Was on Kazaa a few minutes ago and you wouldn't believe what I gfound.

Some dipstick has the newly released Empty Room (live) available!

Now dumbass. If Prince was trying to find out who was the f'ing rat defacing the club, you just got caught. You (edited)

Ridiculous.

That's not all. Some total nutmeg is SELLING the Xpectation album on ebay!!! Am I the only one in complete shock about this??

uh oh. no wonder prince don't trust us no more . . .


dang. i hope someone doesn't do that to the X album.

Some people don't care if Prince and NPGMC sues them 4 their illegal conduct.

These people think Prince and NPGMC will 4give and 4get.

I just wish I was Prince's and NPGMC lawyer.

I could buy that new car and house I want.

A few Xpectations have been on e-bay (several pulled)...Yank 'em!

aww fuck it n/m
[This message was edited Sun Jan 5 22:31:52 PST 2003 by Christopher]

well guess what Orgers... that sh*t happens.. not sayin its good to share the downloads or anything, but u come across a portion of people who will, and if prince doensnt like it.. Tough Sh*t... cause eye'm sure there are hundreds doin it.. realize it, face it, get on withcha life

That is Xactly (sic) why Prince will not give us little goodies and surprise presents like the X album and Empty Room.

Whoever did that sucks big time and I hope if people find them out we flame them all to hell!

Why act like Xpectation on EBay is heresy when a very, very large number of you own numerous Prince bootlegs?

I'm not too thrilled about it being on Ebay considering the music we got was supposed to be exlusive, but hey, even Prince doesn't seem to care if its exclusive or not because its generally hitting the shelves a few months later.

Sdldawn said:

agreed. there will never, ever be a time when his music won't leak out onto kazaa or a bootleg. if he's that apalled perhaps he should leave the biz.

Just curious, if someone buys a CD at the store and decides they don't want it anymore, is it wrong to sell it to CD Warehouse or some place like that?

When people join the NPGMC, and pay for album(s) that they later do not want, why shouldn't they be allowed to sell it and get rid of it?

jaypotton said:

No, it's exactly why CDs should have been offered & not downloads, as they are not nearly as easy to distribute and would be sold in lesser numbers if auctioned.

It does suck, I believe we should show some respect for the clubs wishes when they come through for us like this. But in the absence of the org over xmas I logged on to AMP to see what was being said about Xpectation, and people were posting links to download it from outside the club.

Arseholes.

Why should Prince care? The people who buy/download pirate material are people who would not give him money anyway.

Luckily I have a fast connection, but what about other members who have dial-up or did not get any emails about the links to the extra downloads? Should they suffer?

Not every club member lives on the internet. I'll be glad when I see those on the Retail section.

Dauphin said:

Wait until The RIAA shuts down the file sharers, or perfect the "Copy Proof" CD's. You talk about File Sharing as if it has been around all of your life (as an alternative to buying). There has been no precedence for Downloading new material for free.

Other than making tape copies, most folks would buy or borrow. If you want to hear it, you will get it. Before, Blockbuster was the first Record Store to allow customers to listen, there was no other option but the radio. Even with all of this technology, people will still be fooled by Emptv and Billboard listings. Entertainers with 1 hit song per CD will continue "tricking" people to purchase whole CDs of "filler".

Despite all of the hoopla, The music industry's income is down only %10. that's not enough to cut out all of the crooks, gangster wannebes, video sex idols, and no-talent kiss-ups in the industry.



There should be a mailing option for those who don't. I have not read any complaints about DL speed.

mediadarling said:

That's ridiculous. CD's are no harder to distribute than mp3's. The person who put the mp3's on the internet could have just as easily converted a CD into mp3 files to distribute. That's where most mp3's originate.

We should get LP's instead. Most people don't know how to convert them to mp3 format. Yes, that's the answer: 2003 should send us new music on vinyl.

Yeah,...send us vinyl!!
Then I certainly will take my player from the box-room and play all my good old 12" again: paysley park, America, I would Die 4U, and Scandalous and Lets Work... Yeah!

Dauphin said:

He should care because only people who paid for it should get the music. Everybody's bitching about Prince all the time...I wouldn't wonder if he did the same thing about us.

geminito said:

As a matter of fact, yes they are harder, as it would involve an extra step. And considering that Prince does not sell that many records, if the CD was the source, they'd be harder to find that shareable downloads. And again, converting CD files to mp3s is a more time consuming & labor intensive practice.

mediadarling said:

Not much harder! I agree with the vinyl theory! But hey, Prince is the one who was longing for this digital revolution - all we need now is a come key on our keyboards. Remember that?!

I see both sides of this. No it isn't ethical to profit from any artists work. But the industry as Prince constantly keeps reminding people, is not the same as it was when The Black Album was scheduled for release. Bootlegging whether it be sharing files or black market releases is one of the major realities in this business. So Prince and his diehard fans should be prepared.

The way I see it, I've financially supported Prince as long as I could by buying every Paisley Park/NPG release and anything he so much as farted on in the studio. I really can't afford to put down $100+ a year and have no clue what I'm going to get in return.

As a non-member of the club, yes I'd jump at the opportunity to get these goodies at a reasonable price. Would I download from Kazaa? Hell yes! Buy from eBay? It depends upon the price. I wouldn't pay $100 to NPGMC if I could get it for 1/6th of the price elsewhere.

Many should have learned by now that exclusive Prince material is truly a thing of the past. The War and the Kamasutra are really the only EXCLUSIVE items Prince has offered since he's been free.

Prince is well aware that he's not selling in retail anymore. Which is why it makes perfect sense that his "experimental" works should be in stores as limited editions.

NPGMCsucks said:

When it "hits the shelves", people PAY for it & the $ goes to HIM. When members access it, they've PAID HIM for that access. Where's the support for the artist if you simply "find" the file on Kaazaa or pay some asshole on the net looking to profit off his work?? They didn't do shit but buy a burner - why should they profit??

this whole thing of "i bet u all own bootlegs so why be in a huff over X being on eBay". . . . .

as far as i am concerned,bootlegs of material that HAS NOT BEEN OFFICIALLY RELEASED isnt really that bad,i mean Prince is not losing money,cos he has not released it himself in the 1st place.

But in THIS CASE . . .he HAS released it officially,& someone has gone & made it in2 a cheap cd-r & is making money from something that should only make money through NPGMC or Prince's own terms.

I have many bootlegs,of unofficially released shows,but whatever i can get my hands on that is official,i buy the REAL PRODUCT.
with X & ONAL,i have had them burnt by a friend,for no money at all (ok so i did Philly HNR vcd 4 him ) . . .but i would not go out & buy th ebootleg version of Black album,i have the real copy & am happy with that,cos thats how its meant 2 be.
When ONAL is released officially in OZ i have full intentions of buying it & enjoying th eproduct the way Prince meant 4 people 2 hear & have it.

bottom line: if it is official product,it should be bought ONLY through proper channels (yes april,PROPER )

But if it has not been officially released,& u purchase it,ie: bootleg concerts,outtakes sets,etc. . . .then we r not doing anything wrong in my s,because P has not done it himself. . . if he one day (maybe this year thru NPGMC??) puts out a outtakes set like CB,then bring it on P,cant wait 2 purchase it

i know i know what i have done by not joining NPGMC & paying the piper (paying the prince ) 4 the material isnt ethical exactly . . .but at least i am not making money off it like this asshole on eBay,THAT is plain wrong.
at least i appreciate the music,can we say the same 4 this dickhead?
highly unlikely

Anyone with $100 can join NPGMC and download material exclusively meant for fans and then distribute it for profit. Sadly it is assumed that a 'fan' has done the dirty but it could just as easily be someone who hates Prince's music but knows how to make a quick buck on e-bay. Nobody assumes that touts at a Prince gig are fans selling their own tickets, the same could be said about these burnt CD's.

Of course, the fans will pay the price. The innocent always pay the price, it's the way it is. Maybe we should have to pass a quiz before membership is awarded, that would get rid of some undesirables!

Another possibility is that someone downloaded the mp3's from NPGMC, and doesn't realize that they are in a directory which is being shared on Kazaa. So, it's possible that someone doesn't realize that his NPGMC files are being shared. People need to be careful about which directories are accessible through Kazaa or whatever program people are using nowadays.

I hope no one is intentionally sharing these files...

geminito said:

I don't buy that for a second - they know they're sharing the files, they do it ALL the time. Anyone who's at all conscious of keeping NPGMC materials private would make sure not to keep them in their shared folder.

Joshy84au said:

I agree w/ you BUT we ARE doing something wrong if we purchase unreleased materials, plain and simple. It's better to trade b/c it fucks the bootleggers, but it's still not what the creator of the work wants, so it's still wrong...

I'm not pointing the finger or anything, I have boots myself I'm just saying we know it's wrong, we just do it anyway