personally, i think those who defend this course of action are the ones who can be termed 'crack fiends'.

musical genius? yes. but there are many other musical geniuses who don't view themselves as so special that they should charge peeps just to meet them o rtalk to them.

its in poor taste. unfortunately, there will be foolish people (with little self respect) who will pay the price and prove to prince that he can do this sort of thing and pull it off.

Paying $1000 to meet Prince is in my opinion ludicrous. Why Prince is charging fans to meet him just speaks to me of someone who has no interest in his fans on a level other than monetary. I don't see how it would have harmed him to meet a handful of fans for free. Obviously if you want to meet him than pay, I would never pay to shake hands with a celebrity. I would feel nothing but disrespect for them if I knew I was paying purely for the purpose of shaking their hand. Paying to see them perform is a different matter entirely. Prince is charging $1000 for a handshake. I remember a time in London in 88 (I wasn't there) I read about it, when he and Cat made an inpromptu visit to a record store and met the fans for free. Cat signed some autographs etc and the whole thing was very cool. Times have changed since then it seems.



Very expensive edit.
[This message was edited Sat Sep 27 8:05:27 PDT 2003 by Lleena]

NuPwrSoul said:

I have read through your posts and i have to say, you are clearly off you're face on crack!!

Yes, very good, you DON'T have to pay. great argument. well done.

so it's ok that if you don't have the money to pay, Prince doesn't give a shit about you and won't even sign a record YOU PAID FOR...?
[This message was edited Sat Sep 27 8:27:36 PDT 2003 by NME]

NME said:

thank you, nme...great summation!

NME said:

::watches as all the points nupwr made fly over your head::...oh my. if you don't have the money to meet 'im, why are you even caring about 'im signin a record? if princey ain't givin a shit about you, don't give a shit about 'im back. plain and simple. it ain't that crucial.® it all comes back around to what nupwr said: you ain't gotta pay a dime and you don't have to meet 'im. ain't nobody holdin you to that. there's no law in the world that says you gotta.

NME said:

Your arguement has hardly been put eloquently has it?

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

My point is why are your panties is such bunch about it? So he charges money, so what? How does this affect your life? What dream bubble has this burst in your brain. He doesn't owe u not 1 damn thing. And u don't owe him anything either. Why are u so hurt by this? Why does what he does or doesn't do so effect u. I just love the music, i'm not burning to meet him. And only those people who are burning to meet him really give a rat's ass whether he is meeting and greeting or not. Obviously as much as u people bitch about every crazy thing he does u come back for more and more and more. Baby that is sick, see a shrink cause it ain't healthy.

the way i see all of it is this: yes, it's totally ri-fuckin-diculous that p's chargin all that money just so ya'll can basically breathe the same air he is ('cept you'd be within his 'bubble' or what-not). yes, he's pimpin the hell outta himself, as well as the fans/friends/freex/fams/whoever.

thing of it is, you don't have to spend all that money. if you can afford it, cool. if you can't afford it, it's still cool. know why? you're better off gettin what you can afford and still havin the opportunity to see p after such a long time and have fun. you don't have to be onstage with 'im, shake his hand, whatever. it don't make you more or less of a fan/friend/freek/fam/whoever in either case.

so if you can't afford the meet & greet, don't piss and moan over it. be happy with your diamond seats and be happier with the fact that you've got some money to spare, as opposed to totally blowin your entire funds just for a mere few minutes or however long it is to be in prince's face. for the most part, just be happy that you'll be there.




mine!

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

I don't think anyone in this thread is defending it, as much as giving the reality of options since meeting him is not a requirement to see the guy play his gigs. If someone pays that much to meet and greet Prince, there's a good chance they're insane and possibly have that dealer/crack fiend relationship that Tricky is talking about, so his analogy is dead-on. That addiction has manifest itself in many ways that some fans reveal without knowing it. This is not to say that some of those who won't pay it aren't insane (for other reasons) either.

It's silly and outrageous, but is it worth losing one's mind over something that is not required? It's not as if the IRS contacted you and told you you owe $900.00 in unpaid taxes.

Who knows why this meet and greet thing is being offered and whose idea it was. There is one possibility and it may also explain the Clear Channel thing.

Many Australian fams have voiced their opinion on here and NPGMC about lack of tours to Oz, particularly in years 1 and 2 of the club which cost $100 USD.
I'm guessing touring Australia is difficult becuase of the exchange rate. Perhaps the most realistic way of meeting the fams desire for a concert was to use a promoter that could provide significant exposure to ensure the tour was financially possible.

Any arrangements with a promoter would involve negotiation and perhaps the meet and greet was agreed to as a compromise.

Just a possibility - I don't know this to be the case - but it does suggest that without knowing the reason behind things it's difficult to make a definitive judgement.

tricky99 said:

Exactly. That nails it Tricky.

Be glad of what you're getting. It's alot. And PLEASE stop complaining. If you're that unhappy - find something else to do - there's more to life than Prince...

You know he is doing this because of the MJ golden ticket thing, where I am sure the freak from Gary raked in the digits. First, Prince becomes a JW, then goes softjazz, then turns into a George Bush money clone. I'd say Prince needs a butt whoopin. You people who buy those big tickets need to get a life, and fast.

Boycott the sketch.

toccata said:

Making definitive judgements without knowing the reasons behind things is what Prince.org thrives on. But I hear you loud and clear.

2freaky4church1 said:

dubya??? come on, let's not get irrational now...

You pay money to get Prince's cds.Thats o.k.
You pay money to go to his concerts. Thats o.k.
You pay money to join a club so only club members can go to exclusive sound checks. Thats o.k.
You pay money for tee shirts & products that have his name on it but were designed by other people. Thats o.k.
You pay money to bootleggers that sell Princes music illegally. Thats o.k.
You download music illegally because you feel you have the right. Thats o.k.
But pay money to go to a pre-show party that Prince will be at - well thats just fucking robbery.
Prince owes you nothing.
Nothing.

thedoorkeeper said:

Thank you for "breaking it down" Thedoorkeeper.
I think that some people are putting way too much on this.
If it's that important for you to actually meet the man and you can afford it, go see him. If you don't think it's worth it, don't do it. Let him bring his little ass to Oakland and charge me a grand to shake his hand. I'd be right there in a hearbeat. Yeah it would be nice to "bump" in to him for free one day. But the chances of that happening are slim to none.People out here just paid 5grand to have dinner with Arnold Schwarzenegger. What's the difference really?

oK, ok... i see some of the other points. ie - don't pay, don't see, don't winge, don't moan. fair enough.

my only gripe is that i would have thought he would WAN'T to give something back to his fans / 'famz'. Yes, he doesn't physically owe his fans ANYTHING, but considering how few he has left i thought he'd treat them better.

just so y'all know where i'm coming from...

it is not about the money (in general). it is about the statements he makes vs. the actions he takes. if madonna pulled something like this i would be like "that woman is outta her mind" and i woulda laughed about it and moved on. thats because artists (use the term as loosely or acurately as you deem appropriate) like her have made it very clear that money is an issue. prince, on the other hand, is forever talking about spirit and soul and things being deeper than the dollar. his music says this, his live performances say this. but his actions do not. i take certain music (or films or paintings, etc) as art. and i'dlike to believe that the artists that make these statements of theirs actually stand behind what they say. prince does not. he is a walking contradiction. he sings about all these things of unity and love and equality and God but then, "if you wanna meet me, you betta pay" is what he says with his actions.

couldn't he just do a meet and greet at the soundcheck? this way providing all members of his npgmc in attendance the opportunity to say hello? why the extra cost?

i don't live in australia (i'm in the US) and i would not fly to another country to see anyone perform. but, for the fans in ausralia who've waited and supported him all this time, its a shame to see he doesn't practice what he preaches. who cares about the money? as prince once said "its only paper with ome dead guys face on it". what i care about is the art of the music...which i do take seriously...and its sincerity. or lack thereof.

tricky99 said:

its all about the music for you, huh? so, you visit the org and participate in these topics because you don't care about the other stuff?

But hasn't he done "meet and greets" at soundcheks? I remember reading about them. Hasn't he had celebrations at the park and opened up his HOUSE to the fans. When is the last time Madonna did that? MJ just had a party at his house and he charged 5grand. And from the way that it looked on the news, it still seemed like you weren't guaranteed to actually meet the man. Did P charge for access to the celebrations? I don't live in Mn so I don't know?

illimack said:

as far as i know there were no meet and greets at the soundchecks. and yes, prince has had gatherings at his place but i don't remember him talking to people...at least not many people. i went to his last two parties, in june or july, and while one night he did show up, he stood with his back to everyone only turning to face us when his clip came on the screens. and yeah, there was a charge to the celly but with all those shows it was well worth it. there's nothing wrong with charging a fee to see the brother perform...shoot, it is his livlihood. i just stand by my opinion that this whole charging to say hi thing is a new low and another hypocritical statement.

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

I think I have accepted a long time ago that Prince can be a hypocrite. Once you accept that his actions become less infuriating.

I remember reading somewhere, mabye here, that NPG club members were allowed to go to the soundchecks and that they got to talk to him and ask him questions. I know I read that somewhere, cause I was like It was the first time that considered joining the NPG music club, so I know I read it. I also remember people talking hearing The Rainbow Children at the park and talking to Prince about his religious views. I think this was at the last celebration.

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

u talkin 2 much sense 4 this site baby ! u r right and u know it.

tricky99 said:

you put your point over very very well. i just HONESTLY ! and its my HONEST opinion think, its real bad taste.it makes him a comical figure , it pisses people off, he's awsome at pissin people off u cant deny that ? , i would pay crazy money to see him perform f**k ive done it, it cost me (planes trains and auto mobiles !) to see him last year it was worth it he was fantastic. in concert no one can touch him.i can afford the meet and greet but its about the fact he's agreed to this.

its wrong to charge to meet your fans !

it doesnt matter who it is prince mj or ac/dc.

it doesnt matter whether u can and cant afford it.

its WRONG and its SAD

thedoorkeeper said:

PRINCE owes me nothing i agree , but he owes the aussie fans an explanation as to why they have to pay to meet him.

after they joined the club bought the cd's and t shirt !

Deja likes me again.

Why would he want to meet us? I know I wouldn't if I were him. Hell, I don't particularly care to meet him. I sure as hell wouldn't pay to do it. Am I mad that he's doing it? No. Does it surprise me? No. Where have y'all been the past 25+ years?

illimack said:

Oakland in the house. I know that I aint spendin no Grand, simply because I cant afford it. But for those who do want to spend that kind of money, thats on them. I think the man should be able to do what he wants and charge what he wants when he wants. If you cant drop a 1000 to meet him, cool, but whats the fuss about? Youre nothing spending, so dont complain. I know one thing, if he does come to Oakland, Ill be at that soundcheck.

I've got a question: If Prince had made this "meet and greet" a "all proceeds go to the love4oneanother charity" type deal or a charity auction-type thang a la Sheila E's "meet and greet", would you still have a problem with it?

Jus' wonderin. . .