Publication: USA Today [US]
Date: June 17, 1998
Section: Life
Page Number(s): 8d
Length: 634 Words
Title: "Artist's Marketing Plan Turns Into Royal Pain"
Written By: Bruce Haring

The Artist Formerly Known as Prince has a new name among certain fans -- mud.

Enraged by delays and snafus in shipping his five-CD Crystal Ball album, available initially only via the Internet or phone orders, some fans are vowing to boycott the Artist's upcoming New Power Soul album, set to be released at the end of this month.

Last August, the Artist announced that he was taking orders for Crystal Ball, then a limited-edition three-CD set of new music, previously bootlegged material, plus a disc of acoustic music titled The Truth.

His move to the Net was a reaction to the Artist's disenchantment with major record companies, most vividly demonstrated by his writing the word "Slave" on his cheek during the latter stages of his music's distribution through Warner Bros. Records, a Time Warner-owned record label.

The plan to circumvent traditional distribution methods for music was to take orders and start manufacturing when orders reached 100,000 -- the claimed financial break-even point for the album. Fans were encouraged to order via Prince's web site (www.love4oneanother) or to call 1-800-newfunk.

However, the album's release, expected just a few months after the August announcement, was put off for months.. To mollify angered fans, two discs were added, making the Net package a five-CD set.

But fans were further enraged when a four-disc retail version showed up in February, priced roughly half of the $ 50-plus-shipping Internet price. Many fans saw it in stores before their alleged limited-edition Net set had come in the mail.

"They're so disorganized, it seems like they're taking the orders and cancellations and writing them down on scraps of paper," says Chris Coleman, 31, of Bolivar, Tenn., who tried to cancel his Internet order without success and has now turned the matter over to his credit card company.

Roger Friedman of New York, a free-lance writer, says he posted a column to Microsoft's Music Central and Cinemania sites after Crystal Ball arrived in June; he ordered it in January. "No note, no apology," he says. "I know the whole idea was to buck the system, but it hasn't worked."

Buyers complain that getting through on the toll-free number is nearly impossible, and e-mail isn't answered. At least one complaint site has sprung up, (www2.bitstream.net/crucial /test.html), and Net discussions devoted to the Artist are rife with talk of disappointment.

Spokesman Londell McMillan says The Artist's organization was overwhelmed by the initial demand for the Internet version of Crystal Ball, which he claims eventually sold out on its run of 250,000 copies.

Initially, he wasn't sure whether fans would even order by the Net and phone. But, says McMillan, "once the orders started coming in, it became an issue of 'Wow! You really have to fulfill these orders.' "

He acknowledges confusion over the appearance of the retail version, but says it and the Net version were "two different types of packages around some of the same music."

Asked about late-arriving packages and difficulties in canceling orders, McMillan spoke of "the growing pains of new technology and alternative distribution methods." The next album, McMillan says, will be available at stores, although it will be available on line, too.

Marc Geiger, co-CEO of Artist Direct, the parent company of the Ultimate Band List and talent agency for such acts as Pearl Jam and Beck, says that poor order fulfillment, The Artist's confusing Web site address and the site's haphazard organization have contributed to "making it difficult to do business with the Artist."

The Artist's concepts of selling on line are fine, Geiger says. "But his execution is poor."