I don't mean this as a promotion.

But how many people think Prince is starting to make bootlegs a viable option?

A great many dial up members cannot download big files.

A great many members do not want to pay the price of an album for a 11 min video.

A great many members do want the video room to remain. Free.

A great many members do not want to be forced to purchase all the downloads they already paid for in year one, just so they can hear "The Dance".

I'm sure, for £15 soon, I'll get all the videos, all the mixes and unreleased tracks on one bootleg.

Why should I worry about buying from a supplier that is aiming for maximum sales, through customer demand, against an artist that is clearly taking advantage of his fans?

SquirrelMeat said:

Prince is making available good music at a reasonable price. If you want to buy that from a bootlegger because you're stingy with your $$, well that's up to your conscience.

Prince's latest "Im not about the past, I'm about the now" boolchit is a driving force behind the trading community. We know now that the goofball ain't ever gonna release the goods, so a fan's gotta do what a fan's gotta do.

Let's be clear:

1. You're talking about out and out piracy here.

2. Your contentions are regularly based on 'a great many fans / dial-up members'.

What numbers do you have to support this? Tens, hundreds, thousands?
.

langebleu said:

i use dialup and if it takes hours to get something i still get it

Mazerati said:

Me too. I've used dial-up sine the days of NPGMC download with Ahdio shows which ran to roughly the same file size as the recent video download.

Using dial-up with software such as ReGet in case you lose a connection has never been a problem for me, but I suspect it costs more for some depending upon their ISP package terms.
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I think as long as he makes it available he's not making anyone turn to boots. If people choose other ways to get something that's already available to them, that's their (shitty) choice.

I just hate the thought of giving some bastard my $ instead of the artist who made it. And if I'm gonna bitch about giving P my $ maybe I shouldn't wanna see it & have it SO bad

The fact remains that the majority of Prince's officially released music is BETTER than the majority of stuff you will find on boots.

However, that doesn't stop me wanting more even though I have the best.

It depends on where you're at in the collection game.

For me, I'm not satisfied with just having all the official releases. I need all the unreleased studio cuts too cause there ARE some gems in there, no matter how bad the sound quality is. My answer overall is that Prince has done a good-excellent job with quality control of his music. I'm glad he didn't officially release Work That Fat, for example, or the billion versions of We Can Funk. It doesn't belong on anything...it just doesn't...and so much of the boots don't fit on albums...and the stuff that is of good quality needs to be coupled with the released stuff anyway to make a decent full album. So, Prince, by and large, with a few exceptions, has been doing the right thing.

Sure, I wish he'd release some of the stuff in the alleged "vault" (which I think is subject to exaggeration in terms of its quantity), but seriously the answer for me is that we already have the best stuff and he's continuing to give us the best of what he produces. I am sure of that.


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[This message was edited Fri Jun 4 5:30:31 2004 by mrdespues]

SquirrelMeat said:

your choice. but to imply that he is forcing you, is more or less b.s. your dial-up connection is not his problem. its unfortunate. like the person said earlier, what is the number of dial-up users? would it be worth it to manufacture and ship large files. he has changed a lot of things with the club for the better and some for the worse, but i think there has been pretty good response and the fact that we've seen several things, is a sign that he does care about its success. its a work in progress. its not like its a common practice in the music industry yet so he is bound to make mistakes. i've got a few complaints myself, but overall, i think it is worth it. calling it 'taking advantage' is unjustified in my opinion. out of curiosity, are there any other music clubs that have offered as much (no sarcasm).

the 11 min. video clip will most likely be a full length dvd for purchase. i'd be surprised if it wasn't. we should all wait and see.

I am a fan of the NPGMC, but since changing jobs, I do not have the time and am not allowed to spend all my time downloading etc etc.
As the only access to a computer I have is at work, I do feel there should be some other way of getting the new music.. I think the whole music from source to consumer is great, but it does alienate people like me who do not have computers or do not have access to them.

I didnt want 2 pay $10 for one song that is "just ok" by what people said. I have boots, but i NEVER bought for them.

The NPGMC trax i heard was all free from cost thru other fams. Im on NPGMC, but i dont have a bank card, so i cant buy rite now.


I'd doubt that P would release more boots from back in the day....Splash and Cloreen Bacon Skin was history though.

SquirrelMeat said:

I'd say next to none, percentage-wise...most likely the overwhelming majority of Prince fans aren't feeling like bootlegs are a better way to go.


A "great many" members probably have dsl...


Tell those "great many members" that, since they are members, it only cost $7.77...and last time I was at Tower Records, new albums cost at least twice that..


Perhaps...but how does the video room not remaining (and remaining free) drive anyone to seeking out bootlegs??...If the video room doesn't remain, then there will be no videos TO bootleg...More than a few links in your chain of logic missing there, I'm afraid...


And they don't have to...if all they want to do is hear "The Dance", then hit Kazaa...lol


Then what the hell do you care??...lol You've chosen your path and your priorities: get as much as possible for as cheaply as possible as easily as possible...even if it means supporting an industry that directly robs an artist of his or her rightful income...and you rationalize it by saying the artist "made" you do so. Cool, ok, go with that...

But for a "great many members" and fans, things are running rather well, they have no complaints, and feel better knowing their $$$ is being handed over directly to Prince himself, an artist they've been a fan of and have followed for literally decades. If anything, Prince has probably kept a number of fans AWAY from bootleggers by running his music club...


Um, because that "supplier" is, in reality, stealing the work from another, solely to make a profit by--yes--taking advantage of that artist's fans...I think your allegiance is a bit questionable, but oh well.

By the way...Prince gets bootlegs NOT because "The Dance" is thrown in amid a bunch of downloads from Year 1...Prince gets bootlegged because the man is THAT mf good at what he does, and because he's so damn prolific...he was considered one of the most bootlegged artists in rock history before there even WAS a music club or DSL or anything of that nature...even when you can go on Kazaa and get 75% of his shit for free, he's STILL getting people seeking out bootleggers..lol...so like I said, your chain of logic about Prince "turning" more of us towards bootleggers because he might be closing down his free video room is missing more than a few links...


...!
[This message was edited Fri Jun 4 7:47:47 2004 by Byron]

Byron said:

I absolutely agree with what you said there. P is not taking advantage of anyone. He is making available music at a very reasonable price.

That said, he really ought to consider making the downloadable albums available for purchase on CD. If I didn't have DSL, I am not sure I would want to download all of what is on the site. I still remember the sllllooowww days of a modem. I am not sure of the exact reasoning behind not giving a CD option, but I know I'd pay extra $$$ for a CD. Even if it had minimal artwork.

paisleypark4 said:[quote]I didnt want 2 pay $10 for one song that is "just ok" by what people said. I have boots, but i NEVER bought for them.

neither did I

Why do you want to pay for bootlegs when you can have them for free???

tritoncin said:[quote]

paisleypark4 said:

I know. Prince should just do a sale of his bootlegs year by year .99 on npgmc...MAD MONEY !!!!!

I'd be buying like hotcakes!