blacksweat said:

Hello mate! yes long time no see! i thought ur name was theblacksweat i didnt realise it was u! oh we must catch up

catpark said:

Absolutely, it's been a while since all those aftershows. I made 18 out of the 21, but I think you made all 21, if my memory serves me well?

L4OATheOriginal said:

yes ur right it wasnt. i got warned once of for saying something stupid about hendrix, also know a couple of ppl that got banned from there but u know hun that the lotus site isnt gonna be any different with the freedom of speech. but its true blacksweat said the fee will keep out the true haters, and i dont mean opinionated whining prince fans either thats different! oh we love a moan!

blacksweat said:

errm yes and the main shows too but i dont like to tell anyone that i did that now but we did good we survived those long drawn nights it was great!!

What will I get for the year? Guarantee of first 20 on world tour or just shows in LA? If no world tour the question for many will be: Some Vault/Live material included or just the 3 cds that I can purchase at Target for $12?? I could care less about youtube like videos and fancy schmancy web designs.

The attitude of screw people that do not join - good for me I will get front row seats! That's insanity. Without a good number of fans joining the new site, the LotusFlow3r site will be as good as dead in no time. We are overdue for a World Tour or some hit-n-run style shows but who knows what this year will bring??

It's not a question of: can everyone pay $77 for the membership? it's a question: will the deal be sweet enough for the club to continue to thrive/survive? P wants the $$$ we want the music. Without the money..say good bye LF3!! That's why I personally believe P sweetens the deal. I don't expect the entire Vault from them either but something more than what I can get at Target for $12 on CD! We get what we pay for strength in numbers. More details soon folks but I personally believe it will include some more material. The Target deal is sweet and the website in a way will compete with the Target deal, In other words if the only thing Lf3.com offers are the three cds for $12 for $77! you can bet your ass Prince doesn't get the moulah from Uncle Rico and say bye bye site.

catpark said:

You bet, I made 18 aftershows and 19 main. Mind blowing and it seems like a distant dream today, especially the 28th August New Power Trio aftershow.

$77 is two weeks of groceries for me. And I'm just not the fan I was once upon a time. I will always enjoy his live shows but his recordings have been sub-par for years. I'm not a fan of recordings of live shows either.

I dunno, I'm glad I have friends who will be joining and likely let me look around it once or twice to see it, but at this point I just don't see it being worth it to me.

I can see how it would be to others, though.

CarrieMpls said:

Yeah, exactly what are we getting for 77$?
That really hasn't been addressed by Prince or his PR team. Like you, i'm not a fan of live recordings. we already have loads of bootleg stuff. we have the SHOE promo. We have the Turn it loose performance. And we will buy the Lotusflow3r albums individually. So what are we paying for? Some dodgy 'mist' style photoshop graphics. About time he let us know, or this will be a huge disappointment. And I said it in Jan, and I will say it again, these delays have not been a planned part of the web launch. They are trying to address problems going live. For example he has changed the opening circle animation 3 times now.!

Before all the fams jump on me and call me a hater. I REALLY REALLY hope I'm wrong. Would love a bit of new (read: not rip off) Purple fun.

peace.

im starting to worry about the technical requirements for the site tbh. i have flash 9 installed and cant go higher until sony send us it (im doing all this via the playstation 3's browser), if i can run the beta (what we have now), do you think i will be safe?

People who aren't prepared to pay Prince for his work can't be considered fans. Let's be honest about that.

catpark said:

blacksweat said:

Classism anyone? This train of thought doesn't make sense. You are equating levels of fandom with economic status. Just because someone doesnn't want (or have) $77 to spend doesn't mean they are not a true fan or a "hater". By the same token, I'm sure there are also people who can afford the $77 and will join but are those you would consider "haters."

QuietSeven said:

Fun is free...

I agree about knocking Bria and Prince as people. But business is slightly different. He asks us for financial support as fans but often treats his fans poorly. Does he sometimes actually come through too? Yes he does. But his scattershot approach to how and when often burns a lot of the people who have allowed him to prosper financially as a musician. The ways in which he manages to screw up in business is often avoided by other artists by thinking ahead, getting a good team in place and following through. In this day and age it isn't that difficult. He isn't using some cutting edge technology or marketing strategies that small labels employ. He just does it in a bigger and more publicly acknowledged way. So people have a right to complain about his business decisions and policies. They also have a right to their opinion on his artistic output - good or bad. Unless you know someone, personal attacks are just from maladjusted personalities that fantasize about being near him in a and lash out through these forums. That is unfortunate, but part of what fans do.
So lets consider ourselves his stockholders. Because we are. And if the product is good, he gets a nice return on his investment. If not, then the (lack of) money talks. I feel he definitely has to prove his worth as a financial investment at this point.

I probably never want to see a "7" again, but FUN is still free!

I am looking into my Crystal Ball...

I see...

A presale! Yes! A presale...and...it's a little hazy...what is that? Oh, my gosh! It's people!

It's all the people who said, "77 dollars? 77 dollars?! For what?!" running to get their credit cards to join lotusflow3r so they can get in on it.

DevotedPuppy said:

I just said that the best thing about paying, is that it will keep the haters out. I of course feel sorry for those that would like to join, but cannot afford it. They are separate things.

The haters have spare time on their hands to hanging around here, but they won't want to pay $77 for the privilege.

ian said:

F.A.G.

ass said:

You read my mind!

Genesia said:

That would likely be worth it to me. It's the only good joining the NPGMC ever did me. In fact, I only joined when I needed it for that very reason.

Of course, I would have been bitching about even that if I hadn't gone to THREE nights of Musicology as the first two nights I had member seats where I couldn't see a goddamned thing. I would have been better off with ticketmaster.
The last night, however, we had front row on the side where you could actually see the entire stage. And that made up for it.

Seeing him live is all I'm really interested in anymore.

Zannaloaf said:

I appreciate your politeness and what you said. Freedom has a cost no matter what. When you want free you discipline yourself to achieve that freedom. You are sacrificing. There is always a sacrifice to freedom, fun or anything. You are sacrificing the opposite choice that allows you to have that "sense" of freedom. In the choice of paying for FUN... you have invested your time to work to have that money that allows you to be able to pay for things in this system... therefore, your calibur of freedom comes at a price, for that choice. When I say FUN that is your choice in action of what you have invested in, (sacrifice of emotion, discipline and materialistical avenues to get that FUN). Therefore, freedom may be FREE but you still invest somehow. So in having FUN... it's your choice. He provided but had to use the "system" of this Monetary illusion to obtain what he could to continue to share. You can't make music and share it for free, if you haven't invested in acquiring materialistic items by having money in this system to get it to share it. Therefore, he didn't ask you to make the choices he only shared so you can make a choice. He didn't say... Hey pay this becuz I just want it... he thoroughly sits down and sacrifices what it costs. In the long run... I have a web site it costs alot... a whole lot every month. Now, if you wanted his things... then he had to have a price to keep those things going. Tours, staff for tours, marketing for tours... Just electricity on all aspects for practices for tours (electricity in a marshall speaker system, as well as all electrified equipment costs alot of money). The staff that goes on tour all the way to the pre-production. What about the electricity to record, the time to record, the people to help you record. What about, him paying his own bills, he has to pay. The man came close to losing it all... and he prevailed without complaint. If he had given up... there wouldn't be any lotusflow3r.com or a cd or future music. He'd of been sitting in a room saying... what the heck 24/7 to get it back. It takes a lot of money to do it yourself and to offer what you can out there... most people never ever have the pardon me, "balls" to do it. So when you realize how much he has spent compared to how much he asked on his site? nothing compares to it. He never asks more from anybody than he knows they can do. I've met him and he was extremely kind. You can tell when somebody is genuine and when somebody isn't. He is genuine and he probably doesn't even like me and I still stand my truth on it.

My point is: It's your choice and you can't blame outside of you for making it.

So either invest and enjoy or don't.

You can't complain about complaining when you are the one who has made the choices you have. You make them.

So with love, I hope everybody realizes FUN is worth a small investment.

Take care.
SingMia

Giovanni777 said:

T.O.R.R.E.N.T

purplecam said:

dO YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON IN THE WORLD? i GUESS NOT. FOOL!

purplecam said:

downloads are an amazing thing...

L4OATheOriginal said:

Or dont be a gullible fool in the tough times, and torrent for free.
.
[Edited 3/14/09 7:50am]

purplecam said:

Seriously, the cheapest most fucked-up country in the world right now is the good old US of A, you'll should be WAY more worried about more than a $77 site, you'll becoming 3rd world in the 09, Dream is over baby!

L4OATheOriginal said:

Mayte was beatiful, and never a tranni...

purplecam said:

rwn said:

Man, you said it! What a bunch of whiny asses!!! "Boo hoo....the subscription price is too high, he should have struck a deal with Walmart, he should have struck a deal with K-mart, He should have struck a deal with Mini-mart, he should have used different artwork..." It's crazy! Let this brotha run his shit the way he wants to run it. If it bothers you that much, you always have the option of simply not being involved. If I was bothered by Prince's activities as much as some on this site claim to be, I would simply not log on; I don't get it. Anyway, for those of us who are very excited about the events that are unfolding, and who appreciate the fact that this dude is still going strong at 50 (as opposed to being somewhere burned out, or retired)
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLLLLL!!!!! CAN'T WAIT FOR THIS SHIT!!!!! CRIMSON AND CLOVER!!!! OVER AND OVER!!!!

SKB

Anxiety said:

'Nearly" got bood off the stage? Stop trying to rewrite history... "nearly" hahahhahhahaa

DevotedPuppy said:

VERY, Very good point, I hope this point gets adressed amongst the Obama/Hitler obsessive-like fanfare...

PurpleRain747 said:

"purple soldiers", what a nutter!