bearded morrison said:
Just throwing this out there: I've been a subscriber since the beginning of U2.com and a Prop subscriber before that. What are the chances of them saying something like "dedicated" fans who have always been a subscriber without any lapses will get a presale code for tickets to the next tour (whenever that is)?. They gave Prop subscribers a special pre-sale back when the whole fiasco happened in 2004, maybe they will give the continued subscribers a chance at a pre-sale. I've always thought staying in the cue with the subscription seemed like a good idea in regards to any sort of pre-sale opportunities based on the Prop situation. Here are the words from the U2.com FAQ:
At present, new subscribers do not receive pre-sale ticket codes
This to me leaves them open to offer the pre-sale codes in the future to subscribers. What gets my attention on this are two things; the words "at present" and "new subscribers".
"At present" leaves it open to having them change their minds when a tour happens.
'"New subscribers" to me could read folks who have just signed up and not have been a continuous paid subscriber from the beginning.
I do trust that U2 takes care of their fans. You can't please everyone but that would be very difficult considering how many millions of fans they have.
I do believe that U2 care about their fans, but they (ie the band members) have so many layers of management and staff between them and us that I suspect there's very little direct involvement in business decisions. I'm sure that Principle explain what's going to happen, but possibly couched in language that makes things sound more utopian than they actually are. For example, Larry's direct action last time only seemed to come about because of all the negative publicity U2 received in the mass media, rather than him being directly informed of events from within the organisation. Under normal circumstances, unless they take a direct interest, I expect that the band members are carefully insulated from the business side of things.
I have a different interpretation of this sentence from the U2.com FAQ:
"At present, new subscribers do not receive pre-sale ticket codes"
I think the key words here are the first two. It doesn't happen "at present" simply because there's no touring on the horizon. Remember, at present, existing subscribers don't receive presale ticket codes either, do they? Bearing in mind the fiasco last time, U2.com have to be very careful what they say about presales, and all they're doing with this FAQ is stating explicitly that there's no point in signing up if your only intention is to participate in a presale. If a new album appears this time next year, and if there's a likelihood of touring in 2009, then I expect that new and existing subscribers will all be given the opportunity to take part in presales, and chaos will predictably follow shortly afterwards. After all, U2 care so much about their fans that they level the playing field, giving the guy (or scalper) who signs up in August 2008 pretty much the same opportunity as the person who joined Propaganda 20+ years ago.
As for the gift, it definitely needs to be something better than the audio from a commercially available DVD. I mean, it's not exactly difficult to rip the audio from a DVD, and I'm sure I'm not the only person who's done this already! Why not forget about audio-visual laziness entirely and offer something that can't be done already, such as an exclusive t-shirt? (Since I have no imagination, I can't think of anything more original than this right now.)
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