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Prince Site Fades to Black
07/13/2006 2:06 PM, E! Online
Not because of Chaos and Disorder but because it has "gone
as far as it can go," Prince has shut down his pioneering Website,
NPGMusicClub.com.
The Purple Rain purveyor started the
subscription-based site back in 2001, when he dropped the whole symbol
thing (which he adopted in 1993) and was once again performing and
recording under his better-known moniker--Prince.
Named
after his New Power Generation backup band, Prince used the site to
release new music and non-album compilations and post messages to his
fans--just this year it earned him a Special Achievement Webby Award.
But that didn't stop him from pulling the plug.
"In its current form, there is a feeling that the NPGMC has gone as far
as it can go," an e-mailed statement to club members said. "Has the time
come to once again make a leap of faith and begin anew? These are
questions we in the NPG need to answer.
"In doing so, we have
decided to put the club on hiatus until further notice...The future
holds nothing but endless opportunity and we plan on seizing it
wholeheartedly. Don't u want 2 come?"
David Schelzel, Prince's
attorney, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the shutdown has
nothing to do with a trademark lawsuit filed against the site July 3. A
publishing company in England, HM Publishing Holdings, claims that
Prince's site infringes upon the name of its own science book division,
called the Nature Publishing Group. Or, if you will, NPG.
"Prince's use of the NPG or Paisley Park [as in the now-defunct record
label and the still-open studio Prince owns and operates in Minnesota]
trademarks is no way in jeopardy," Schelzel said, adding that his client
has already been given the go-ahead to use the name from the U.S. Patent
and Trademark Office.
He said that people would have to "wait
and see" why Prince, who was named Best Male R&B Artist at the BET
Awards in June, shut down his Website last week.
NPGMusicClub
originally charged members $7.75 a month for general access and $100 for
a premium annual membership. Prince's camp lowered the fees to $2.50 a
month and then $25 for a lifetime pass. After forking over the cash,
several fans had complained about the site's heavily trafficked ticket
section and its inability to deliver promised exclusives, according to
Billboard.com.
We're not sure if Prince knew that his site's
days were numbered when he accepted his Webby Award in New York--he only
offered a typically inscrutable acceptance speech.
"Everything
you think is true," was all he said before bringing down the house with
an acoustic performance of "Don't Play Me."
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