NPG Music Club was the official website for
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
from 2001 to 2006, and was named after Prince's New Power Generation band. Based on being one of the first mainstream artists to use the internet as an independent music distribution hub, Prince won a
Webby Lifetime Achievement Award for the site in 2006.
Membership was either $7.77 for a Basic Monthly Membership or $99 for a Premium Annual Membership. Basic Monthly Membership entitled members to a minimum of three new Prince songs each month, often accompanied by corresponding music videos, and a free one-hour radio show (podcast) hosted by
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
and other NPG members. The podcasts featured music, commentary and original skits. Premium Annual Membership were additionally entitled to more downloads, preferred seating at all
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
concerts, and VIP passes to all after shows and parties. Plus they got a free copy of the limited ''
Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic
''Rave In2 the Joy Fantastic'' is a remix album by American recording artist Prince (musician), Prince, under the unpronounceable "Love Symbol", as shown on the album cover. It was released on April 29, 2001 by NPG Records and contains remixes ...
'' album.
During the second year of the Club,
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
changed the subscription model to mailing out four exclusive CDs throughout the year to members. The CDs for that year were ''
One Nite Alone
''One Nite Alone...'' is the twenty-fifth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on May 14, 2002 by NPG Records.
Background
It features him singing and accompanying himself on piano, making only occasional use of ...
'' and the three-disc ''
One Nite Alone... Live!'' box set. Members also got a free download of Prince's instrumental ''
Xpectation
''Xpectation'' (subtitled "New Directions in Music By Prince") is the twenty-sixth studio album by American recording artist Prince. It was released on January 1, 2003, by NPG Records. It is the first instrumental album released under Prince's ...
'' album at the end of the year. Presale concert tickets continued to be offered exclusively to members
Entering into its third year,
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
lowered the membership price to $25 for a lifetime membership. Instead of CDs or included downloads,
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
switched to selling downloads in the Musicology Download Store that were discounted for members. Presale concert tickets for the best seats on his Musicology Tour were also made available exclusively to members.
The site had around 400,000 members. It opened on February 14, 2001 and closed on July 4, 2006.
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
replaced the site with 3121.com.
Webby Award
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
won a
Webby Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, largely because of the NPG Music Club. Tiffany Shlain, founder of the awards, described Prince as a "musical genius" and "a visionary, who recognized early on that the Web would completely change how we experience music."
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
accepted his Webby Award personally in New York. Following the tradition of the awards in which each winner must only use five words as an acceptance speech, his speech was, "Everything you think is true." He performed an acoustic version of "Don't Play Me" at the ceremony. The NPG Music Club won its own, separate Webby Award that year for Best Celebrity/Fan site. Sam Jennings, the site's webmaster, accepted the award at the ceremony and gave his five word speech, "Prince says eliminate the middle-man."
Lawsuit
HM Publishing Holdings, a publishing company in England, filed a trademark lawsuit against the site on July 3, 2006, claiming that NPG Music Club infringed on the name of their science book division the
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio (formerly known as Nature Publishing Group and Nature Research) is a division of the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature that publishes academic journals, magazines, online databases, and services in scien ...
(NPG).
Prince
A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...
closed the site 24 hours later. David Schelzel, Prince's attorney, said "Prince's use of the NPG...trademarks is no way in jeopardy", and stated Prince had permission from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to use the name. Despite these events occurring on the same day, Prince's attorney has called it pure coincidence and stated that the site did not close due to the trademark dispute.
See also
*
List of music released from NPG Music Club This is a list of songs released by Prince and the New Power Generation on his then-official website NPG Music Club, released between 2001 and 2005. The list includes early radio transmissions (called "AHDIO SHOWS", usually mixed in sequence and con ...
References
External links
Prince Online Museum
{{Prince
Prince (musician)