This came from Dr FB: www.drfunkenberry.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


PRINCE ANNOUNCES MUCH ANTICIPATED LAUNCH OF NEW LOTUSFLOW3R.COM
WEBSITE ON MARCH 24, 2009 WITH UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS TO
NEW AND OLD CONTENT INCLUDING NEW ALBUMS, CONCERT TICKETS AND CONCERT FOOTAGE

The Site Will Allow Members to Download New Studio Albums LOtUSFLOW3R, MPLSoUND, and
Elixer, a collaboration with his new protégé Bria Valente, as Part of the Annual Membership Fee
Prior to Release in Target Stores

ON THE EVENING OF THE LAUNCH, PRINCE WILL PLAY THREE SEPARATE SHOWS ACROSS THE LOS ANGELES AREA TO SUPPORT THE NEW SITE

Los Angeles, CA…March 16, 2009 – In an unprecedented effort to manage his own content, Prince is proud to announce the official launch of his new, highly anticipated website LotusFlow3r.com on March 24th, 2009. As soon as the site goes live, fans will have access to new content including digital downloads of his new studio albums LOtUSFLOW3r, MPLSoUND and Elixer, a collaboration with his new protégé Bria Valente; concert tickets; sneak peaks at upcoming events; live concert footage; exclusive imagery from past albums and other exclusive photos for an annual membership fee of $77. Throngs of fans have already signed up on the existing beta version of the website for email updates and are waiting in the wings to become members and experience the world of Prince in a whole new way.

On the evening of March 24th, Prince will be performing at three different locations with three different bands throughout the Los Angeles area. How he plans to do this is still a mystery and even his musicians are not sure of all the details, but Prince fans have come to expect the unexpected. In addition, it was previously announced that Prince will play an unprecedented three nights in a row on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 25th, 26th and 27th and will return to help Leno end his reign on the late night show by performing on his next to last show on May 28th.

LotusFlow3r.com is an entire interactive galaxy, conceived by Prince and created by Scott Addison Clay and Anthony Malzone, that takes the Prince fans into three distinctly different worlds emanating the feel of the three new albums in a high-end 3-D style design. Currently, the beta version of the site hosts new tracks “Colonized Mind” from the new LOtUSFLOW3r album, “DiscoJellyfish” from the new MPLSoUND album and “Another Boy” from Elixer with Bria. In addition, the site is slated to release a new music video from each of the three albums on the launch date including “Crimson and Clover” from LOtUSFLOW3r, “Chocolate Box” from MPLSoUND and “Everytime” from Elixer. Prince also plans to give his fans access to tickets to live shows, concert footage from past performances, exclusive imagery from his past albums and other exclusive photos, exclusive information about any private or secret shows, as well as exclusive content that will only be available in the first week of the site launch and may never become available again. Fans who join the site early will also receive a boutique-quality “Founding Member” t-shirt that displays the central image from the galaxy. Over time, Prince will continue to give fans more access to high-end never released photos and video content and much more.

Prince collaborated with Malzone and Clay throughout the design and development of the entire website. In fact, the three often fed off of each other’s creative ideas. For instance, Prince wrote the music for the track “DiscoJellyfish,” which inspired Malzone, who visualized a design and took to his computer programs to design graphics and artwork to communicate the feel of the song, which then, upon seeing the designs, further inspired Prince to continue to write the song. Everything within this galaxy is a creative portal derived from the brilliant mind of Prince, beautifully executed by Malzone and Clay.

Newsweek.com has exclusively released the new cover art for Bria’s Elixer and Prince’s MPLSoUND albums: click here for Newsweek story .

Since his debut in 1978, Prince has had numerous hits on the Billboard Charts. In 2004, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has won six GRAMMY® awards, an Academy Award® and a Golden Globe®. From the moment he stepped onto the music scene, he has captivated fans with his continual reinvention as an artist and remains one of the most celebrated performers of all time. In 2006, Prince won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 10th Annual Webby Awards. The founder of the awards called Prince “a visionary, who recognized early on that the web would completely change how we experience music.”

What do you think of that purple funk?-Dr.FB

UPDATE!

the old press release says there will be 3 shows March 24th around town. It will actually be the 28th now. (locations still TBD.)

I think my $77 is as good as spent, is what I think.

<--- will own a "founding member" tee

i gots bills . alright, here's my money, prince

purplecam said:

very interesting..

HA HA!!!

love it!!!!

Well I already stated that I'm spending my $77 on this and the more info comes our way, the more excited I am with what could come about with this site. I hope all this materializes.
[Edited 3/16/09 12:24pm]

purplecam said:

Same here, but I didn't tell the whole world ex US to f%$K off.

not 2 b picky ,,but shouldn't this b in the lotusflower discussion forum?

c there needs 2 b a disclaimer whether it's about the website our just music related

Dearest Prince,

I am not joining lotusflow3r until I know EXACTLY what I am getting. I got burned last time. $100 for "Last December", "Madrid 2 Chicago", and 2 other albums that never came. The only for sure thing mentioned is the 3 album set which is at retail for 1/7th of the price of membership.

Tell me I get stuff I only got on boots so far and I will pony up $77 gladly. But I want a concrete answer, not "Lots of new stuff and old stuff" because "old stuff" could mean a picture of you from your Purple Rain days. I have google if I want to see you in briefs Let ur fams know details, P.

Love,
Spanky

What is "exclusive imagery from past albums"?

He can keep his photoshopped pictures to himself, as far as I'm concerned.



"...as well as exclusive content that will only be available in the first week of the site launch and may never become available again."

That's just great.

That was one terribly written press release.

purplecam said:

not to be a party pooper but am i the only one who thinks there is no such thing as "exclusive" on the web.

blacksweat said:

Ahh. I was frustrated when I wrote that and I was wrong with that line. Now that I've cooled off, I do hope that all works out for everyone across the world to be able to get the CD's without there being any problems.

My question is at what time will the site launch on 3/24??

If it's live on the morning of I feel a cold coming on...gonna have to call in sick!!

ok, so this is the deal, then.

You get:

1. dl the 3 lps

2. access to gigs

3. unspecified vids and pix.

Now, US residents can get no. 1 for much less, however they may sign up to get no. 2.
For non-US residents, no. 2 is irrelevant, but no. 1 may be their only (legal) option to get the new music.

In other words, nearly NO ONE will be getting their $'s worth on the $77.
OTOH, wily old Prince is cleverly snookering everyone into joining...

(don't think I will, money's very tight here right now...)

<---Goes to clear his calendar for the 24th...


I will be happy to add this T-shirt to my collection.

And I'm way looking forward to the rest of it as well.

I think my next tat will be "sucka" in purple text. cause he's gettin' my 77! I'm in!

2020 said:

Yup, I think alot of us are feeling the same way.
How many of us actually have the 77.00 put aside for this membership fee?
How many of us cut certain things out just to pay for the "access" to his vault?

All I know is its well worth the 77.00...

Efan said:

Looks like it's you and me!

Genesia said:

These others will be very jealous of our high-fashion T-shirts!

Genesia said:

Let me join in with you guys!

What do you think of that purple funk?-Dr.FB

From article:

Sounds good to me.
[Edited 3/16/09 13:21pm]

Efan said:

purplecam said:

You got it. I daresay you have been more excited about this website than almost anybody else.

blacksweat said:

I'd say it's very telling!

EmeraldSkies said:

priceless

wasitgood4u said:

Do you have inside info on where he will be performing over the next 12 months??