'Does anyone else think that it's a little strange to have the official site for a world renowned musician (that''s Prince people, pay attention!!), that has nothing AT ALL for people who stop by before they pay a membership fee? If you had a casual interest from a record sleeve, concert ad, or newspaper article would you pay out the fee just to look at the site?

The sites clearly had a great deal of work put into it, and much respect for those involved, however I think it would be great for 'spreading the good word' if at least there was some info for the casual visitor. Perhaps a well written Prince bio', a simple discography with more indepth only for members, informed essays, a review and info on the latest album and some pages detailing better what you get when you join?...

To cite, the much cited davidbowie.com, there''s plenty there for the non-member, and an indication of the advantages of even more for those that join. I'd hate to see the sites success limited by it only being visited and joined by those who were members last year, and the sales opportunities for npg retail have to be limited by keeping it behind closed doors!

Perhaps a more informative front end could be added to the job list? I know we have the fantastic p.org and housequake.com as resources, I just think that it's a little sad that the official resource for such a person as Prince is so inaccessable to the casual fan.
[This message was edited Sat Apr 19 16:00:59 PDT 2003 by DanUK]

Prince has realized there is no real reason for the casual fan. He has a community of die hards that will follow him through thick and thin. He will continue to play small venues, allow access to his members, provide all arays and styles of music that we continue to enjoy. As we discussed in some of the soundchecks he does not want to be mainstream MTV, VH1 or under control of a label. He is perefectly happy playing music that excites the membership. If that is the way he wants his music to be represented then so be it.

George Michael used to have a site like that. Without the $$$ payout you never got past that first screen. Don't recall how much he charged.

purplrain said:

purplrain said:[quote]Prince has realized there is no real reason for the casual fan. He has a community of die hards that will follow him through thick and thin.

No real reason for the casual fan or just non of them out their anymore?

I just think that it's a great shame that no-one now can get any official info on the man (at the moment I admit, early days yet), if they read a review of a concert or CD. E.g there have been Rainbow Children reviews recently in the UK press after it's official release, but you can't follow-up unless you stump up the cash!

Just think it's a shame that's all. It's not to do with being mainstream or MTV, just accepting that you're shutting out people who buy your cd's and go to your concerts.

At the end of the day as you say it's his choice to make, it would be nice however if it wasn't all about the dollar bills, which ultimately is what putting your entire site behind a subscription is about.

I guess I dont understand your point! Last year he asked for $100 to join the "Club" and now he has decreased it to a mere $25. You talk about the casual fans going to concerts and purchasing his music however based on the sales of "Rainbow Children" or "ONALive" where are these casual fans.The casual fans I saw at the concerts were dissapointed because they wanted a greatest hits show because they don't know anything about his new music is that because his website doesn't allow non members in? When he started his club he had alot of information on upcoming releases however none of the casual fans paid attention. I think there are also so many unofficial websites that can cover everything regarding him demolishing his house to moving to Toronto what in his website are you missing?
I guess we will agree to disagree.

thedoorkeeper said:

there was always something for the non-member on Aegean.net (GM's site). Bio, latest news, videos etc...

purplrain said:[quote]I guess I dont understand your point! Last year he asked for $100 to join the "Club" and now he has decreased it to a mere $25.

Off topic a little, (with the caveat again that it's early days, and of course I don't know exaclt ywhat they've planned..) but last year we were guaranteed CD's as part of the membership. Unless I'm missing something, this year we are guaranteed nothing except for access to a site of unknown content. $25 is a better price dollar for dollar and undoubtedly will encourage more people to join. But ultimately we are gettting much less for the money!

purplrain said:

I'm not missing anything in his web site (just takes a while to load that's all!!), my point is just that it's a shame that Prince, unlike every other major recording artist I can think of in my lifetime, at this time has NOTHING official available on the internet for the interested general public without paying a fee. I guess that I'm just sorry of the symptom that our hero will not be universially recognised for the huge talent that he is by the majority. Again, his call, I'm just sorry that his talents are a secret to most people.

DanUK said:

Or look at BobDylan.com -- ghee, a site that is actually useful, that woudl make too much sense now really?

So stay on the Org, plenty of free info here...

DanUK said:[quote]

purplrain said:

Funny enough, I actually agree with both you and "purplerain". On the one had, I would think that since Prince is not attached to a major lable, he would be trying to get as much exposure as he can to the masses. And I agree that if someone just out of curiosity bought The Rainbow Children as sort of a "just to see what Prince is up to these days" or read a review or something like that and decided to go to the "Official Website" to get more information, then I agree that it's unfortunate that basically Prince's Official Website is a dead end.
But, let's face it, if information is what someone is interested in, Prince's website has pretty much always been dead end as far as information is concerned even if you're a membership paying card carrying member. It seems to me that with or without a fee there has never been enough content on any of Prince's official websites... and to me that's sad.

But on the other hand, if Prince is simply following his own artistic vision, then I agree with Purplerain in the sense that there really isn't much need for the casual fan.
Over the years, we've all seen Prince go through many, many changes. But in retrospect, a lot of the changes appear to be cosmetic and superficial. Now more than ever though, I get the distinct impression that Prince is really and truly trying to seperate from his past. Generally speaking, the casual fan that comes looking is looking for the Prince of the past.

I know some fans on the org won't like this, but all of this falls in line with the "Pearls B4 The Swine" argument. Chances are that if someone is willing to pay a fee to access the Club, then chances are they are more than just the casual fan looking for the Prince of old. More than likely a paying member is someone who knows where Prince is at today and is willing to accept him for who he is. Last years Celebration was a perfect example of this point. Pretty much everyone in attendance had the time of their life. But if the same Celebration was more easily accessible to casual fans, they surely would've been dissappointed. This Year's NPGMC seems designed to "make a way for those who want to go..." and in that regard, I cannot complain.