Year 1
- idea an A+ (fans download new music and videos to their computer every month)
- implemenation - initially a D (quicktime and Java based technology that didn't run at all on a Mac). Revised HTML based implemenation a A-.

Year 2
- idea a B+ (no longer supposed to get new music every month, but everything we were supposed to get was CD quality).
- implemenation C, only salvaged the C by the end of year downloads. Until then it was a D. I'd rather have gotten the promised 4 CDs and then paid for One Nite Alone Live.

Year 3
- idea a C-, the price is better, but no longer can the music be downloaded and enjoyed. No more 256kbps .mp3s. No more promise of new music every month.
- implemnation an F. This is actually worse than the inititial implementation of the initial club because Mac support is promised, but not delivered (see my other thread). Fix the Mac support and the best it gets to is a D. Also, while kinda cool the first time, it gets old quick to have to wait for all of the animations to get to anything. Content posted and pulled before most people see it. Unprepaired for the bandwidth demand despite 2 years of club experience to show what the demand would be and despite purposfully hyping the debut before hand to ensure maximal demand the minite it opened.

It would seem at least part of the problem with the implementation of the club this year is tied directly to the design flaw of requiring streaming media instead of downloadable media. That ensures maximal demand on the servers as each time you play the video or listen to the song, it'll be streamed all over again.

Some think the drop to $25 was a good thing. I'd gladly pay the extra $75 to return to the way the club was in year 1 or even the way the club was supposed to be in year 2.

The man could let us into the vault and grab as much as we wanted to burn and somebody would still complain.

Remember people, this is Prince, and while he may have the best of intentions, he isn't really into planning. He truly is like a box of chocolates...even when advertised, you never know what you're gonna get.

It's 25 bucks and nothing was promised.

alandail said:

how can u be rating a year long club that has only been around for what?...three days? be patient now

I graded the first year on it's initial implementation too - after two years of experience, year 3 is starting off worse than ever.

It's only been around 3 days and already

- you can't download any of the content
- the bitrate on the one song that is posted is poor
- you can't play any of it on a Mac. half by design (no mac supported files offered), half by implementation (the mac supported files that are supposed to be there don't work)
- there was content in the VIP room posted and then pulled before most people opened their email telling them about it.

uglybrowneyes said:

It's also what we've come to love about him, isn't it?

korovyov said:

Indeed. And what do you expect for $25. It's not been open a week yet and we already have a new song. By December this club could be the best one yet.

I wish they'd return to Year One when they were releasing "New Music" and not this religious ministry bullsh*t.

Don't go to the NPGMC if it is such a bag of shit.

I don't think there is any reason to believe that there won't be any downloads this year.

Usually, I'm one to get on here to defend against complaints that I think are unreasonable. However, I think it's legitmate to complain about the club at this point. Even though it's only been open 3 days, it is the 3rd year of the club. SHouldn't they learn from past mistakes?

It's not rocket science to post videos in a format that Mac users can use. This was a problem at the beginning of year one - why should it return as a problem the beginning of year 3?

It's not a surprise that people want news songs in a high quality bit rate and downloadable. As it is, you can't download the song without jumping through hoops or going to a file shareing service. Shouldn't it be easier to download the song from the club as a paying member than on a fileshareing service as a non-paying member?

Bandwidth issues were a big problem in year one. Shouldn't they be prepared for bandwith issues in year 3? Instead of low quality song files that have to be downloaded every single time they are played, why didn't they keep the higher quality song files that only have to be downloaded once?

calldapplwondery83 said:

I think there's plenty of reason to believe they don't intend at this point to have downloads. There are one new song and 4 videos on the site, none of them are downloadable. There was a remix show in the VIP room - and it wasn't downloadable either.

All of this stuff was downloadable in year 1.

alandail said:

Because you only paid $25. So basically you want the same stuff as you got in year one, but only $75 cheaper.

alandail said:

Don´t talk bullsh**

Point 1: I downloaded all things
Point 2: 4 a 96KB it isn´t sooo bad. When I hear it, it sounds clear, though it could have a higher bitrate
Point 3: My friend has a Mac, all files work
Point 4: That´s a point I may agree with u but don´t hesitate, wait what we´ll get later this year...

4 me year 3 starts better than ever...

Peace & b wild!

lovemachine said:

not true - as I said in my first post, I'd gladly pay the additional $75. Instead we're getting the worst possible combination.

- less music
- less quality
- less convinience (no downloads)
- less compatibility

And the implementation adds extra overhead (bandwidth cost) on the NPGMC side of things.

Shouldn't things be getting better instead of worse?

alandail said:

Okay, I understand that people would be willing to pay more for downloads, but what I am saying is at the new lower price I don't think it seems likely that there is going to be high quality downloads available.

I don't think year one or year two made much money for Prince so he has decided to see what a lower priced product (which obviously will not be as good) will fetch him. These are just my two cents.

I totally agree with you, Alandail!

You know what, until I officially feel ripped off, condescended to and ultimately exploited, I'm not gonna talk shit. It's been, what, two days now? I have no problems thus far. I'm grinning like a fool at the NPGMC revamp. I'm not a web designer nor am I all that savvy with downloading clips. I surfed around yesterday on the HTML version of the site cuz I wasn't in the mood to hassle around with the Flash version. For a two-day old live site, I was happy with what I saw. It was a little sketchy and threadbare, sure. But what two-day-old child do you know that can provide a person with everything he/she needs? I'm guessing there's a paucity of "shades of grey" thinking around here, so screw it: I'm an asskisser. I was a naysayer last year when I was pissed off at the crappy shipping practices. Truth of the matter is, my opinion is a little bit more complex than "either/or", and I suspect everyone else's is as well. It's just, well...EASIER...to cart in two big, cheap boxes and shovel everyone into either one or the other. Yawn.

Well, that was quite a rant, wasn't it? I'm hopeful about what I've seen so far. I'd be cynical and dismissive, but it's not as fun.

Its not so much a club as a computer game and a slow moving one at that. We'll all be laughing our tits off if he tours though!

lovemachine said:


well, year 3 isn't going to make him much money if it continues like this. Year 3 is likely costing him more money to create than year 2, and at least as much money to create as year 1. So to break even he needs at least 4x the number of customers. How do you get more customers with a lower quality product than what you offered before?

If the quality is there, I'm ok with 1/4 of the content for 1/4 of the price. But the quality isn't there.

What have we seen so far from NPGMC 2003.

- One low bitrate song that can't be downloaded and thus someday will be unavailable even to those who paid for it (well some have download it, but the ability to download is purely unintentional and clearly not expected by the club designers).

- 4 videos that are not intended to be downloaded, and which can't even be viewed on a Macintosh.

- 3 remix songs that were only available for a few hours, thus most people who paid to join the club were unable to hear them.

anxiety sexily said:

Truth of the matter is, my opinion is a little bit more complex than "either/or", and I suspect everyone else's is as well.


if y'all could see me, you'd laugh, cuz i'm hootin' and stampin' up a storm. laugh away, muthaduckas!!!

it's only been 2 days. and it's only 25 bucks. and nobody said you had to join the very second it came online - that was your choice. and this is coming from one of the most ardent critics of npgmc year 2 (and hell, half of year 1). just relax and see what happens. put the energy into acquiring new boots and at least you'll be doing yer ears some good. if you have everything as i'm sure some of you do, read possessed - i am, and it's delish. or hey - do something UNprincely.

but either way, give the lil' pimp a couple months to hook us up or screw it up at least, aiight?

and give anxiety a big sloppy kiss next time ya see him...rumour is he's a right swell chap.

how are they going to make it better if we don't point out what's wrong with it? Maybe they think it's fine. Maybe they don't know mac users can't see the videos (their registration page says they should be able to). Maybe they think we're happy with low bitrate files. Everything I've posted here I've also sent NPGMC.

I wasn't a member in years 1 and 2, so what I don't know, didnt hurt me.

As far as year 3 is concerned, I like the club very much. And it is possible to download the music and videos. I did it myself yesterday. Maybe if the folks that have complaints stop griping and asked for a little assistance, those that know how would help.

Layout and design: A (It's beautiful, serene, and inviting.)
Navigation: A (I like exploring and finding hidden treasures.)
Content: A (Since I'm a new member, it's all new to me, and I like it!)
Customer Service: A (I sent an email the first night with a question and I received a reply with an answer, a few hours later, not bad at all, since I wasn't expecting one until today)
Special Events: B (I received my password to last nights launch a few minutes late and I was hoping for a webcam with Prince, but I enjoyed mixes anyway.)

It's only three days old, so my opinions are of what I've experienced so far. Overall, I'm pretty damn happy. I have beautiful club to play in, surrounded by people who enjoy Prince and his music as much as I do.
[This message was edited Mon Apr 21 14:06:46 PDT 2003 by DeVaniti]

I just simply don't understand why we should think that we won't get anything. Of course there are things to come.
Besides, we really can't expect everything for free from now on (for only 25$). If you expect the Vegas DVD without paying for it again, it's your fault.

DeVaniti said:

what I said before was that the fact some are downloading the content is a fluke of the web browser and not part of the club design. And it's something that doesn't even work in all browsers.

In the past, the club was designed to be downloaded. Now it looks more like a mistake - and one they can easilly correct for to make it impossible to download.

Also, the method for download is not something that the average user would get - and not all NPGMC members will be reading prince.org to discover the tricks. If the songs are intended for download, there should be a clear download button.

And to follow your suggestion of asking "those in the know" for assistance. Someone explain to me how Mac users are supposed to watch the videos. So far, nobody has gotten it to work. I can't even watch them, much less download them.

alandail said:

I guess this is just God's way of telling you that Mac's suck

calldapplwondery83 said:

I, for one, don't expect to get the vegas CD as part of the club membership. I do, however, expect to be able to view the club content on my supposedly club supported computer. And I expect that songs that are part of club membership would be both a high bit rate and something I could burn onto a CD to listen to on my stereo.

My expectations are actually pretty low. It would seem that with the time and effort that has gone into putting together the club, my minimal expectations could be met.

- new Prince music
- high bitrate
- video content viewable on a Macintosh
- a "download" button

well, I broke down and decided to view the videos with my PC (which has cheap speakers connected) and wow - Push and Pull is great! I sure wish I could get it to work on my Mac, which has good speakers connected to it.

Fix the mac support and make things easier to download and I may just up my grade on execution from F to B. Is there some way to convert these windows media files into MPEG4s?