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PrintableTom said: Shorty said: Saxjedi said: That was quite a good article.
I don't agree with the statement about the 'organic' nature of the club - that it connects the members and the music. That was true of year 1, but this year you wouldn't even know there was a club - it's just a 'preferred customer' kinda thing. Would you agree that it's a hell of alot closer to being organic than the current industry standard? the club is still trying new methods...experimenting...I don't think they said it was perfect right? I agree that year one was better than year 2, (for those of us who could download that is) so far...but lets wait and complain when year 2 is over eh? I like this article...and I think it's a direct response to specific comments made here about how he shoulda stayed with WB or that he should go back. For me that article says way more than I ever thought he'd tell us. Thanx man. People would not walk into a record store and gladly pay $25 for a CD that doesnt exist yet. With the club he can get people to do that. I think...You missed the point I go to a big chain grocery store, I am absolutely sure that they will have cucumbers, carrots, mushrooms, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes...etc.. and for a reasonable price, but I have no idea what chemicals were used on those veggies, or where they are from, or how old they are. To save time and money I sometimes buy these veggies. I also go to my local farmers market to get fresh organic veggies. I am not sure at all what veggies will be for sale, but I do know there will be organic veggies, from local farms for sale. They will cost a little more, but I choose to pay it because I know that the produce I buy will be chemical free, will taste much better and my money goes right to the farmer who grew the crop. "not a fan"  yeah...ok | |
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if Prince ever loses His On Stage Talent as a Musician then He Should take up Comedy because He is good at being funny which is what most of His Commentary Reminds Me of.Symbol too Me was More Interesting than TRC because it was in Fun.while OverProduced&Desperate it still felt like Him unlike Now.
Your opinion There are things about all of his CD's that I don't like.. Now mine and others I've heard: TRC sounds like his earliest work, "For You" and "Prince". It's what most Lover/Hater/Jealous/Obsessive/Psychos wanted him to go back to.. It's what the "Neo-Soul" artists hinted that he return to [and its an era that some of them wish to "clone"] He does so... With no rappers.. No Hip-hop influences.. Rave reviews despite negative response to its spiritual, and political content. Now, these "Over-critics" want him to go back to what they complain about... Really, I think that most people with similar views as yours are really spoiled by P's talent.. They are "fence-riders" who only want to appreciate his work if he' #1. Then, they can wear their "Prince's # 1 Fan" button and not feel too old,or radical. Other "over-critics" [in so many word] just want Prince fans to realize that he doesn't have "it" anymore.. (Who really has "it" now? Do I really want "it"?) If Prince does everything they suggest, he still would not appease them. They just want to "run him into the ground" so that there is hope for the next CD. These people are sick. They don't want anyone to like his current work.. They don't want him to go away [retire]. they will not stop waiting for the next CD. They will pay for the next one. They will keep coming to Prince.org, and hope to "influence" fans to their Collective. Do they have anything better to listen to? I doubt it. | |
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jseven said: Posted on the Music Club Site.
Did not see any other story on this yet. http://www.npgmusicclub.c...m-pt1.html Freedom, Pt. 1: Retrospeculation Speculating about the past is, 4 obvious reasons, a rather sterile xercise, especially when it’s used as an xcuse 2 indulge in unjustified nostalgia 4 things that never were. what happened to the old addage that if we don't learn from the past, we're only bound to repeat it? “In retrospect,” some say, “Prince should have stayed with WB… He had enough artistic freedom under his contract… He would have continued 2 evolve as an artist and would have been able 2 continue using the logistics of a major record company 2 distribute and promote his art…” etc. etc.
here, here! Not Ready 4 It
Such speculation is all, of course, utter nonsense. Had it not been 4 Prince’s Emancipation, there would b no Rainbow Children, no One Nite Alone. correct! there would have been about 5-7 albums of higher quality output in between instead of us having to wait around 5 years for him to get back on track. the middle man knows how to demand quality from him. sadly, the middle man is gone 
Simply put, albums such as The Rainbow Children and One Nite Alone could never have come out on a major label.
are we supposed to be sad about this? A major label would never have granted Prince the artistic freedom he needed 2 create and release The Rainbow Children.
no, they would have demanded that he make a concise power-packed release instead of some meandering religious noodling. The album had no singles or videos. It was not “promoted” thru any TV appearances. It was PRO-moted (i.e. given its forward movement) purely by the freedom that presided at its inception.
no singles? not true. there was a japanese single and there's a promo for She Loves Me 4 Me going around adult r&b stations. Compare that 2 Lovesexy in 1988. Prince never wanted 2 do a video 4 that album either. He also never wanted a single released — hence the CD with no tracking.
untrue again. he wanted singles released. in fact, just as Glam Slam was about to be released, he really really wanted to replace it with Lovesexy The album was the creation of a unique artistic vision, and Prince was coerced by his label in2 treating it as a commodity 4 consumers. Videos were made, singles were pressed, charts were topped — but the whole process diluted the very essence of the album, and it was promptly deemed a “failure,” simply because the industry was not ready 4 this type of artistic approach.
uh huh. and how does this reconcile with the fact that from 92-95, he was making videos for almost every song he recorded that would never see the light of day, let alone be used to promote a single? A Losing Proposition
It still isn’t ready 4 it. In fact, the industry is now less ready than ever 4 this type of artistic approach. is this admitting failure of the movement Prince is trying to start? The commodification of music has continued at an unrelenting pace. 4 a long time now, the music and entertainment industry has been utterly unable 2 accommodate alternative, unique artistic visions.
obviously. why? because that's how they started and have never tried to be anything more. why does he think anyone heard his music in the first place? because a record label wanted to make money off of him and he wanted to make money off of them. It has succeeded in implementing an artistic vaccuum which recycles the same tired musical ideas and sells them as “new,”
for example, so many Prince albums of the last 6-7 years. because its sole purpose is 2 feed its upper structures and satisfy its “shareholders” — at the xpense of artists, art lovers, and art itself.
hey, he wanted to be in the business. if he only wanted to be an artist, he'd have never gone to a label. he'd be playing his stuff down at the corner bar. Albums such as Lovesexy and The Rainbow Children r simply not happening in such a system.
that's strange... i know for a fact that i purchased both of these albums at record stores. They cannot xist within it.
except that they do And neither would the artistic vision behind them b able 2 survive in such an environment.
no? then how did they come to pass in the first place? i'll give them a pass on TRC, since it came after he left the label system. but Lovesexy was released while he was in the thick of it, even becoming one of his biggest hits in Europe. If Prince were still under contract, there would b no NPG Music Club.
true. and people would actually pay one price for what they want, instead of being asked to pay $100 a year for the privilege of being able to spend hundreds more on him for the actual product. Record companies hate the thought of losing manufacturing rights, because that is how the fundamental swindle takes place.
of course. are they supposed to be doing it for free? They get a big fat check the moment the CDs leave the plant — whereas artists get paid on product sold, not shipped.
seems fair. they (the label) are paying for the manufacturing and promotion, after all. Ad CDs r sold thru various chains that have vastly inconsistent accounting practices, thereby making it all 2 easy 4 the record company 2 claim that the CD didn’t sell as much as it did, and withhold payment of what is due 2 the artist.
hey Prince, what goes around comes around. le system is designed so that the artist, the art, and the metaphysical phenomenon that art produces r always on the losing side, meanwhile fuelling the very system that entraps them. It works like a charm — 4 xecutives and big shareholders. Until the artists start leaving the system, that is. And art and music lovers with them.
question: is Prince poor? thought he was #1 at the bank. what's the problem? When this starts happening, then record companies r scared and left scrambling. Because they know that, once this xodus reaches a critical mass — and it will, rather sooner than later — it’s OVER 4 them. The very thing that their entire system is built on is abandoning them. They can try 2 reinvent themselves as multinational “media conglomerates,” but they r not fooling anyone with an ear 4 music and a mind 4 art and soul.
uh huh. well HIS "ear 4 music and a mind 4 art and soul" tried to pass off Emancipation, NPS, and Rave on the unsuspecting fan. Lest We Forget
No one should forget that this system xtends 2 live events as well. 4 many many years, it was a struggle 4 Prince’s most ardent admirers 2 get good seats — let alone the best seats. The reason 4 it was simple: b4 tickets even go on sale via ticket outlets, a portion of the best seats r usually already “reserved”. There is no need 2 xplain where or 2 whom these tickets go. Suffice 2 say that they do not go 2 those people who would enjoy them the most. who says they won't enjoy them the most? oh, and has anything really changed? from all the horror stories, sounds like people are still not getting the best seats that they want through the club. As well, the higher priced tickets r the ones that usually go 2 scalpers (who, needless 2 say, have their own place, rather comfortably, well within the system). And with the advent of auction sites, the tickets can now go systematically 2 the highest bidder — making the whole thing, in effect, an unbelievable racket. Indeed, whoever cooked up that scam should get a medal 4 one of the most profitable — and, unfortunately, perfectly legal — business ventures!
i find it hilarious that this is being posted on Prince's own racketeering site. "Pay me $100 so you can buy the EXPENSIVE seats at my show." How's that different than a scalper? This is an xample of technological efficiency working against the interests of music makers and music lovers alike. The NPGMC, on the other hand, is a good xample of technology working 4 the benefit of those who make music and those who love music.
hehe... come on now, i KNOW these people check out the org. or do they just bypass the threads where people are complaining about the continual problems with the club? The xisting system is effectively sidelined — and unsurprisingly quite irked! Promoters balk at the the idea of giving the best seats 2 NPGMC members. The moment that Prince, thru the grace of the NPGMC, wanted 2 take the best seats OFF the system and save them 4 the members, he was predictably met with Resistance.
the system is only sidelined because now PRINCE is the scalper. The same issues xtend 2 the contents of these live events as well. U might remember the 1995 shows in Europe, when Prince played set lists that purposefully avoided the “greatest hits” 4mula and showcased many new songs and lesser known tracks. Back then, it didn’t work out as well as hoped. 2day, people cannot get enough of such shows! The difference? 2day, those who attend the shows r club members, and real music lovers.
yeah, about 200 people in the entire audience. i guess it's hard for him to see past the first 20 rows when everyone else is going out for a potty break and a drink. More generally, during the 90s, Prince tried 2 xperiment within the system. He had 2 give the industry the chance 2 follow him. Instead, they tried at every turn 2 stifle him.
why would anyone follow a crackpot's lead? IIRC, his method was to just plain cancel a show because of scalping. that's really not a trend i'd expect anyone with a brain to follow. And his output suffered, because his mind was in2 the future, and theirs was firmly in the past… Try listening 2 the O}+> album and The Rainbow Children back 2 back, and tell us on which u can hear the sound of freedom…
 but back then, he was saying how great these albums are... Emancipation, Rave, NPS... so if he's now saying that that output was suffering in favor of hyping up TRC, who's to say that in 10 years, he won't be throwing TRC under the bus for whatever agenda he wants to promote?
Dig If U Will The Picture
So, let’s “retrospeculate” 4 a moment or two… What if Prince had stayed within the system? What would he have done? Would he have written another movie score? Would he have written some songs 4 other people in the industry… But who? someone? anyone? rather than no one, i'm assuming. Would he have got another rapper in his band?
like he did in 2000? Or re-4med the Revolution?
like he wanted to do in 98/99? Revolutions cannot b re-4med — it would defy their very nature.
quite true. because the people in the Revolution with talent aren't having it. W&L didn't want to take part in a Revolution reuinion for some VH1 thing because he wanted to make some spectacle out of it rather than just concentrating on jamming with the band. Yet the whole industry is based on repeating the same things over and over, in a never-ending attempt 2 milk every single lucrative drop out of its “initial investment”.
reminds me of the realtionship between Prince and his fans. Don’t get us wrong. There r no regrets about the past.
LOL after all of the above? But if u want the real story, don’t ask the industry. After the release of The Most Beautiful Girl in the World, Prince really wanted 2 release more music both within the system and thru his own imprint (NPG), effectively “flooding the market”.
take note, all you people who continue to insist that he's a 'genius.' and, uh, TMBGITW was released through Bellmark, kings of the 1 hit wonder (Whoop There It Is, anyone?) It didn’t work out, because the industry was afraid of “saturation” — which is rather perplexing when u think that saturation, in the 4m of abusive repetition of the same things over and over again, is xactly what the industry actually feeds on.
when you're hot, you're hot. that's when you saturate. when you're not, you don't put out 3 albums a year that NO one is going to buy instead of the 1 a year that might actually pique someone's interest. What Prince had in mind was, of course, a very different kind of “saturation” — one that effectively never happens, because, as witnessed 2day all over the Internet and beyond, the demand 4 new music is ever growing, the music consumer has an insatiable appetite 4 music — and there is no such thing as “2 much” good music.
is that so? how does that account for the drop in record sales? and i really hope they aren't going to say "because of bootlegs and napster" because in another article on this website, they were telling us how record sales dropped AFTER napster closed down and were booming when napster was in full swing. A Sub-Xistence
2 many music creators and music lovers, the situation created by the commodification of music might seem hopeless. no, i think we'd rather pay $15 for a CD rather than the $25 Prince is charging. After all, over the last few decades, the industry has devoted all its energies 2 perfecting a system that xploits artists with absolute impunity and manipulates people in2 purchasing musical product of dubious quality,
again: Emancipation, NPS, Rave... instead of trying 2 further their understanding and appreciation of art. And it has, 2 a large xtent, succeeded. The system feeds itself with the flesh and souls of struggling artists and churns out plastic, using a conveyor belt approach 2 music that is supported by ever more “efficient” manufacturing and distributing processes.
again: Emancipation, NPS, Rave... Putting “production values” ahead of authentic artistry and musicianship, this approach uses peer pressure as a promotional vehicle 4 the products of its artistically-challenged recipes 4 “success”.
need i say it again? Emancipation, NPS, Rave... Young minds r easily fooled in2 thinking that what they r consuming is real food, when it actually is pure ear candy, with absolutely no nutritional value. Their un4med taste buds r dulled b4 they even get a chance 2 develop.
yeah, TMBGITW was a friggin' masterpiece, mining the depths of his soul and artistry. and THAT'S one of the examples used in this essay?
In a desperate attempt 2 stay “hip” and “cool”, older generations easily forget the little they have learned about art, and try 2 make xcuses — from technological prowess 2 pseudo post-modern theorizing — 4 the fact that they 2 want 2 indulge in the “guilty pleasure” of consuming the latest commercial entertainment products.
What planet does he live on? 90% or more of the people in the world could not give a rat's ass about this. they find something they like, they're entertained by it. it may come as a shock to him, but not everyone is (in fact, most AREN'T) looking for artistry in their music. But this kind of food does not nourish the soul.
is it supposed to? It merely ensures subsistence, a lower 4m of xistence — in effect, a sub-xistence.
here we go again, making up definitions for words. And, like junk food, it will eventually make people sick. Ur soul can only take so much artistic deprivation and commercial overbloat b4 it switches itself off. By that time, u might find that it is 2 late 2 turn around and try 2 re-open ur mind.
or after years of wallowing in your own mediocrity, you go overboard and become a cultish Jesus freak. U might find that u r now living in a world that is artistically and spiritually in the dark. A world that entropy has brought down 2 the lowest common level — somewhere in the middle, not 2 good, not 2 bad. Then what will u do?
i guess i'll put out an album like the Rainbow Children only 2 years after i've made my most commercially-pandering album in years. 2 Understand This, U Have 2 Go Back…
It’s not 2 late 2 open r eyes. In parallel 2 this entropic decline, an alternative has evolved. If u want 2 c how it started, just look back 4 a moment… but not in speculation. Instead, look at the facts. introducing facts so late into the game? what's the point now... Prince and his camp have never been interested in facts. Back in the early 80’s, the world began 2 notice that a new, different kind of music was coming from — of all places — Minneapolis. But did they notice what the music said? “Uptown — U can set ur mind free”… “Reproduction of the new breed leader/Stand up and organize!” Unbeknownst 2 most, the seeds of change were being sown.
same thing also gave us Head, Sister, Let's Pretend We're Married, and Jack U Off, but revisionism does wonders for the soul i suppose. From 1984, people remember Purple Rain, the album, the movie — but do they remember the liner notes, or the last frame of the movie credits? They both read: “May u live 2 c the Dawn”… Again, only a few took notice.
were they supposed to? the phrase is so vaguely pseudo-spiritual and has changed meaning for Prince's work so many times, it's lost any meaning that he might have intended for it. In 1988, a bold new album entitled Lovesexy begins with these words: “Welcome 2 the New Power Generation”. Two years later, the New Power Generation becomes the title of a song, and soon the name of Prince’s powerhouse new band. But it soon becomes even more than that — a unifying concept, a central notion, an alternative. A record label (NPG Records). A store (NPG Store)…
i prefer to stand behind the phrase I Can't Believe It's Not Butter in advancing my social/spiritual agenda. Then, in the first half of 1994, a different kind of TV show reaches an unsuspecting audience world-wide. In it, a beautiful woman, alone on a Saturday night, tired of being stuck in her “peanut butter cookie hell”, sees an ad in a magazine 4 a different kind of xperience. She sits down at her computer, logs in, and starts downloading… another world. A challenging new world of music, visuals, words and interaction. Sounds familiar?
The Beautiful Xperience… The NPG Music Club. As u can c, the solution 2 the problem was figured out a long time ago… The real world is just starting 2 catch up. R computer keyboards might not have a “COME” key yet — but the movement forward has begun. Welcome 2 The Dawn Had the industry allowed Prince’s vision 2 dictate the evolution of his art, he would have evolved in2 the NPG Music Club anyway, within the system. But that was never the case. The industry was going in a different direction, which had less and less 2 do with music and more and more 2 do with money — and emancipation was the only way. Don’t b deceived by the “technical” appearance of the Club. Contrary 2 the industry’s heavy machinery, the NPG Music Club is an ORGANIC entity, one that runs with the Truth at its center and is self-sufficient. It is not “digital”, even tho it reaches its members by digital means. It is its organic nature that ensures its growth and success. It is its organic heart that makes it self-evident. It is its organic impetus, the fact that it connects its members 2 each other, and 2 the music, as whole human beings, that makes it the real solution, the real alternative 2 the collective hallucination currently known as the music industry. The NPG Music Club just is. And no amount of speculation will change that fact. Those who have not yet joined r missing out on the best part… which is yet 2 come. When the Truth finally arrives 2 u, will u b lost on the other side? Will u still b alive? sorry, ran out of juice. insert "blah blah blah" where appropriate. [This message was edited Sun Oct 27 11:30:43 PST 2002 by AaronForever] | |
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Aaron's my hero.  | |
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joeycoco said: Aaron's my hero.
Count me in on that. Please keep making me happy with insightful thoughts. Wish NPG could be as SMART. | |
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yeah I have to admit that commentary is pretentious, to say the least... | |
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Nice commentary  | |
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mistermaxxx said: if Prince ever loses His On Stage Talent as a Musician then He Should take up Comedy because He is good at being funny which is what most of His Commentary Reminds Me of.Symbol too Me was More Interesting than TRC because it was in Fun.while OverProduced&Desperate it still felt like Him unlike Now.anyway Prince Needs too Chill Out&Face the Cold Hard Facts everybody has there Moment&Dude has had His Big POP Star Time.what I Mean by that: it's cool too now Bitch&Moan but You Weren't when Warner Brothers&Your Payola Backers had your Records all over the Radio&Your Protege's Output.The People Made You&you still are stuck in a time Warp wraped in your Own World.maybe that is what Missy Elliott Was getting at in Her Video??No Major Label is going for a Artist too go without Editing.Prince seemed Free while on the WB Plantation if you ask me? nowadays you hear 99 Albums due&you are lucky too get 1??Prince has turned into a Door Too Door Salesman&Is too Blind too Even Reason with that.truth Be told on Prince: if the Guy couldn't still Rip up on Stage&whatnot the Paisley Park Gates would Be Closed.nobody buys those Albums Hardly anymore.nobody buys into the Persona anymore except Die-Hards&Fans from back when.Talk through your Music.
This from the Michael Jackson fan. Talk about comedy! | |
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FreezerBurn said: mistermaxxx said: if Prince ever loses His On Stage Talent as a Musician then He Should take up Comedy because He is good at being funny which is what most of His Commentary Reminds Me of.Symbol too Me was More Interesting than TRC because it was in Fun.while OverProduced&Desperate it still felt like Him unlike Now.anyway Prince Needs too Chill Out&Face the Cold Hard Facts everybody has there Moment&Dude has had His Big POP Star Time.what I Mean by that: it's cool too now Bitch&Moan but You Weren't when Warner Brothers&Your Payola Backers had your Records all over the Radio&Your Protege's Output.The People Made You&you still are stuck in a time Warp wraped in your Own World.maybe that is what Missy Elliott Was getting at in Her Video??No Major Label is going for a Artist too go without Editing.Prince seemed Free while on the WB Plantation if you ask me? nowadays you hear 99 Albums due&you are lucky too get 1??Prince has turned into a Door Too Door Salesman&Is too Blind too Even Reason with that.truth Be told on Prince: if the Guy couldn't still Rip up on Stage&whatnot the Paisley Park Gates would Be Closed.nobody buys those Albums Hardly anymore.nobody buys into the Persona anymore except Die-Hards&Fans from back when.Talk through your Music.
This from the Michael Jackson fan. Talk about comedy! --- I do not what Mistermaxx is talking about and wish he would use paragraphs. I wish those of you who think Prince should go back to a major label would read this part a few times and please explain why anyone would go back to this bullshit. "If Prince were still under contract, there would b no NPG Music Club. Record companies hate the thought of losing manufacturing rights, because that is how the fundamental swindle takes place. They get a big fat check the moment the CDs leave the plant — whereas artists get paid on product sold, not shipped. And CDs r sold thru various chains that have vastly inconsistent accounting practices, thereby making it all 2 easy 4 the record company 2 claim that the CD didn’t sell as much as it did, and withhold payment of what is due 2 the artist. " | |
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