 2 most recent commentaries claims not to b a business but it is. There is a business transaction going on. If it is not financially viable to continue it I'm sure it will end.

As for communication Prince is a pastmaster at being cryptic:
1984: He's giving up touring to search for the Ladder
6 months laster releases ATWAID (the best ever prince album)

1985: Wehn asked about what his plans are, he replies Sometimes it snows in april...

1986: does the parade tour and releases parade with ... april

the list can go on and on but he likes to play games... sometimes they work sometimes they just really annoy people.

The communication thing is always gonna b a moot point.
I think the privelige / opportunity to buy concert tickets should b xtra in the membership... for those who want to pay it... BEARING IN MIND that the tickets will b up to 33% over the initial value of the already jacked up prices of the concerts.

BUT MOST OF ALL: PRINCE NPGMC SHOULDNT MAKE PROMISES IT CANT KEEP.

jaypotton said:

very well put Persian...
- Before retail agree, it's like when you subscribe to a magazine, you don't want to have read it somewhere else before you get it in the mail
- Xclusivity Why is this such an issue??? Only about 750 of the 15000-people crowd at the Antwerp ONA-show were members, why shouldn't they all be given the chance to enjoy the music?
Don't get me wrong, I'm only 50% satisfied with what the club offers, but the lack of Xclusivity is the least of my worries

all
he
can
do
is
change
the
management
of
the
club

and
he's
like
umm

a
hero
again

I agree jaypotton. I am in exactly the same boat - UK member, didnt join until tour looked likely so have not received any CDs yet. I didnt make it to any aftershows but that was my choice.

Reputedly P has vaults and vaults of unreleased material. It would be so easy for him to pick one - Roadhouse Garden, High, Dream Factory (the list goes on) to release to members only.

The man needs to understand the first principle of business. It is much easier (and cheaper) to keep an existing customer than to recruit new ones. If he is holding on to his vault material so that he can make more $ out of it later fair enough but who is interested outside of the NPGMC members and regular Org posters? No-one. So who is he kidding?

Better for him to give up some of his future $ to keep his current fans(customers) happy cos if he doesnt keep us happy there sure isn't anyone else who is going to keep him in the manner to which he has become accustomed in the future.

MattUK said:

Roadhouse
Garden
High
&
Dream
Factory
were
pressed
by
NPG?

the NPGMC Membership ends December 31st so if P's gonna send us some more Music we'd have 2 get it this Month

it would b NICE if P did give us some more stuff

and
the
website
is
STILL
DOWN

buk
buk
bukaaa!!