1. I ended up getting the 3 Boy tracks and they sound AMAZING. Remarkable how great the sounded in 2018 as a band. Can't wait for the full release.
  2. My comment on zootopia has been deleted because I pointed out about the 3 songs that have went missing. They are obviously trying everything to hide the fact that they are holding back downloads from us. I think we’ve always suspected as much but now that they’ve blundered and removed any doubt it’s completely unacceptable. We’re paying money for something and they have it but are refusing to give us it.
  3. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    Bad strategy that doesn’t work it only frustrates people. Last year the full Berlin show was streamed a good few months before the physical item was sent out and that was ideal. If it was a show they had only recently played then that’s totally different but let’s be honest when I resubscribe and pay my money I receive nothing in return until these downloads and then physical gift arrives so I don’t want to be waiting around for no reason. It’s a poor strategy.


    If you send out all the downloads today who is even going to open the CD? It devalues the physical gift. I get that you want to hear them now but the gift has always been the physical version, with downloads taken from them made available in the lead up to the release of the physical gift.

    And the whole thing would be available on file sharing sites before anyone got a CD in the mail. Berlin was streamed, not meant to be downloadable. And the day after it started streaming it was everywhere, YouTube, Facebook etc. It's the first time they made the whole thing available in advance of the physical package and then they spent the next few weeks taking it off file sharing sites...

    Sending them out in smaller groups builds a bit of buzz ahead of the CD release. People getting the CD still can crack it open and enjoy a few tracks they haven't yet heard. And then once you get the bulk of them out in the mail you put a digital copy out...

    Over the next few weeks we are going to get 3 or 4 songs a week. Eventually we'll get a full set. And somewhere in between they'll have the CDs in the mail. I'm content to wait.

    The same strategy is used in promoting a record these days. Not unusually to see artists releasing 1 or 2 tracks every couple of weeks to build up a bit of buzz about the final release. They obviously could release the full record, but they have a release date set for a reason. And it's working in this case...you have all the fan sites talking about downloads being available, and reminding people who haven't subscribed they may want to look at the gift...
  4. Originally posted by u2wanderer1:[..]


    If you send out all the downloads today who is even going to open the CD? It devalues the physical gift. I get that you want to hear them now but the gift has always been the physical version, with downloads taken from them made available in the lead up to the release of the physical gift.

    And the whole thing would be available on file sharing sites before anyone got a CD in the mail. Berlin was streamed, not meant to be downloadable. And the day after it started streaming it was everywhere, YouTube, Facebook etc. It's the first time they made the whole thing available in advance of the physical package and then they spent the next few weeks taking it off file sharing sites...

    Sending them out in smaller groups builds a bit of buzz ahead of the CD release. People getting the CD still can crack it open and enjoy a few tracks they haven't yet heard. And then once you get the bulk of them out in the mail you put a digital copy out...

    Over the next few weeks we are going to get 3 or 4 songs a week. Eventually we'll get a full set. And somewhere in between they'll have the CDs in the mail. I'm content to wait.

    The same strategy is used in promoting a record these days. Not unusually to see artists releasing 1 or 2 tracks every couple of weeks to build up a bit of buzz about the final release. They obviously could release the full record, but they have a release date set for a reason. And it's working in this case...you have all the fan sites talking about downloads being available, and reminding people who haven't subscribed they may want to look at the gift...
    The physical cd is a collectors item. Whether subscribers want to open it or not is up to them but it’s the music most fans care about. How does a set of downloads from u2.com that is part of the subscription devalue the physical gift? If that was the case then the band would need to release every album in a physical format first before making it available digitally. It’s actually quite often the opposite that happens where Spotify already has the new album and people who ordered directly from u2.com still don’t have the physical cd. And the files will end up online one way or another anyway but that would be irrelevant because paying subscribers would be getting them first anyway. The fact this is part of a subscription that we have already paid for makes it completely unacceptable holding back downloads. They have something we’ve paid for and they are refusing to give us it. There’s no excuse, I don’t care about marketing strategies or illegal sharing or any of that stuff myself and all the other subscribers have paid money for something that we would all prefer to receive in full straight away and that they have ready to go but they are holding back from us. It’s very different from a commercial album release where they set a date as you say. When we pre order an album we know that date and understand that’s when we will receive it. For a fan club I think they need to have different priorities. The main one being pleasing the fans.
  5. I’m not sure what side of the debate I’m on but my last five U2.com gifts remain in their original packaging.
  6. It's hilarious that they're giving out a face mask with the gift. It will probably hit subscribers' mailboxes after the pandemic is over. Just an accurate representation of U2.com as a whole.
  7. Pissed off fans and U2.com fan club gifts. Name a more iconic duo.

    If pissed, might I suggest retaining your fifty dollars annually for other purposes.
  8. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    The physical cd is a collectors item. Whether subscribers want to open it or not is up to them but it’s the music most fans care about. How does a set of downloads from u2.com that is part of the subscription devalue the physical gift? If that was the case then the band would need to release every album in a physical format first before making it available digitally. It’s actually quite often the opposite that happens where Spotify already has the new album and people who ordered directly from u2.com still don’t have the physical cd. And the files will end up online one way or another anyway but that would be irrelevant because paying subscribers would be getting them first anyway. The fact this is part of a subscription that we have already paid for makes it completely unacceptable holding back downloads. They have something we’ve paid for and they are refusing to give us it. There’s no excuse, I don’t care about marketing strategies or illegal sharing or any of that stuff myself and all the other subscribers have paid money for something that we would all prefer to receive in full straight away and that they have ready to go but they are holding back from us. It’s very different from a commercial album release where they set a date as you say. When we pre order an album we know that date and understand that’s when we will receive it. For a fan club I think they need to have different priorities. The main one being pleasing the fans.
    What i'm trying to say is this...

    If you send the tracks out in full right now, and then don't send the CD out for eight weeks, people will be far less excited with the physical gift when it arrives. And that's the gift they are putting the time and the effort into. It loses some excitement if you send out the product in another format first.

    Option A: You put the full set of downloads out today. They appear online on sharing sites tonight, and no one buys a new subscription. Unless they really want the facemask I guess.
    Option B: Put a few downloads out today and withhold the bulk? People can hear what the editing sounds like, get a reminder of the gift. Sites will publicize this and bring more attention to the gift. And people interested in the full gift may just subscribe to get it. Because they can't go out and buy it. Thats why I used devalue...

    They always make the full set of downloads available shortly after the gifts are physically sent out. (When they make the full set available.) The only gift that was made available digitally in advance was the DVD gift...The goal is still to make money. Live Nation has staff to pay, and people working on these projects. They still need to get subscribers signed up and it's harder to keep them signed up between tours. Especially when there's no tour in sight for a couple of years. It's easy to keep those of us who never let a subscription lapse. It's harder to bring in new people when there's no ticket offer.

    The only thing they promise us is a gift once a year, that will arrive in the year that we subscribed. They could send them out in December and still meet that obligation. (And yes I realize many have issues each and every year with the gift not arriving...) I'm just happy they seem to be trying to get them out in the first half of the year these days.

    As for the physical album? Is anyone still ordering those from U2.Com and expecting them in a timely manner? I've had nothing but trouble. But if i want it the same day it pops up on Spotify, I can go to my local record shop and buy it.
  9. Originally posted by u2wanderer1:[..]
    What i'm trying to say is this...

    If you send the tracks out in full right now, and then don't send the CD out for eight weeks, people will be far less excited with the physical gift when it arrives. And that's the gift they are putting the time and the effort into. It loses some excitement if you send out the product in another format first.

    Option A: You put the full set of downloads out today. They appear online on sharing sites tonight, and no one buys a new subscription. Unless they really want the facemask I guess.
    Option B: Put a few downloads out today and withhold the bulk? People can hear what the editing sounds like, get a reminder of the gift. Sites will publicize this and bring more attention to the gift. And people interested in the full gift may just subscribe to get it. Because they can't go out and buy it. Thats why I used devalue...

    They always make the full set of downloads available shortly after the gifts are physically sent out. (When they make the full set available.) The only gift that was made available digitally in advance was the DVD gift...The goal is still to make money. Live Nation has staff to pay, and people working on these projects. They still need to get subscribers signed up and it's harder to keep them signed up between tours. Especially when there's no tour in sight for a couple of years. It's easy to keep those of us who never let a subscription lapse. It's harder to bring in new people when there's no ticket offer.

    The only thing they promise us is a gift once a year, that will arrive in the year that we subscribed. They could send them out in December and still meet that obligation. (And yes I realize many have issues each and every year with the gift not arriving...) I'm just happy they seem to be trying to get them out in the first half of the year these days.

    As for the physical album? Is anyone still ordering those from U2.Com and expecting them in a timely manner? I've had nothing but trouble. But if i want it the same day it pops up on Spotify, I can go to my local record shop and buy it.
    Your bit at the end sums it up. The whole bit before that was about making the gift exciting and keeping subscribers yet when it comes to the basics of delivering a commercial release they can’t get that right. And going back to the gift I don’t think this strategy does build excitement. When it ends up taking as long as it does all you get is complaints, the amount of people that aren’t happy with the fanclub is unreal and a lot of it is because of how long it takes to get the gift or some people not even receiving the gift. Here’s some more options I would throw out there, have a physical gift and different download gift, push the boat out and give us 2 different shows, any 2 shows then we can download the first one and wait for the 2nd one and there’s no issue with the devaluing theory because they’re different shows. Give us a full live song performance on the site every month in video. But to simply not give us downloads we’ve paid for because it makes the physical gift less exciting isn’t good enough. I’ve got 6 songs at this stage for £30, I’ve forked out all my subscription fee in the one go but they can’t give us what we paid for in the one go.
  10. Where is this face mask mentioned just of curiosity?
  11. Originally posted by deanallison:[..]
    Your bit at the end sums it up. The whole bit before that was about making the gift exciting and keeping subscribers yet when it comes to the basics of delivering a commercial release they can’t get that right. And going back to the gift I don’t think this strategy does build excitement. When it ends up taking as long as it does all you get is complaints, the amount of people that aren’t happy with the fanclub is unreal and a lot of it is because of how long it takes to get the gift or some people not even receiving the gift. Here’s some more options I would throw out there, have a physical gift and different download gift, push the boat out and give us 2 different shows, any 2 shows then we can download the first one and wait for the 2nd one and there’s no issue with the devaluing theory because they’re different shows. Give us a full live song performance on the site every month in video. But to simply not give us downloads we’ve paid for because it makes the physical gift less exciting isn’t good enough. I’ve got 6 songs at this stage for £30, I’ve forked out all my subscription fee in the one go but they can’t give us what we paid for in the one go.
    They don't have to build excitement for us - they already have our money. They just have to get us the product.

    The subscription offer when announced this year listed "First downloads and full tracklisting coming in early 2021". So they told us up front before taking our money that we weren't getting the downloads all at once. I'll leave others to argue if May is still early 2021. But it's not exactly like they hide that they won't send out the downloads all at once.

    Oseary dismantled Madonna's yearly subscription style club about seven years back, maybe a bit longer. She doesn't take an annual fee any more. Now she just takes a fee when there's a presale for tickets. For $30 you get a two week window to enter a pre-sale and a key chain or something small from the shop. If you want to enter another presale three weeks later it's another $30 and another key chain. At the time it was said to be because of dissatisfaction of the fans with how it was run, and the inability to please anyone and I can see why.

    I'm actually at the point where I hate having to post about anything related to the fan club gift because they could give out gold bars and there would be a string of complaints that someone didn't like the format, they wanted something else. If it's vinyl, no one can play it. If it's CD everyone wanted vinyl. If it's a show we've heard it before. If it's prints or a book, people wanted music.