My experience with the NPG Music Club (Prince)


Just thought some here might be interested in my recent experience with Prince's website, the NPG Music Club.

Now I've been a Prince fan for a long time, I'm well aware of what he's trying to accomplish with the website and think that eventually he, along with others, are on the right track with direct distriubtion and ticket sales, etc.

I'm also well aware of the shortcomings, business-wise, of his previous efforts in direct marketing, etc..... but knowing all this and being a fan, I figured I take a chance and join with the idea of getting presale tickets to his new tour.

Joining was no problem, $25 on the credit card and I was in. I'm not sure what I expected as far as content on the website.... I knew it was set up something like a really lame version of the Myst game, but I figured there would be some videos and audio clips on there... and those, along with the presale ticket would make the $25 worthwhile.

Sadly, that was not the case, there were NO videos.... that section was closed for "remodeling" Okay, the guy has been doing video stuff for over 25 years and he's got ZERO video on the website!? Shouldn't the one benefit of being in a 'virtual house' is there is no remodeling.... oh, nevermind...

How about music? That would be cool, some B-sides, jams, or something? I found exactly one song on the site. So much for the 'Music Club' concept. I've seen more engaging webistes by local bands with video, music, etc Oh well, at least there are the presale tickets.... my main purpose at this point.

I saw Prince on the One Nite Alone tour last year, I paid $100 for my ticket in a mid-size theater and got to see one of the best 3 hours conerts I've seen. This was far better that the past arena shows I've seen him play in the past where he just does snippets of his hits and everyone goes home unsatisfied. Personally, I like the more obscure songs that never make radio.... but to each their own, with
such a hig back catalog, no one is ever going to hear everything they want to in one show.

He had a chance to really stretch out and the ticket price was money well spent in my opinion as he played alot of lesser known stuff as well as most of the Rainbow Children, the new cd at the time. Which came across far better live than on the cd, mainly due to the fact there was no annoying robot voice over all the songs.

*sidenote *

Sadly, the live DVD that followed was a dismal disappointment, taking only snippets of the show I saw ... more like "highlights" or "lowlights" as some of the best stuff was not included.

Anyway, at one point during the concert, he announced all the NGPMC people should raise their hands, and the entire front half of the theater, did in fact, raise thier hands.
The lesson being if you were a club member you'd get the "good seats". So.... lesson learned, I decided next time he came to town, I'd get in on the presale and sit up front.

So fast forward a year or two, I am NPGMC member (albiet slightly disappointed that I paid $25 for what is basicly some Prince forums) and I'm waiting on the presale which was to happen at 10am

So I logged on, credit card handy and waited..... and waited

10:00 am .....no presale.

10:15 am ..... no presale

Hmmmmm....check the newsgroup forum, everyone else is waiting too, no one knows...

10:30 am ..... no presale

No word from online moderators, many posts wondering what is going on.

10:45 am ..... no presale

11:00 am ..... no presale

At that point, I went off to the Art Museum to see the new glass exhibit as I already had plans that day and life is too short to wait for someone to decided if they want to sell $80 concert tickets or not.

I get back later in the day, and indeed, the presale is now on. Cool. I try to buy a ticket.

I type in all my info, put in my credit card info, press the continue button.... click....hmmmm.. back to the first screen? Thats strange, did it get my order or not? I don't know.

There are no ticket refunds, so I want to be sure they did not charge my credit card before I try again.... and frankly, after the start time fiasco, I don't have much confidence in their system. Its funky as promised, but not in a good way.

The 'My account' is showing nothing, but who knows how long it might take to process? Like I said, I had an uneasy feeling about the whole operation at that point.

So I post a queston on the Newsgroup forum and send a email into the help desk then go out to lunch, Because, life is short and if they don't want to sell tickets.... fine.

I come back an hour later and no reply from the help desk and the MODERATOR HAS DELETED MY POST! WHAT!!!!????

Not only that, they have deleted ALL posts that had to do with the late start time of the presale. This is not a good sign. That means someone is more interested in covering things up than fixing them. That is a scary way to run a e-commerce site.

Now, I'm just annoyed. I don't even want a ticket. I don't even want to go back to the website. I'm not sure I even care about his new CD now, If I buy it, I'll be sure to buy it used. I'm totally indifferent at this point.

(BTW - I'm not big on downloading as I did'nt buy $2000 studio monitors to listen to compressed MP3s. I like the full uncompressed file)

The $25 I paid a paid as a NPG membership? Its a wash, no big deal.... like a bad meal at a restaurant, I won't complain... I just won't go back.

Which is a shame since a simple email or post explaining what went wrong might have fixed things.... instead they choose to delete it and pretend it did'nt happen. Not a good idea as far as longterm customer service. Its a bit shortsighted.

Oh well, although they got $25 out of me now, they've lost much, much more than that in future ticket, CD and DVD sales down the road as I am now disinclined to buy anything else relating Prince.... and his whole business model depends on the NPG store. This is a disappointing end to what could have been a really cool experience.

However, There is a silver lining to this story.

After all this happened yesterday, I found out David Bowie announced a new show nearby and the presale starts on Monday.

VERY COOL! I've been wanting to see Bowie for a long time and he's playing a small theater. I'm very excited and ironically, the tickets are the same price. Hopefully the presale will go better on Bowie's website.... who knows?

This should be a lesson to all industry people out there, if you drop the ball on customer service, there will always be competition that will happily take your customers away..... even if you are a musical genius/legend.

I'm posting this because I care about Prince and his fans and his legacy, and I think this kinda shit cheapens it...(just trying to avoid some flaming...I love the club!! I just don't want a couple bad PeePees giving it a bad name).

Swiped from TheVelvetRope discussion forum:



http://velvetrope.com/ubb...o=&fpart=1

Just to clarify, this was a quote from someone I don't know on another online message board...I thought it would be interesting to share with us hardcores.

I had a COMPLETELY SMOOTH experience buying tickets from the NPG this last Saturday. It was STELLAR!!!!

And SensualMelody, thanks for pointing out stuff like the pop-up blocker...obviously this person has a very impatient personality and probably pays no attention to stuff like that (I know most people never read FAQs or anything like that...unlike me, who reads everything habitually).

I guess the part that makes me sad is that the moderators delete this guy's posts...it's embarassing. It's like a tacit admission of guilt on their part...yet it's so arrogant too.

Ugh, I dunno. I was just thinking about my .... mother.

You know what? Turn the stereo back down, ain't nothing worse than a old worn-out love song...

Sing it with me Klaatu!

Just to clarify, this was a quote from someone I don't know on another online message board...I thought it would be interesting to share with us hardcores.

I had a COMPLETELY SMOOTH experience buying tickets from the NPG this last Saturday. It was STELLAR!!!!

And SensualMelody, thanks for pointing out stuff like the pop-up blocker...obviously this person has a very impatient personality and probably pays no attention to stuff like that (I know most people never read FAQs or anything like that...unlike me, who reads everything habitually).

I guess the part that makes me sad is that the moderators delete this guy's posts...it's embarassing. It's like a tacit admission of guilt on their part...yet it's so arrogant too.

Ugh, I dunno. I was just thinking about my .... mother.

You know what? Turn the stereo back down, ain't nothing worse than a old worn-out love song...

Sing it with me Klaatu!