(11-16-2005) U2.com Tries Tantalizing Members Back -- Interference.com*

[dsmith2904]

[SIMG]http://www.u2.com/gfx/u2_communication.gif[/SIMG]
U2.com Tries Tantalizing Members Back

Today U2.com members received the following renewal offer in their e-mail boxes:

It is now 12 months since we launched the current version of U2.com.

12 months that have seen U2 release "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" and set out on the Vertigo//2005 tour; 12 months in which subscribers have been kept up to date with all things U2 including exclusive information and unique access.

As your current U2.com subscription will soon expire we would like to introduce our inaugural Re-subscription Package.

All current subscribers will be able to renew their U2.com subscriptions for a further 12 months at a 20% discount on the standard cost of $40. In addition, all U2.com members who renew their subscriptions will also receive an exclusive CD/CD-ROM double disc set, "U2 Communication".

This package, which will not be available at retail, contains an 8-track CD featuring songs recorded live during the Vertigo Tour; and a CD-ROM containing an interactive audio player, an exclusive live video clip from U2's Vertigo 2005 show at Milan's San Siro stadium, as well as wallpapers and U2 screen savers using the show's amazing imagery.

As a paid up member of U2.com you will continue to receive a 25% discount on your first purchase at the U2.com store and access to the subscribers site, which features up to the minute stories, interviews and videos. We will continue to give U2.com subscribers exclusive access to full-length audio and video streams of new U2 songs and performances. Subscribers can keep in touch with other fans via their own U2.com email address and access to the Zootopia boards and regular subscriber emails.

There will not be any ticket guarantees as part of the re-subscription package.

As we have stated before, the U2.com ticket pre sale for Vertigo 2005 was not what we wanted it to be, and once again we can only apologise for the inconvenience and distress that we know this caused. We continue to look for fair ways in which we can distribute tickets to our fans on future tours but any solution will not be tied to this re-subscription.

It's nice to see U2.com once again recognizing the Vertigo presale troubles, but without ticket presales, how many members will re-up their subscriptions?

 

[drumkeeran]

I'm a sucker...I re-upped.

 

[lovveu2]

I must be a sucker too...as I also re-upped!

 

[Hawkfire]

More money for less product

The U2 of the 2000's....less product, but costing more $$$$.

Their website is an embarrassment. It is always late on news, has little valuable content and nothing from the band members themselves. If I wanted to watch U2 videos all day, I guess I'd go there, but short of that...

U2 USED to have a nice little fan club (Propaganda) which I enjoyed being a member of for 7 years or so and faithfully alloted excellent tickets for PopMart and Elevation tours. $20 was a reasonable fee for 4 issues of their erstwhile magazine plus access to the tickets.

Unfortunately, when they pulled their low-class bait and switch in late 2004, I called foul and bailed out (bait and switch meaning they required existing members, most of whom hadn't gotten anywhere close to the 4 mag issues and some of whom hadn't been around for prior-tour ticket access, to pay an additional $20 for essentially the same services they bought in for $20 and hadn't received!)

Time has proven my decision wise. I was out before everyone got screwed in the ticket SNAFU in January. Now look at what we have here - no more ticket access, the only valuable commodity of membership left. You can take all your U2 membership cards, crappy websites, and exclusive music videos you want, but this is GOUGING their own fanbase, pure and simple. Oh but wait you get a CD with 5 tracks that everyone will have in 2 months time anyways! LOL, what a ripoff.

I like U2's music but am less interested in funding Sebastian Clayton's Trust Account.

I hope most U2 fans will see through this thinly veiled ploy at more $$$$.

 

[ArrogantU2Fan]

Personnally since I found this board I don't go there anymore and I was a member....this is just more fun and should be the Official Sight in my opinion....Susan

 

[RavenBlue]

I don't understand why they don't make the fan stuff available to everyone. It does just seem to be a blatant grab at more money.Maybe if they gave the collected earning from it to a charity or something.. I'd be more likely to join in.

Don't get me wrong.. I U2. I just have never bought in (pun intended) to these sort of things.

 

[Bono's Doll]

Signed up.

 

[nbcrusader]

Big enticement. Exactly how long after the first U2.communication disk ships before it is posted on the internet?

 

[Zooropa man]

As a paid up member of U2.com you will continue to receive a 25% discount on your first purchase at the U2.com store and access to the subscribers site, which features up to the minute stories, interviews and videos. We will continue to give U2.com subscribers exclusive access to full-length audio and video streams of new U2 songs and performances....

Hmm... new songs? Perhaps something new and exciting material to come???

 

[Nube Gris]

Raven Blue agree with you

 

[gareth brown]

whoa, hang on...it was $40 a year?! Christ...

 

[nathan1977]

I re-upped. $32 isn't breaking the bank for me, and you never know what they might come up with. Sounds like they're still trying to figure out future ticket allotments. If other bands are doing it for their online fanbase, why wouldn't U2? (Albeit very differently from how they did it before.)

 

[Carek1230]

Count me in as one of the suckers I guess.

 

[Queen Bee]

I'm not renewing

 

[MirrorballLemon]

honestly, i love the exclusive stuff on the site. There's an awful lot of neat videos and interviews. In my opinion, the new U2.com is better than the old one. I don't think $32 a year is unreasonable considering we get an exclusive cd and cdrom as well as the access. from a collector's standpoint, the cdrom is worth having. I mean, those things are going to go on Ebay for the same price, so why not just pay the money to the band and get the exclusive access with it? Besides, with the tour winding down I thnk we're more apt to see more things the coming year.

Maybe I'm not bitter like the rest of you because I got my keychain....

 

[drt4]

Seems like a ripoff to me. I mean, the $20 Propaganda subscription would last for a couple years since they were so slow getting issues out. So the slowness was not impressive, but that meant that inbetween those 4 issues you would get ticket presales and occasional free CDs like the Popmart Mexico and Melon. And really that is the only thing I really care about. So now it is $40 every year (or at least $32). And in off tour years, that means no ticket presales, and you maybe get a chance at a free CD. And really who needs a CD with 8 live songs when you can legally download from most any show for free!?! I mean, I'm sure the screensavers and wallpapers are neat, but there is no way that is worth it.

 

[vivaSA]

I'm still thinking about the renewal. I got the key chain too!

 

[Eliv8]

$32 per year. If they tour again in 4 years that’s $128. If its 5 years from now (more likely) that will be $160. And who is to say the ticket distribution will be better next time?
I still don't have my dam key-chain from signing up in the first place.
U2.con can shove it!

 

[Thora]

I still haven't decided whether I'll renew or not. I share the subscription with my best friend, so we'll have to talk it over.

If there was a deal with getting ticket pre-sales again, that would be sweet. Although, who knows if they'll be back on the West Coast of N. America anytime soon. We'll go to a stadium show if it's anywhere reasonable.

I didn't get a keychain either, and the extra CD isn't a huge draw.

I guess my point is that I'm undecided at this point.

 

[cypress]

Maybe I'm not bitter like the rest of you because I got my keychain....

Whooaa there. I don't think most people who refuse to pay $40 a year to U2.com are bitter. Frankly, I've never understood spending $40 a year on access to ANY website, especially a site as poorly done as U2.com. The internet was originally created to be used for the free sharing of ideas and information. Many of us remember what the internet used to be like and what commercialization has done to it. It's sad, really, to see what the internet has now come down to. For that reason alone I refuse to subscribe to any website.

I understand (more than most) that it costs $$$ to run and maintain a website. But, trust me on this, it does NOT cost anywhere near what they are pulling in at $40 per year per subscriber. In essence, U2.com is generating income off of the love and loyalty of U2's most ardent supporters who just want access to videos and interviews or a botched attempt at early ticket sales.

I think it's sad but do not think that in any way I blame the band U2 for this. They have way too much on their plate to really get deeply involved in the technical and infrastructural issues involved with their official website. This is someone else's cause.

I just think it is a bad trend and I refuse to support pay websites, even the site of my favorite band. I will spend that $40 on something I can actually feel good about.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

My middle name is sucker. They had me with the cd/cd-rom exclusive. I am guessing the live tracks will be from San Siro if the video on the cd-rom is from it.

 

[Queen Bee]

This is the tracklisting for the live CD

1. City Of Blinding Lights live FROM Chicago, May 2005
2. Vertigo live FROM Chicago, May 2005
3. Elevation live FROM Chicago, May 2005
4. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For live FROM Milan, July 2005
5. Miracle Drug live FROM Chicago, May 2005
6. Miss Sarajevo live FROM Milan, July 2005
7. The Fly live FROM Chicago, MAY 2005
8. With Or Without You live FROM Milan, July 2005

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Hey Queen babe

Where did you find this info from?

 

[Teta040]

The thing about NOT renewing is....

What if, 3 or 4 yrs from now, on the next tour, the illustrious personages who "run" the site only decide to renew ticket-buying privaleges for those former Propaganda members who kept up their memberships current through the "between-tour" time? In the old Prop, in the '90's, there was such a large gap between issues/tours that you could let your membership expire, and then renew in the 12 months before the next album release, leaving you plently of time to get that one necessary issue you had to get to keep the tix-buying privilege for the next tour.

With these bastards in charge (and I WISH I knew who they were) there's no gurauntees they wouldn't pull such a low stunt like the possibilty I described above. Complain all you want, and I know I did my share, but I was lucky enough after the disasterous setup of the site last Dec, decided initially NOT to use the site the first time around, pre-sale, and saved my Prop code, thus enabling me to get my GA's for the 2 shows I went to on the fall leg (Boston 2 and NYC 1, and I was in the 2nd row at the tip of the outside of the Ellipse for both, and regret neither one. )

I can't see what will happen in the future. We of course have NO idea if there will be a "Prop" option next time, how or even if new Prop subscribers will still be able to sign up, or old ones renew for tix. All I know is, I went to 3 shows this tour, (one less than Elevation, but who cares?) and the ones in the Fall Leg were the shows I wanted and I saw them in the exact places I wanted to be. The Boston show was the next best thing to the 1st "9/11" show at MSG I saw last tour, and I had the unforgettable experience, in NYC Oct 7th, of standing next to a 20-yr-old U2 "concert virgin", a self-confessed "Vertigo" convert, who was sobbing aloud by the first encore. And talking to several other fans on this site, they too saw her crying that night, , from spots all over the Ellipse. I am 36 yrs old, that was my 10th U2 show in 24 yrs of fandom, (I was only able to see them live starting with ZooTV, thank you, Propaganda, as they never even came to my hometown until '92) and that was the best part of the whole tour for me, even better than the music or anything I said or did or met in line, and I wouldn't trade that for the world. If I had to take chances, and put up with all the BS from this sorry excuse for a site, that U2.com membersip saved my behind. It was the only option for me, as I was broke and had no idea how the black market works anyway, even if I wanted to buy from a scapler, which I'd personally slit my throat before doing.

So if 4 yrs from now, I find out from the sneaky bastards who run the site that the only way to continue to purchase tix is to have kept my membersip current, I'll swallow the guff and do it. I won't buy a thing else from them, though.

And BTW....I am currently broke. I have to put some more $ on the old credit card before renewing. What is the time frame to renew? Are they not taking renewals after a certain point?

 

[Queen Bee]

Hey Queen babe

Where did you find this info from?

It's at u2.com - http://www.u2.com/subscribe/

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Thanks for the link Queen Bee.

 

[HelloAngel]

I'm not renewing b/c I don't want to give more money to Fanfire until the site and its offerings are revamped. There are plenty of other bands out there, big bands, that don't seem to run into these types of problems so dramatically. The U2 camp needs to hire dedicated people to making sure that things are more satisfactory to the people who are purchasing the service, versus outsourced people at Fanfire who don't care nearly as much as they should.

 

[angelordevil]

I'm not renewing b/c I don't want to give more money to Fanfire until the site and its offerings are revamped. There are plenty of other bands out there, big bands, that don't seem to run into these types of problems so dramatically. The U2 camp needs to hire dedicated people to making sure that things are more satisfactory to the people who are purchasing the service, versus outsourced people at Fanfire who don't care nearly as much as they should.

I don't know what else to say, except for I WANT MY FUCKING KEYCHAIN!!! .......niceness lapse there.

The only thing that's keeping U2 cool in the virtual world is this well-run, always informative, and highly addictive website. ..my hat--and my Walmart keychain--go off to all those who keep it alive and vital...

 

[gareth brown]

This is the tracklisting for the live CD

1. City Of Blinding Lights live FROM Chicago, May 2005
2. Vertigo live FROM Chicago, May 2005
3. Elevation live FROM Chicago, May 2005
4. I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For live FROM Milan, July 2005
5. Miracle Drug live FROM Chicago, May 2005
6. Miss Sarajevo live FROM Milan, July 2005
7. The Fly live FROM Chicago, MAY 2005
8. With Or Without You live FROM Milan, July 2005

i must say that's a pretty crap tracklisting considering what they've played this tour...!

 

[Clark W. Griswold Jr]

There will not be any ticket guarantees as part of the re-subscription package.

We continue to look for fair ways in which we can distribute tickets to our fans on future tours but any solution will not be tied to this re-subscription.

They've totally missed the boat AGAIN.... The ticketing opportunity IS the reason for a fanclub.

And this "exclusive" CD set... First, they didn't even get keychains or membership cards out to many/most of its subscribers, so how in the hell can we expect them to deliver on this? And wow, the setlist on this compilation... 8 whole songs, half from the DVD... I'm glad they didn't break a sweat on my account.

Memo to U2- just let 10club run it for you.