I received this in my weekly email from the Standard regarding Internet music:



Prince Saddles Up the Subscription Pony



Teetering on the fine line dividing the sincerely loveable from the
vaguely creepy, the artist formerly known as the Artist Formerly Known
as Prince (now just known as Prince) has given fans and sneering
journalist-types plenty of fodder over the years. Self-indulgent,
madly prolific and slyly subversive, Prince announced his latest salvo
this week: the launch of his new online subscription service, the NPG
Music Club (www.npgmusicclub.com), which "is now officially open 2
members and ready 4 downloading!" Take that, music industry! According
to Reuters, the basic service will set you back $7.77 per month, and
premium annual memberships go for $100. What will that chunk of change
get you? Wacky fun with letters and numbers, for one, but also: "U
will b given access 2 an xclusive array of xperiences from Prince &
The New Power Generation, including new unreleased trax, live events,
multimedia features, special merchandise items, concert deals and much
more." As if that weren't annoying enough, we're also told that "Ur
emales have been xtremely valuable in advancing 4ward." But once you
get past that sort of thing, props go out to the one-time glyph for
sticking to his paisley-patterned guns; his disagreements with the
major-label system are downright legendary. Now he joins the likes of
Todd Rundgren and David Bowie - who've launched their own online
subscription services - to "effectively eliminate the need 4 any
intermediates between the Artist and U. With no middleman, let the
freedom reign." Weigh two gough!