Clay says future plans for Lotus flow3r.com include a hybrid documentary-music video. But the deal-sealer, he concedes, is the potential for streaming live, VIP-only concerts from Prince's Los Angeles mansion. "There could be a live chat going on with members watching a concert, and Prince could actually play requests," Clay says. He also claims a colleague has organized 10 albums of old Prince music never released in any form.

All three releases will be represented on the new website as different "worlds," where music can be downloaded from each (the recordings are only available at Target and via the site). A virtual playground and 3D visual feast, the site was developed with web gurus Scott Adison Clay and Anthony Malzone, and it seems very video game influenced. Clay was on hand for a preview surf-through last night, and while there were some glitches and some of the ways to acquire content were convoluted, it should appeal to tech-heads and Prince die-hards with exclusives including lyrics (not the on Target package), never before seen photos and even video footage dating back to the '70's. Members pay $77 for access, and the biggest perk is definitely advance info and preferred seats for Prince's live shows.

Found the newsweek article:



http://www.newsweek.com/id/189242

From a preview party:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


PRINCE ANNOUNCES MUCH ANTICIPATED LAUNCH OF NEW LOTUSFLOW3R.COM
WEBSITE ON MARCH 24, 2009 WITH UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS TO
NEW AND OLD CONTENT INCLUDING NEW ALBUMS, CONCERT TICKETS AND CONCERT FOOTAGE

The Site Will Allow Members to Download New Studio Albums LOtUSFLOW3R, MPLSoUND, and
Elixer, a collaboration with his new protégé Bria Valente, as Part of the Annual Membership Fee
Prior to Release in Target Stores

ON THE EVENING OF THE LAUNCH, PRINCE WILL PLAY THREE SEPARATE SHOWS ACROSS THE LOS ANGELES AREA TO SUPPORT THE NEW SITE

Los Angeles, CA…March 16, 2009 – In an unprecedented effort to manage his own content, Prince is proud to announce the official launch of his new, highly anticipated website LotusFlow3r.com on March 24th, 2009. As soon as the site goes live, fans will have access to new content including digital downloads of his new studio albums LOtUSFLOW3r, MPLSoUND and Elixer, a collaboration with his new protégé Bria Valente; concert tickets; sneak peaks at upcoming events; live concert footage; exclusive imagery from past albums and other exclusive photos for an annual membership fee of $77. Throngs of fans have already signed up on the existing beta version of the website for email updates and are waiting in the wings to become members and experience the world of Prince in a whole new way.

On the evening of March 28th, Prince will be performing at three different locations with three different bands throughout the Los Angeles area. How he plans to do this is still a mystery and even his musicians are not sure of all the details, but Prince fans have come to expect the unexpected. In addition, it was previously announced that Prince will play an unprecedented three nights in a row on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 25th, 26th and 27th and will return to help Leno end his reign on the late night show by performing on his next to last show on May 28th.

LotusFlow3r.com is an entire interactive galaxy, conceived by Prince and created by Scott Addison Clay and Anthony Malzone, that takes the Prince fans into three distinctly different worlds emanating the feel of the three new albums in a high-end 3-D style design. Currently, the beta version of the site hosts new tracks “Colonized Mind” from the new LOtUSFLOW3r album, “DiscoJellyfish” from the new MPLSoUND album and “Another Boy” from Elixer with Bria. In addition, the site is slated to release a new music video from each of the three albums on the launch date including “Crimson and Clover” from LOtUSFLOW3r, “Chocolate Box” from MPLSoUND and “Everytime” from Elixer. Prince also plans to give his fans access to tickets to live shows, concert footage from past performances, exclusive imagery from his past albums and other exclusive photos, exclusive information about any private or secret shows, as well as exclusive content that will only be available in the first week of the site launch and may never become available again. Fans who join the site early will also receive a boutique-quality “Founding Member” t-shirt that displays the central image from the galaxy. Over time, Prince will continue to give fans more access to high-end never released photos and video content and much more.

Prince collaborated with Malzone and Clay throughout the design and development of the entire website. In fact, the three often fed off of each other’s creative ideas. For instance, Prince wrote the music for the track “DiscoJellyfish,” which inspired Malzone, who visualized a design and took to his computer programs to design graphics and artwork to communicate the feel of the song, which then, upon seeing the designs, further inspired Prince to continue to write the song. Everything within this galaxy is a creative portal derived from the brilliant mind of Prince, beautifully executed by Malzone and Clay.

Newsweek.com has exclusively released the new cover art for Bria’s Elixer and Prince’s MPLSoUND albums: click here for Newsweek story .

Since his debut in 1978, Prince has had numerous hits on the Billboard Charts. In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has won six GRAMMY® awards, an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe®. From the moment he stepped onto the music scene, he has captivated fans with his continual reinvention as an artist and remains one of the most celebrated performers of all time. In 2006, Prince won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Annual Webby Awards. The founder of the awards called Prince “a visionary, who recognized early on that the web would completely change how we experience music.”

According to reports from Us Magazine & NME, Prince is planning to throw and Oscar party and not only that, but film it.

Prince appeared to be in rehearsals when he heard that he was to be throwing the Oscar bash of the century.

Marion Cotillard, last year’s Oscar winner hit him up and wanted to RSVP for the event, or as US weekly called it. “Purple Party”.

Not only that, but it appears the party will be filmed for his website; www.lotusflow3r.com.

No info on that but maybe there is another “Purple Ticket” contest to his house as on the site, there is a ticket on the ground with the date. Feb. 22nd on it. You might want to enter your info for it and maybe you can say you partied with Prince.-Dr.FB

Found the newsweek article:



http://www.newsweek.com/id/189242

"The site is the best thing since sex!Ay yo, lemme get another one of these free crablegs"-rdhull

Hardcore Prince fans have been all a-twitter lately, with the Purple One releasing three new albums (“LOtUSFLOW3r,” “MPLSoUNd” and “Elixer,” the latter the debut from current protégé Bria Valente) through an exclusive deal with Target.

Much of Prince’s recent online activity has stemmed from the launch of his latest Web venture, the customarily mysterious LOtUSFLOW3r.com. So far, the site has only offered a handful of teases, such as snippets of new songs “Disco Jellyfish” and “Colonized Mind," but little else.

According to the latest press release, the site goes fully live on March 24 as a subscription-based portal, offering fans access to the new music, as well as unleashing a torrent of extremely rare concert footage from his entire career. Ranging from early shows to his already-mythologized appearance at Coachella 2008, Purple People who ante up the annual $77 fee can download all three of the new albums and all of the requisite goodies that come with them (lyrics, photos, etc).

But for L.A-area Prince fans, March 28 will be especially juicy, with the artist planning on performing no less than three different shows in the city at three different locations, and with a unique band at each stop. Details are promised on LOtUSFLOW3r.com over the days to come.

Prince’s promo blitz continues after the 24th. He'll appear on "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" as musical guest for a three-night stand beginning March 25, returning on May 28 to perform on Leno’s penultimate show as host.

This is not the first time Prince has dabbled with a subscription Web service -- his NPG Music Club lasted five years and closed in 2006.

--Scott T. Sterling

Prince's revamped Web domain, appropriately Lotusflow3r.com, gives his loyal followers exclusive access to an array of film footage and music from the Purple One's "Vault" -- a library that contains an immense amount of unreleased material. At a lofty annual subscription price of $77, fans also will be treated to such perks as live-cam concerts from the mansion and first dibs at tickets for last-minute, unannounced gigs, which have become a Prince trademark.

Its depressing reading that stuff back again with the benefit of hindsight

Its depressing reading that stuff back again with the benefit of hindsight

xlr8r said:

Clay says future plans for Lotus flow3r.com include a hybrid documentary-music video. But the deal-sealer, he concedes, is the potential for streaming live, VIP-only concerts from Prince's Los Angeles mansion. "There could be a live chat going on with members watching a concert, and Prince could actually play requests," Clay says. He also claims a colleague has organized 10 albums of old Prince music never released in any form.