I agree re: the original site when it was npgonlineltd.com. I'm not even hung up on the DRM aspects of it, even though it is a pain in the butt to burn cds from my windows media player.
I also agree that the site would be more exciting and interesting with more frequent content input from Prince... I think there were hints of that this year, especially with the "Feeling Good" demo that they offered for us to sample and give feedback. Even if the feedback was going to be ignored--that kind of interactivity seems to represent the best of what Prince has stated in the past that he likes about the 'net. Even lesser "sneak peeks" like photos from the video shoot for "Black Sweat" were cool. I could do without the useless VB reports though. Maybe (hopefully?) they'll be retooling based on past "best practices" and some experimental stuff for the next version. I do hope they abandon flash though--even though it's cute from a design perspective it sucks from a user perspective. <Moderator: Yes, a little less flash laden section would be nice. Especially, for those with slower or undependable connections. Interactivity is key to this experience along with content. Yes the VB reports suck and also the weird figure out your self nonsensical commentary. Those things really take away from the experience. My biggest gripe is the slow emails. Sometimes it takes 2 days to get an email from them. There has to be a better way to manage and post to there mailing list. We can only hope for the best in the future and see what happens -Derek> On 7/4/06, Derek <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > The original site showed so much promised. I was extremely impressed at > first viewing. With the except of some bugs and the dumb decision to try > to > create a priority player to view the content. NPGMC 1.0 wasn't a bad idea. > They worked a lot of that out later. > > I wouldn't mind paying a monthly fee for decent content, but I refuse to > buy > the same stuff over and over again! That was ludicrous! The Radio Shows > became repetitive and they started to give us songs we already owned! > > I blame a lot of that and the recent downfall of the site on Prince. He is > not helping the site grow. He should be helping provide content. Even if > it's a box of scrapes I am sure Prince's scrapes are a lot more > interesting > that some of the crap they didn't give us > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of NuPwrSoul > Sent: Tuesday, July 04, 2006 6:31 PM > To: npny@lists.panix.com > Subject: Re: NPNY: Happy 4th? - Re: Music Club Hiatus > > From a business perspective that $25 "lifetime" membership was a horrible > financial model from the very start--in order for the club to make money > it > depended on a constant addition of NEW members, while the existing members > probably wore out their profitability in terms of bandwidth, etc. after > the > first year. > > Plus the download store also presented a horrible financial model--because > of its highly restrictive digital rights management, licenses/files were > always available for the member to redownload. That's increased bandwidth > without any additional purchase. > > In 2004 they probably didn't care because they assumedly got a slew of > "new > members" for the tour (the $25 was rollin in!). But 2005 was a dry year, > and for the most part 2006 has been pretty low profile too. No new > members > = no new money. Old members are spending any either, except for the few > buying overpriced merchandise "exclusives." > > There were signs of money problems (to me) back when they made that NAACP > Vanguard performance available... they probably had to pay a hefty > licensing > fee in order to sell it on the site; and when they did make it available, > there was an EXTREMELY aggressive push for people to download it "as a > sign > of interest" in things like that. They seemed desperate not only (1) to > make back the cost of providing the performance for sale, but also (2) > demonstrate the vitality and utility of the site (presumably to Prince) at > a > time when he himself was providing minimum news/content. > > By the end of the day, NPGMC basically was a message board, with a few > regulars (relative to the hundreds? of thousands of members). > > It makes sense that they revamp. Of course, I don't buy the "we are > contemplating what to do next" line... My guess is that they ALREADY KNOW > what they're going to do next and are putting it into place. > > As much as people complained, I think the $100 fee structure was the best > one, both in terms of site content (downloads etc.) and concert perqs. > > > On 7/4/06, Amil <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > This means it's going to be a bit harder to find out about > > concerts... for now. And it must suck for people who just recently > > joined. But Prince will definitely be back soon. I can't imagine him > > without a web presence. And my guess is that he ended the Club > > suddenly, but will be back with a "normal" web site. There will be no > > more Club - but I think he will have a new Artist website designed > > and on line - he will surely sell merchandise there and maybe > > continue to offer pre-sale concert tix like other artists do. > > > > I'm glad he's changing things. Personally, I was hardly ever using > > Club site anymore (except for concert info). It's strange that he > > wouldnt have another website designed and ready to go, but hey, thats > > Prince! He probably just told his people a couple of weeks ago to > > shut it down. > > > > Amil > > > > <Moderator: Shit! There was a ton of other sources that did better at > > providing Prince related that NPGMC so I say good riddance. Hopefully a > > more > > function site will come out of the ashes of that horrible site -Derek> > > > > > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > > > From: TA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > > Date: Jul 4, 2006 9:04 AM > > > Subject: NPNY: Happy 4th? - Re: Music Club Hiatus > > > To: npny@lists.panix.com > > > > > > 2159fd1e41f690756f36dc87813833b2866e14058d4cf7af7dc3cedf14da50d33765d7 > > > 1ddb4f > > > c9ed350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c > > > X-Originating-IP: 209.86.224.32 > > > Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Precedence: bulk > > > Reply-To: npny@lists.panix.com > > > > > > Good Lord, now what? What's this hiatus stuff? No more club? They > > > didn't > > > even bother to send an email. Does anyone think this is serious or > > > just some > > > stupid new stunt? I had to go to Prince.org to find out about it. I > > > bet it > > > does come back but with a yearly membership. There's going to be a > > > lot of > > > pissed off people, especially the ones who just joined. > > > > > > Of course it doesn't help that I was already having a crappy > > > holiday. Last > > > night I was horribly betrayed by someone who supposedly loves me, I > > > have > > > this sinking feeling that I may never again see someone else that I > > > really > > > wanted to "get to know", and today I get to look forward to the family > > > barbeque where I get to be insulted and berated my brother tries to > > > drown me > > > in the pool like he does every year. > > > > > > Fine, Prince. Do whatever the hell you want. Go play with your > > > celebrity > > > friends instead at 3121 and ignore people like me who have stuck > > > with you > > > for over 20 years. To show how much I don't care, I'm going to break > > > tradition and not play the extended version of America like I do > > > every July > > > 4th. I have more important things to worry about now. > > > > > > Despite the above rant, I really do wish all the NPNY'ers a happy > > > and safe > > > holiday. > > > > > > Tom > > > > > > <Moderator: We all kind of saw this coming. We speculated on it a > > > few weeks > > > ago when they stop taking membership. -Derek> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- NewPowerNewYork Mailing List website: Www.NPNY.Org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe? Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED], in body place npny ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions/Help?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
