I'm sure this wasn't Prince's intention, but what I’ve observed so far with Lotusflow3r.com has finally convinced me never to pay for virtual material.

I mean can anyone give me a good reason why I should trust Prince and pay to download his music after the NPG music club DRM and the Lotusflow3r.com fiasco?

Can any members really recommend I join? REALLY?

There is no value in virtual files. None. It's even illegal to share your favorite song in this form.

If I can’t buy it on CD so I own something physical and control how and where I play my music collection, I won’t pay. I’ll keep my hard earned cash in my pocket!

Next time Prince releases something, I’ll find it elsewhere and pay much less than his asking price (if anything at all), and that’s if I’m even interested in his next project (I’ve been a fan since ’85 and I’ve yet to hear Lotusflow3r).

Prince had the perfect opportunity to show music lovers why they should pay the artist directly for their work (better experience, better content and better quality) but instead, he’s shown us exactly why we should NOT trust his ventures!

He deliberately made the album unavailable to EVERYONE outside the US so non US fans had only one legal choice: pay him $77.

Many fans trusted him and paid and what? When the site is gone, what will they be left with? Virtual files they could’ve downloaded anywhere on the net for free (illegal yes, but free nonetheless). I’m lead to believe there are no SD or HD videos, no exclusive music to download and keep, no CDs to buy, no DVDs to buy and so far no Tshirts!!!!!

But you only know that when you paid the dough or if you read the fansites.

That's pretty low man, a real dirty trick!

Oh, but you can buy a $2,000 book from another site (that everyone has access to). Wait... no discount or presales for Lotusflow3r.com members? WHAAAAATTTT???

HA HA HA HAA! Prince you make me laugh with all your bull$#!+ about love and honesty and freedom and all that jazz! YOU ARE TREATING PEOPLE WHO LOVE YOU LIKE S#!+!

Ask yourself Mr. Preacher man; WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?

Better still; WHAT WOULD SATAN DO?

And before anyone takes a crack at me, I am a God fearing man; I am a man of faith!

The music industry should tear Prince a new (hole) as this undermines a lot of what the industry is trying to overcome and it’s a very good way to send many people toward illegal downloads!

“Pay for that ‘X’ album? Nah! It’s easier to download it from ‘X'.com!"

Prince, didn’t you ever learn never to bite the hand that feeds you?

I’ve been waiting a long time to hear Lotusflow3r, but I’m just not interested anymore. This Lotusflow3r.com crap, seeing people being treated like this ($77 is a lot of cash for most people to part with), it all leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I just don’t trust a word that Prince says anymore.

I love the music from time to time, but after 30 years, I think I have enough Prince music now, and there are a lot of other people doing genuinely more interesting things for better value.

But hey, I may be jumping the gun, and there maybe something BIG just around the corner for all you hardcore fans (how many are left now?)...

I had to vent, but now I’m done.

Rex

So ...ermmm ...will you be posting a photo of you in your LF t-shirt when you get it?
[Edited 6/18/09 8:52am]

If you are in America, take your butt to Target and buy it there and avoid paying the $77. If you are outside of the U.S., ask one of us to help you and we will, at least I am willing. It's not rocket science.

rexington said:

Dude... I feel like you owe me $77 for the minutes of my life that I will never get back that were consumed during the time it took me to read your message.

If you dont wanna join the club, then dont. Simple as that.

itsmrhappy said:

Exactly.

And Rexington, since you put your faith out here like this, it seems like you need to go and forgive Prince for any wrong you think Prince has done to you since it offends you this much. You should know that holding grudges only hurts YOU in the end. If part of forgiving means leaving, then leave. No sin in that. From one " God-fearing, man of faith" to another.
[Edited 6/18/09 9:14am]

My advice: the next time Prince puts together one of these "music clubs",don't be in such a hurry to sign up! Wait and see what other fans are getting for their money.Come to this site and read the comments from other fans who have joined.
[Edited 6/19/09 1:11am]

rexington said:

It shouldn't be a surprise at the fiasco side of it. And you're right, these fools who are "just happy to support Prince" basically put money in his pocket for no real reason other than they apparently have it to give out freely. Now we know where he got those Stacy Adams pumps he wore on Tavis' show. And for those who did pay $77 for the download, most likely bought the physical CD, which was another $12. So they're down $89 for two copies of the album, when they could have just paid $12 for the album, and ripped it themselves into WAV or whatever format they felt they needed.

At least the NPGMC had a huge amount of (bad) music, and a small handful of freebies to start things off. To their credit, the NPGMC actually listened to the fans, and changed the HI and LO versions of the downloads, including the videos. But a lot of members also felt cheated when The Rainbow Children was released as the ONLY download for one particular month (bypassing the Ahdio show, new songs, and any videos). All those people went and bought TRC later anyway, so in short, they got jipped one month of NPGMC's promised new downloads, a 60 minute ahdio show, and videos. Also, that first year NPGMC had no DRM. People that didn't make a backup of the DRM stuff (ie: burn the song, rerip it DRM-free) only have their own purple blinders to blame for that.

Lotus seems to be a HUGE farce in comparison. I don't get how some folks choose to be SO blind to Prince's past and present business practices, instead of erring on the side of fiscal caution. Prince said "We know it's a lot of money, but it'll be worth it", in so many words. The question is....is a t-shirt, and one misc song really worth it? All the videos people have mentioned that are on the site, I have already, in great quality. Why would I pay for that AGAIN? The misc song? Got it. Yeah, I downloaded it, and I don't regret it. I paid for the album. If Prince wants 99 cents for the extra song that wasn't on the pressed CD, I'll send him the buck. Uh...keep the change.

ernestsewell said:

For me, it's all about "hoping" and "wishing" that P does better than in the past. I paid the $77 to get the albums a few days before. I was ecstatic about the thought of another NPGMC type site, but have been disappointed like so many here.

Sure, P, Bria and the webmasters need to be paid, but isn't approximately 7 million dollars (guessing that about 100,000 people signed up since it was the most hit site on the net the day it launched) a bit too much. If the designers who did the site for him got paid 6 figures, P should be shot in the ass for that shitty ass site. Yeah, the content is lacking, but the design is so 1993/Interactive.

To be honest, this is the first time I've ever felt screwed by him. Yeah, there was Crystal Ball and the NPGMC, but this time around it feels even worse (I say this as "Cream" just popped up on my iTunes). No t-shirt, no exclusive album or downloads, nothing.

daPrettyman said:

My issue was I just didn't have the $100 before, or the $77 now. Prince's timing w/ my jobless status is damn near perfect. I had a friend who let me download all the NPGMC year 1 stuff from her account. All the other NPGMC stuff I found online. If it were an album in the stores, I would have purchased it, as I have with almost every Prince album released (I don't have ONA Live, nor Ultimate, and I never did get the whole HITS set but rather just have disk 1 and 2). I don't have Goldnigga either.

All that said, to charge to download an album, opposed to just charging a price for the album itself is ridiculous. Why not just put the albums on iTunes as well? If no one paid $77 for the cover charge, it wouldn't have mattered. No one would have felt ripped off at least (except Target maybe). Back in the L4OA days he was on the right track. He had a Q&A section, fans could submit news articles or reviews for being published, and it was more interactive. But Prince seems to be more about flash than substance. Lots of Flash, not a lot of end-user friendly content.

But after hearing the reports of the mess this time around, I'm glad I'm not in it. I can live without a fucking t-shirt in lieu of having an extra $77 in my account.

ernestsewell said:

I totally feel you. I went lacking to pay $77 this time around and wish I had taken that $77 and bought a couple of tanks of gas with it instead. I did the same thing with the NPGMC, but I felt as if I got my $100 worth in the end. Whether it be ONA live, ONA and a few mp3 files here and there. That, to me, covered the $100. Not to mention the front row seat I got at the ONA show in Dallas and the access to the soundcheck. That experience was definitely priceless.

With that said, I agree with you totally about the Flash. Yeah, it's pretty, but come on, we just got 3 albums worth of material with one bonus track. Not to mention pics from the 21 Nights book I just purchased a few months earlier. Don't even get me started on the videos.

itsmrhappy said:

Hey, you owe me $77 + interest !

I would gladly pay the $77, if I knew I would get something of value from Prince in return,

those old videos... seen and bought those long time ago.

Prince should do what Wendy & Lisa did with their latest cd & download, I was gladly paying for this, even though their new music turned out to be a disappointment to me.

i was with you till you went religious on us... and i must add to those that seem to have a problem with anyone thats not happy with the site.....as someone else said, should we wait till month twelve- when its too late to say anyhting-then complain.....a rip off is a rip off no matter who's name it is in and vague-mabey promises and the like are insulting even when its your 'hero' sending them

these discussions are relevant as they're hardly gonna take us seriously if folk do keep joining at the moment