Prince News

as far as it can go," Prince has shut down his pioneering Website,

NPGMusicClub.com.

The Purple Rain purveyor started the

subscription-based site back in 2001, when he dropped the whole symbol

thing (which he adopted in 1993) and was once again performing and

recording under his better-known moniker--Prince.

Named

after his New Power Generation backup band, Prince used the site to

release new music and non-album compilations and post messages to his

fans--just this year it earned him a Special Achievement Webby Award.

But that didn't stop him from pulling the plug.

"In its current form, there is a feeling that the NPGMC has gone as far

as it can go," an e-mailed statement to club members said. "Has the time

come to once again make a leap of faith and begin anew? These are

questions we in the NPG need to answer.

"In doing so, we have

decided to put the club on hiatus until further notice...The future

holds nothing but endless opportunity and we plan on seizing it

wholeheartedly. Don't u want 2 come?"

David Schelzel, Prince's

attorney, told the Minnesota Star Tribune that the shutdown has

nothing to do with a trademark lawsuit filed against the site July 3. A

publishing company in England, HM Publishing Holdings, claims that

Prince's site infringes upon the name of its own science book division,

called the Nature Publishing Group. Or, if you will, NPG.

"Prince's use of the NPG or Paisley Park [as in the now-defunct record

label and the still-open studio Prince owns and operates in Minnesota]

trademarks is no way in jeopardy," Schelzel said, adding that his client

has already been given the go-ahead to use the name from the U.S. Patent

and Trademark Office.

He said that people would have to "wait

and see" why Prince, who was named Best Male R&B Artist at the BET

Awards in June, shut down his Website last week.

NPGMusicClub

originally charged members $7.75 a month for general access and $100 for

a premium annual membership. Prince's camp lowered the fees to $2.50 a

month and then $25 for a lifetime pass. After forking over the cash,

several fans had complained about the site's heavily trafficked ticket

section and its inability to deliver promised exclusives, according to

Billboard.com.

We're not sure if Prince knew that his site's

days were numbered when he accepted his Webby Award in New York--he only

offered a typically inscrutable acceptance speech.

"Everything

you think is true," was all he said before bringing down the house with

an acoustic performance of "Don't Play Me."