I've read all of your responses for the Serious Question for the Board thread and I appreciate the honesty.

And now another questions: What are you expectations of the club?

What would you like to see from the club. But here's the catch, explain to me how Prince can achieve this. I look forward to your honesty. I know you won't hold back.

I expect downloads of unreleased/rare material. We've gotten a little of that, but there needs to be more. Considering the price of the membership this year, I don't expect to see a cd/dvd as part of the membership. They'd probably lose money doing that.

At least first access (if not exclusive) to new releases, and access to good seats if there's a tour. I'd like to see some club exclusive releases one of the ONA concerts/aftershows or something like that, unedited.

A damn decoder ring

I'm not a donkey, I don't expect anything from them anymore !

wyld1 said:

What I'd like to see?

Exclusive CDs of live shows and outtakes available to club members

Front row tickets (when he tours)


What I expect to get?

After "THAT email" ... Nada

wyld1 said:

"expectations"?

you know how prince thinks. he doesn't give a fuck about fan's expectations, they should be surrendered to his whims and those of larry. You can ask all you want to, but prince will do just as the mf himself pleases even if it costs him his entire fanbase.

seeing The NPGMC beat The Org out on Prince & The NPG NEWS would b nice 2 see

I expected Vault III to be a Pay-Per-Download Vault for selected unreleased music (old and/or new). I most definitely expected the U Tell Us section to go horribly wrong one way or the other. And I expected NEWS to have a lot longer exclusivity to members than just a matter of a few weeks (although after ONA Live, I can't work out why I expected that). Oh, and I expected the Vegas DVD to have a PAL version available for European members (and wherever else they have PAL).

Apart from that, whatever comes next will be okay, it's only cost $25 and I feel that I've already had my money's worth.

I for one, was happy that the club was back. The $25 to join, to me, meant that the only perk I would be getting was gaining entrance to the website.

When I saw a forum, and a chatroom, that surprised me a great deal, as I knew eventually the elation of the new site would die down, and as time has shown, opinions on the NPGMC would start to get negative. Not to say they would not be warranted, but that members might start to get frustrated (which they did) by the lack of direct answers to their inquiries. We should not have been surprised by this, as this has been the trend over the years.

The videos, the music from the reflection room, and chatroom interviews with other artists also added greatly to the experience.

Satisfying everyone, well, that just won't happen - there are far too many variables.

I would have liked to see Prince himself make a few appearances, perhaps having his own section on his thoughts and/or opinions directed at his members. Yeah, yeah, I know.

Haystack said:

I really like your idea for Vault III. That would be really cool. But, what made you "expect" that?

This is pretty much what I am getting at. I don't understand where the expectations are coming from.

Nonetheless, I really dig this Vault III idea.

* - Release an full album of new material each year. Sold at least a month or two in advance through the club. Partner with a reliable distributor that can handle a high volume of orders and deliver on time. Make it easy to recieve an immediate refund, if they cannot follow through with your order in a timely fashion. This is at least the third time, paying members haven't recieved their shipments prior to it hitting retail (Crystal Ball, ONA Live, NEWS).

* - The $25 admission fee is fine, the site looks wonderful. A more practical navigation would be appreciated. I was under the impression that the Vault areas would contain some exclusive mp3 downloads of unreleased tracks. What's currently there now, a breif synopsis of his albums with clips, isn't really important to us, as we know this already and own most of these albums.

* - Lighten up on the forum moderation. Prince fans come from all over the world and all walks of life. It shouldn't be a plastic bubble with heavy handed moderation. When you walk around in public, you're subject to all kinds of language, even things you may be offended by. But that's life. The more they try to block it, the more people are going to make it a point to push buttons.

* - And most importantly. If you want to do something unconventional with members, such as some new way to distribute music, assistance in building a case against WB, whatever, please think it through thoroughly, and explain it in as much detail as possible to avoid confusion and speculation. False promises amd vague messages are the number one cause of arguments. Prince fans can be very obsessed, and as a result, very tempermental.

LaVisHh said:

hey V is back!

Joshy said:

Hello, Joshy

hey Wyld1.

in answer to your question i think it would be great - no, make that IMPERATIVE - that NPGMC for once and for all gets its act together and treat members (who paid extra $ for the 'privilege' of ordering NEWS directly through the club), like VIPS by making sure that members who 'pre-ordered' receive the CD BEFORE THE REST OF THE WORLD.

as to how prince can achieve this it's not that hard really, it just means making sure the people who work for him are competent professionals who do their jobs well.

Tom said:

I KISS YOU!!!

This is a brilliant sentiment.

I think the moderation will be less heavy-handed with time and experience gained. I think it's the mark of a wet-behind-the-ears moderator to go heavy on the deletions, and with time they'll understand there are more beneficial ways to impose control over their environment...but then again, we ARE talking about Mr. Control Freak Supreme here, so maybe that aspect of the club will never improve.

I would LOVE it if NPGMC would just put a little thought into their grand schemes of the moment. That's really the only thing I *expect* - just a bit of forethought.

I know, I know...too much to ask!








wrecka stow edit
[This message was edited Tue Jul 29 11:18:39 PDT 2003 by Anxiety]

Simple - over the years so far I would have liked to have seen more new music ( I know there was plent y in year 1) and a willingness to give it.

We allknow that Prince has a huge wealth of tracks sitting collecting dust - so what explanation could there be for him filling up a good 10 new songs space in Year 1 with already released stuff like Horny Pony, Thieves in the Temple etc etc. My only conclusion can be money for old rope.

Secondly..why be such an arse??? Why not use teh club to bring people together with music instead of causing arguments (they prefer 'debate') about highly contoversial and often phobic issues.

Thirdly - How about taking a little responsibility for problems and taking on board peoples comments ...instead all we get is " actually we didnt say this" (no but you fucking implied it 300%) or we get genuine fan comments deleted from existence incase people should see them and agree.

What the club needs to make it better is Music (NEW Music), freedom and a sense of responsibility instead of the moral 'Dress code' they have on the door or teh attitude that you can coem in but you better not put a foot wrong or speak out of time.

We know our place master...we are just there to pay the bills.

THE END

Lav...Im really glad you are happy with this years club and that you get membership to the site.

But what exactly do you get membership to is the real question - yes it pretty but apart from a chat room that is heavily censored not to mention provocative (in a bad way) at times, or a now deleted forum that they took no notice of...there is nothing there.

There are samples of songs we all own, videos of other artists, a dog which does sod all and a collection of religious rantings in a specialy designed room...thats not a music club. Its just a collection of rooms taht are now ,what, 5 months old?

wyld1 said:

The fact that it wasn't open from day one suggested that there was going to be something a little more interesting than yet more samples from Prince's already released catalogue of work. Sure, it was where we first heard about NEWS, but why bother making Vault III so secret at the beginning, if not to make members think that something 'special' was going to be in there. Prince and the Club knew damn well that people would be curious about what was in the Vault and come to various conclusions. Much like when somebody puts a wrapped gift in front of you and tells you that you can't open it until your birthday, you look and wonder what's going to be in it - you don't just say 'Oh I've no expectations about the gift'.

It's the same with the VS room. They know that we're going to be getting all sorts of ideas about what's inside and are happy to let us carry on pondering and creating our own expectation about it. It's human nature to expect something, especially when something is presented in such a mysterious nature - we know that there must be something behind that door... But what?

But then, this is what the NPGMC thrives on. Giving vague hints and riddles about things that we'll never see, or will only turn out to offer us nothing new, but they know that we're addicted to the music and will probably pay up in the hope that one day we're going to get something that truly makes us glad that we're members. I'm not talking about the concert perks here, I'm talking about the music content.

And what about the Glam Slam VIP room? Opened for a very short time at the start of the year and hasn't opened again to date. Didn't that room create an expectation? An expectation that it would be open again within the three months since?

But as I pointed out in my original post - for now it doesn't matter. To become a member, you had to pay $25 and were given no written expectations. However everybody who joins that club will have expectations from it and it would be a liar who said that they didn't have any, whether it be expecting music (it's a Music Club, after all) or some kind of exclusivity, even if it's only temporary exclusivity.

So, now could we have your answer to your own question, please?

Peace.

I agree with the sentiment of your post, but all one has to do is listen to the train wreck of a "dj" that Prince hires to host parties at the Park and tour with him, and you'll know that he will never hire competent professionals.

He hires yes-men, and downright stupid ones at that.

XxAxX said:

After listening to Prince talk about the 500 unreleased tracks he has in his vault for 15 years, how could you NOT expect that "The Vault" would contain unreleased music?

It's not even acceptable as a discography, shit. I got a bootleg discography from a Billy Jack Stud recently which puts that inaccurate, incomplete "Vault" one to shame.

wyld1 said:

XxAxX said:

I think making sure that "everyone" receives preordered items first that are mailed out is technically impossible, although it should be the goal. Using a more reliable service like Fed-ex for all packages is cost prohibitive. Unless Prince hand delivers every cd to every members home, there's no way to ensure that something won't get delayed in the mail. Competent or not, shit happens.

That said, they could definitely add more time between the NPGMC orders and the public release to try and lessen the issue.

theblueangel said:

Hasn't Prince hired Eric Leeds on several occasions? Are you insinuating that the great Mr. Leeds is nothing but a stupid yes-man?

These people...John Blackwell, Candly Dulfer, Eric Leeds etc etc..are pretty much yes men. What career do they have outside Prince...you can bet your bottom dollar that nobody would have heard of them if it wasnt for Prince (I guess soembody will prove me wrong).

So why do tehy do gigs with Prince, sure maybe cuz hes a great musician but I bet the main reason is the crowd and the pay that comes with saying YES to the little man - 3000 a night with Prince in a stadium or 30 punters down the Dog and Duck...you chose Mr Leeds
[This message was edited Tue Jul 29 14:35:16 PDT 2003 by purpledoveuk]

purpledoveuk said:

I just didn't have any expectations for the $25 is all, to me, it felt like a subscription to the website, which is becoming common on the web these days.

Thats cool - $25 isnt a lot to many folk...but you must have had some type of expectation. If you had paid $25 for example just to look at the fountain for 1 year even you must be miffed. I thin everyone had expectations to some degree (more than others).

the other point is,yes its only $25 and we shouldnt expect much at all...but why not do something good and charge more. Afterall this is now the main/only way for Prince to interact with his fans...wouldnt you put some effort into your only resource.

Whats my point...hmmm, maybe its that if you went and bought a Prince related boxed item from a shop and got home only to find it wasnt empty you would be miffed so surely its worse that Prince is selling his own form of boxed item (in the fact that the club was 'sealed' when we joined = no let on of what was inside) and is quite happy to do it directly to the fans.

I think thats my point

Fabulous input, I think I love this thread

I agree with everything Anx, Lav, Tom and XxAxX said.
I just wanna add a couple of things that were above and beyond my expectations for NPGMC 2003.

* the technology - The site is well made, has loads of features, everything works most of the time and they're much better prepared for peaks in their bandwidth needs.
A thought-out content management system is running behind all this that allows them to change many things all over the site. I suspect some changes are on an automated schedule.
Technologically it's leaps and bounds beyond anything NPGMC attempted to do before.

* the drama of it all - From the seemingly random appearances of the letters N.E.W.S. on the floor of the main hall in the days before they announced it, to the Moors in Spain... From the pharaoh email to the invitation only rooms (yall realize that one of those invite only rooms is the one where they sell tickets, right? )
So far it has been a very dynamic experience, and the first ever NPGMC site that feels like it truly has Prince's blood pumping through its arteries... I think the site represents him well and it’s cool we all get to take this rollercoaster ride through prince land.

good points m3taverse

i should have said how much i like the site. I LIKE THE SITE A LOT! there.

So, now could we have your answer to your own question, please?

Peace.[/quote]


You are correct in saying that everyone does have expectations. I had expectations too. I expected music. That's what I've gotten. I also expected an experience. Exactly what kind of experience, I had no expectation. See, I like to be surprised. I like different things. I've liked all 3 years of the NPGMC. If I had to choose which year was best, I definitely preferred year 1.

But as far as the Vault goes, I realized Vault III would be just like I and II. There was nothing to indicate that it would be otherwise.

A lot of the situations that have arisen during this year have come from individuals perceptions. I am looking at this from the perspective of output. Since January 1, 2003, we have received 2 full albums (Xpectation and NEWS), downloaded song (Reflection), Music samples from musicology, and soon a DVD of the concert. I think that output is good. When Prince was at WB, he could never do anything like this.

I am happy with the club. As far as some people not receiving their NEWS album and the various situations where stuff didn't get delivered, you have a very legitimate complaint. I have received everything I've ordered from the club promptly.

I only asked this question to see if everyone would reflect on this situation. Just to see if maybe you're asking a bit much, or maybe you created these expectations without provocation.

Some of you guys have really good ideas and I hope Prince listens to them. But then, if he doesn't, oh well. Life goes on. I've been a Prince fan since the Dirty Mind Album. My life doesn't revolve around Prince. I've been fortunate enough to pretty much have a new Prince album just about every year since getting into him. If the music stopped, life would still go one.

Peace and b wyld

purpledoveuk said:

The $25 was described as a "donation" right off the bat. I'm no lawyer, but in my mind, that lifted all obligations from their part. At the same time, it was much more reasonable than $100.00, so I was game for it this time around.

The admission price was comparable to what you would pay for any other exclusive web site.

With that in mind, they could totally run the club into the ground this year, and I'm not gonna feel ripped off. I paid much less, and I was promised much less, so its all good.

Oh yes tehy are very clever with words...but why would any club WANT to get out of giving you stuff right from day one?

If that was the aim,and they wanted to do it honestly, wouldnt you have a free site with pay elements. more to the point do you think they would have taken a donation for less?