Firstly and most importantly, we would like to apologise to all supporters of the PFU initiative for the phenomenal amount of time it's taken to provide an update. We felt it is now time to provide an update on progress to date and to explain some of the reasons for the delays in updating the site.

Since the formation of Prince Fans United last November, we were immediately contacted by representatives of Prince and asked for assistance in resolving matters both short and long term. An immediate agreement was put in place (the terms of which we cannot discuss as per the agreement) in order to assist with focus on putting together a landmark agreement that would provide the basis for all artists to interact with their fans on the Internet. The whole team involved in the drafting of this agreement felt that this was a great chance for Prince to again demonstrate thought leadership and innovation with regards to fan interaction.

A draft agreement was submitted to the NPG team some time ago which involved a great deal of work by not only the PFU team but also with the assistance of Web Sheriff who have constantly strived to understand and appreciate the concerns of both artist and fans alike.

Unfortunately for reasons which are still unclear at this point in time, no response has been received from the NPG team other than multiple requests for patience and understanding. With the apparent withdrawal from the internet by Prince, the subsequent closure of all NPG websites, and online discussions to date we can only speculate as to the reasoning for this. We have seen discussion on multiple sites of Prince being against the very ethos of the Internet and and can only assume this is part of the rationale for this lack of progress.


Subsequently, the PFU team have been attempting to liaise with AEG (Prince's touring representatives) to secure fan representation through priority booking for the upcoming tour dates and through online viewing of new videos and tour broadcasts. However, rather frustratingly these have been agreed to and then subsequently either withdrawn or again requests for patience have been offered with no success.

At this point in time, we are continuing to request clarification from representatives of NPG Records of their aims, desires and demands for fan interaction on the internet, and aim to continue to represent fan's rights to openly discuss and support their favourite musician without fear of retribution of unfair legal action. The whole PFU team continue to support Prince's campaign to remove illegal content from the internet but believe that the removal of fan owned photographs and non Prince copyrighted material is not the way forward.

It now appears that the legal threats sent to each member site in November have been suspended, however we have yet to receive any formal notification that Prince fans will not see further unjustified legal action. The Prince Fans United initiative will remain in place until those concerns have been satisfied and the reasonable request for a long lasting agreement can be put in place.

Many thanks again for your patience and your continued support.

Gavin McLaughlin
on behalf of Prince Fans United

http://www.princefansunited.com
[Edited 3/17/08 1:55am]

sticky.

thx 4 the update.
the apparent suspension of threats is a good sign, but def wouldn't hold breath 4 a formal backdown...i really don't c him doing tht
- unless it's in a song

Thanks Gav.

Now you know what its like for the Paisley Park/NPG employees! Treated like mushrooms....

SquirrelMeat said:

And I thought my boss was a turd.

Milty said:

Home page!





Gav,

Thank you so much for the update.

interesting...thanks.

OK

Thanks for the update.


I'm getting to the point now where I'm appreciating this whole situation as another part of the Prince ride. I'm sort of taking a step back and simply seeing it as a situation, rather than letting it affect me.

I'm used to Prince acting in a way that I can't understand by now and so aren't quite as affected by it as I once may have been. I know that Prince will still continue to release music in some way or other and I appreciate that sometimes (hell, often) he hasn't got a clue how fandom works, nor how to both please and use fans as a way to promote his work. But this isn't something new - he couldn't even get Crystal Ball right back in 1998.

As I pointed out in another thread - if Prince really has turned his back on the internet, it's a very interesting move. Once more, he's gone in a completely different direction to everybody else out there right now.

'Prince moves in mysterious ways' Fact: Chapter 7, verses 31 to 21.

weird how now nobody cares!

jonylawson said:

They are probably too busy waiting for the "Prince in lilac" picture thread to start up.

For the record which are we?

thanks

littlemissG said:

My guess is you are a person wasting their time.

ben?

Milty said:

Agreed

They were just trying to scare people into submission.

When do we ever know what's goin' on...

It looks like PFU is trying to buy Prince securing thmslves as much direct axcess to Him as they can.
he's not after money, at least it's not his priority. he's after control and power.

is it a war at this point?

Gav said:

Fuck Prince is a big-headed, egotistical maniac in his old age. He's become a cunt, plan and simple.

Time to torrent

Hef Years

looks like he got tired of this toy
he's moved on to the next
that's one thing that's always been predictable about him

Like 311 said, "to go against for its own sake, you're still governed by the choice that the other one makes" or something.

Haystack said:

Gav said:

That's like saying we should tear down all the churches because there are too many strip clubs! Between the web-shithead and his beliefs he is a rusty nail..fugetaboutit. Prince = backcatalog and old bootlegs. P had one hell of a run.

THANKS 2 PRINCE FOR ALL THE GREAT MUSIC OVER THE YEARS..YOU HAVE 10'S OF THOUSANDS OF MY $$$! TIME TO RIDE OFF INTO THE SUNSET.

thedoorkeeper said:

And AEG must be the corporate scammers, altho obviously Prince hasn't cut ties with them.

I'll repeat what I said on HQ:

I do not believe in "landmark, long term agreements" between supplier and consumer when their relationship is based in technology. I feel it's naive to assume you can look into the future in this context, it should be obvious that a rapidly changing "marketplace" cannot be nailed down in a document made by people in their spare time, hoping to avoid legal action.
I'll note that I also don't believe any type of agreement can be made with Prince, based on my perception of his personality.
This either goes to court, or the PFU sites will make more concessions over time.

I´m really ready with him. After 23 years, being a fan of prince I´m such angry on him, that I even get aggressiv, hearing his music in the backround in a store.

I mean the silly prices (much to high) for his concerts partly in London in Cork are only a sign of greed of money. What the hell, does Prince, his management, Paisley Park or whoever thinks. We fans are normal people and not the rich Ones of LA. I can´t understand, why so much fans pay this. Ok. Prince is one, when not the best musician, I´ve ever konwn, but sorry not 130 € for 2,5 hours music. I would come from Germany, so I would have much more costs, e.g. hotel, flight)

And the thing with PFU is only a thing of power, controll, ignorance and of not-communication.

It´s such sad to see that Prince has lost the feeling for the reality of normal people and life. Such behavior of ignorance and arrogance is unbelievable.

the guy is a bell end.

Prince will need to use the web in some way due to the reliance of it in modern society.

Of course, pornographers and corporate scammers and time-wasters are on the internet, as they are EVERYWHERE in society. However, if Prince wishes to contact his fanbase he will be forced into using it somehow, even if he just deals direct with iTunes (perhaps an exclusive page with them) or runs a mailing list direct to email accounts.

Even if Prince was correct in his judgment of the internet (which sounds a little cynical to me, if true) the presence of such people would not reflect what he is doing. It is akin to not opening a shop in a high street because their is a 'sex shop' there or because kids hang about wasting time drinking cider at the Arcade down the road.

Danke schoen for the update.
It appears that mr. P doesn't know what he wants, doesn't know how to put it or maybe that he has changed his mind once more.