LPUX Announced

[DeniseShinizzle]

Its so sick to read all those things.

But I think everyone here is thinking the same about LPUX.

 

Is it so hard to let things be like they was?

I mean LP is changing they're music style again (I think its a good thing) but why changing the LPU too?

We all from the LPU are a strong community and I have so many good memories about beeing in the LPU. And I am f*cking afraid if they are getting lost. I always read things like "I'm leaving the LPU if they do that." or "I don't pay 60 bucks for getting less than before."

You CAN'T tell us, that we will get more than we got before! We are not stupid.

 

I mean I think we all love LP and want to support them as much as we can, especially the hardcore fans from the LPU and those who want to join us in the LPU and this made it always special. LPU was kind of like a family. With people who enjoys the same music and have fun. And meet each other. The LPUTV videos also made it really special and we all laughed about those videos.

Is it so hard to let things be or even to develop it & trying to make it better?

 

I think we all know how much work it does for you. But, and its hard for me to say it, you rarely got the point when the LPU came with new things. Sure, I like the idea with the new Meet & Greets, but I've seen it a lot of times, that the same people got a M&G over and over again. And some people like me got never one. And I'm in the LPU for soon three years and went to 3 LP shows so far. This year I'll went twice maybe I'll get some. ...

 

But actually, and I know that a lot of people already mentioned that:

LPU is about 80% good for people who life in the US.

Because people like me (I'm from Germany) or even europe and asia have no use for that. Or for giveaways or some contests. We CAN'T use it! We have nothing from that!

You guys have always nice ideas and the people that will go to these LA and NYC shows can be really happy but people like me don't give a f*ck (sorry) about that. Its always the same. Its just like an online membership.

 

Its okay if you change things little by little. Its okay if the band wants to go in another new direction. But you might divide the LPU up with that.

 

It sounds like the new LPU has nothing to do with loyality anymore, its just a money thing. If you have the money you can pay that. If not: then you are a looser. And if you have no use for the special things that are US only: You are a looser too.

 

And the thing with paying 10 bucks a month is ridiculous. Getting presale tickets was always something that made the LPU special. And now everybody shall have access to that? This is just ... bad. I absolutely don't like that idea.

 

I mean I always loved the LPU and I still want to support LP. But dude .. I'm 15, from Germany and have no use for the 'special' things that are US only. And I can't pay 60 bucks every year only to have access to the community and to the BandMerch LPU store. And BandMerch has not even listed every country ... and the shipping costs are always a blast ...

 

I think we can talk about everything in a friendly way and I'm not mean and stubborn. I think we all should talk about things that the LPU can make better. And we all can change things a little bit because we all have nice and viable ideas. But please don't divide the LPU up with that ... Because it means a lot to me and other people. Just wanted to say that again.

 

And I apologize my English skills ... I have to practise more.

Edited August 21, 2010 by DeniseShinizzle

[hahninator]

Responding to Bec here.

 

Addressing Adam.... How is it an utter fail when he's LEGALLY not allowed to talk about it? You should be grateful he even comes on LPLive and talks to us and answers to the best of his ability (and as legal as he can get) the questions we have for him. I fail to see that as an utter fail. I see that as awesome that someone from the LPU's staff actually is taking the initiative to talk to the fans about their concerns. I appreciate him coming here like many others (LPPanther, Astat, Nkramar, Kathy, etc). No one else in the band's history has done this - he's taking steps to be more personal with the fans. Sure it sucks that he can't talk about everything we want him to but SOMETHING is better than nothing in this case, at least for me.

 

Bandmerch actually is a total piece of worthless SHIT, I hate the company so much I can't even describe it. They fuck people over so much it's just unbelievable. But that's beside the point LOL. /end rant

 

Well duh you've already got most of the tracks from "A Decade Underground" if you were a member since LPU 1. The point was to offer an incentive to preorder LPUX. Unless you bought Songs From The Underground (which didn't come with any LPU membership as an incentive as far as I know), then you didn't have My December live or Hunger Strike live, because neither of those 2 tracks were released anywhere else besides on SFTU, especially for the LPU. NOT TO MENTION the song Pretend To Be, which was totally new, so I have no idea how you already had that one, but props to you. Considering I didn't even know about the song until several days ago, I'm very surprised you already HAD it. Jesus Christ, it was an incentive to preorder. Be glad they didn't give us all old stuff we already had. They could have EASILY thrown on another live version of Breaking The Habit but they gave us instead a demo that we didn't have. Cool beans, at least in my opinion.

 

Addressing some of your other concerns now. Now how in the world can LP make it so people all across the world can participate in online video chats? You really want Mike to do a chat at 5:45am PST so people in Asia can participate? That's just absurd and there is nothing the band can do to accommodate it. Best seats in the house for LPU - I do agree with that, but that's JUST seats. You can preorder standing or pit tickets from the LPU, which is what I do, so I personally have no complaints about that. It allows me early access to get these and hell, LP even dropped all convenience charges on their last USA tour for us, sooooooo I am a big fan of these presales. It's a well known fact the venue/label/promoter/etc (all those other people) reserve like the first few rows/best seats for themselves in the seating area. There's nothing we can do about it. Get over it and sit a few rows further back (I've sat all over the place for LP and enjoyed the show) or get standing/pit.

 

LP ticket prices aren't absurd in my opinion. Double other bands? LOL. $45 for the US arena tour last time. Nickelback was DOUBLE that in April when I saw them. Projekt Rev is like $70 for 11 bands. No complaints from me there either - that's a great deal. Go see all those bands separately and it's way more. I don't understand your argument there.

 

I DO agree with LPU early access like Spiral. That would be sweet. M&G's are all fucked up, don't even get me started. What a mess. Wait for hours, miss the opening band, get released into the back of the crowd, have a 2 minute experience with the band while they focus on their MFR $1,000 M&G people, sit next to people that bought LPU 2 weeks ago and have no idea about the band, etc. Clusterfuck and the whole system needs to be redone. So I agree with the M&G stuff.

 

I'm just addressing everything EXCEPT the prices. I know $60 is a lot and I frankly have no idea exactly what it's for so I can't say WOOO SWEET or WTF FUCK THAT yet because I don't have details on it. Maybe they redid the M&G system, maybe they give us more cool perks at shows, maybe they have 1 demo per month come like the FM Militia had or something...maybe not. We'll see. But I was just addressing your other points.

[DeniseShinizzle]

We just have to wait for an official statement ...

Edited August 21, 2010 by DeniseShinizzle

[PartTimeThinker]

First of all, to those people accusing the past negative responses of attacking Adam when he’s taken the time to post, no one is attacking Adam personally, yes there are legalities that are preventing him saying certain things, no one is asking him to risk his position and break the company guidelines etc etc. However after years of hearing that MSM and the LPU are listening, yet no changes (for the sake fans) are seen, it’s no wonder the response to his reply was less than positive. that information.

 

However, as a representative of the company. no one should have to part with their cash before you SHOW THEM how great something will be – especially if it’s something that has still to be developed to cater for those concerns. To pay someone to show you why you should pay them –seems a little wrong to me – this is something I regularly tell people trying to sell their businesses to me within the music industry, I’m not going to pay you to research/develop something I may like in 6 months time.

 

 

Pre-Sales/Tickets

This whole thing seems sugar coated, which being in Social Media Marketing myself I agree with Jeanne’s comments in relation to tickets. Prime example is the small print with regards to the "best available seats held for LPU" – bingo. During the last actual UK tour, January 2008, the seats we got in the Pre-Sale for the O2 Arena in London were appalling, close to the back of the Arena –even then we felt a little ripped off.

 

LPUX package.

Everything has already been said collectively by Simon, Jeanne, Bec and everyone else who has voiced their ‘concerns’. In regards again to ‘We’re listening and taking it all in’- it seems that the listening and research should have happened before asking for $60 apiece for a package that really is not giving you anything substantial. Especially as really there are no new features included in the package apart from you no longer receiving a T-shirt/package. If nothing is being sent to the member/recipient – then yes this is an online package. Simple as that.

 

M&G’s

Let’s face it, the band don’t really want to be there most of the time, long standing members(who are now adults) don’t get a look in – The last meet & greet I got was again was MK Bowl and like Simon already said, himself Bec and I were left ‘holding the baby’ and trying to ensure that fans got their passes and missed a good chunk of the event organising things – which we still got abuse for.

 

But apart from that the entire 5 date UK tour that myself and alot of fellow members attended and travelled to, not one of us got a M&G pass – for any of those date – this seems a little strange, regardless of how many times the LPU states ‘selected at Random’ – seems strange that all the ‘random’ selections were children with their required accompanying adults – we checked, we asked.

 

The album events with LPUX pre-sale purchase.

Oh wow, that is a great deal. If you live in the US, however for those of us who have spent way more than we can afford travelling to ‘support’ the band on various trips to US events from the UK – this ‘free’ even t – which I noticed the fine print of ‘a select number of tickets spaces for this free event will be reserved for LPU members’ – wait a minute – how many is ‘a select number’ in relation to those you’ll be giving away to non paying members of the LPU.

 

The package itself is great – if you’re a new member and living in the US where you can go to the free events (and it won’t cost you £1000 to travel to do so) as you’re getting a ticket to an event in the price of your membership.

 

HOWEVER, if you’re not in the US (which will be a large percentage of your members/customers however you want to view it), then think of it from their point of view – really $60 to join a website, with the ‘possible ‘– not guaranteed chance to meet the band, presales for tickets you could get better by getting the pre-sale codes from promoters (which is easy to do online if you know how)... and wait for it a Digital Download of tracks (if you’re not a new member) you already have. And you can pay extra for fanclub merchandise which you used to get included for the old lower price anyway.

 

I could go on forever but let’s be honest here, it’s not like it’ll make a difference, but I felt the need to share and rant as my peers have. It’s a shame its come to this, and having a time in some of our lives that helped to make who we are today, it’s sad that rather than us looking back with fond memories they’ll be slightly tainted by the sour taste of the sheer commercialism of the band nowadays. Whatever way you sugarcoat it.

 

All the best to everyone, regardless.

[DeniseShinizzle]

Its kind of funny to see that most people here are thinking the same about that whole thing. And there are still a lot of questions, huh? :/

 

In all objectivity I agree kind of a bit with everyone from their point of view.

[Bec]

Responding to Bec here.

It's really nothing personal to Adam - I've met him and think he's lovely.

My issue is with Machine Shop - they don't listen to the paying public and are very difficult to work with. They don't work with Warner, despite being a part of WB and due to this they control everything instead of letting, for example, Warner UK handle the promotion and communicate to non US fans.

 

Adam is simply the voice of the company and should understand it's nothing personal - we have concerns and it's his job to ease them.

 

 

As a US resident you wouldn't understand the issues I've raised - they are more from an international point of view.

The new LPU is great for US residents (well excluding the price which is just dumb), it's not for the rest of the world. I'll now address your points to me:

 

 

Bandmerch - agree, utter shite. But they're owned by Brad Delson so again it's just a money maker for Linkin Park and they have repeatedly screwed us all over.

We UK fans can actually buy the same merch from www.grindstore.com without the inconvienence and shipping/customs charges.

 

"A Decade Underground" - I have every track from 9 years of LPU and 'Songs from the Underground'

 

Pretend To Be - aside from it being available to download from bazinga! and various torrent sites (I didn't get it there), I actually heard it through a friend.

 

Chats at 5:45 - yes! I've stayed up till that time, so why can't Mike?

Joke

I was simply pointing out that it's not a benefit for anyone outside of the US.

 

 

Seats - not all of us are as young and durable as we once were.

I broke my wrist in a LP moshpit and sometimes it's nice to sit for a show and leave the crazy moshing to the bouncy...especially if you're doing a few shows in a row and are suffering from LPflu (common illness resulting from waiting outside for hours in the north of england!)

 

LP dropped all convenience charges on their last USA tour - good for you! Didn't happen anywhere else!

 

 

Ticket prices - this upcoming UK tour is double the price of the 2007 tour and other bands also performing at the same venue are considerably cheaper. It's a UK issue!

 

Early access like Spiral - would be great and would save on the LPflu!

 

M&G - again if it were like the spiral it would occur earlier in the day and then thanks to the 'spiral members only queue' you get in first, see the support act and aren't stood at the back.

Edited August 21, 2010 by Bec

[Ashwhisker]

For the love of all things holy, please don't write in pink.

[nkramar]

For the love of all things holy, please don't write in pink.

Why not?

[Bec]

Nothing wrong with pink!

 

Anyone that knows me knows I write in pink - I survived 9 years of the LPU without it being a problem...even had an argument with Mike and he knew me at a M&G as the girl who yelled at him in pink.

[DeniseShinizzle]

Sounds kind of like a LP'US', lol.

Edited August 21, 2010 by DeniseShinizzle

[ChuckCheese]

...why did you yell at Mike?

[DeniseShinizzle]

I don't get it, lol. xD

Edited August 21, 2010 by DeniseShinizzle

[Ashwhisker]

Why not?

It can be difficult to read.

[nkramar]

It can be difficult to read.

So were most of your early posts here. And shoutbox comments. And PMs, I'm sure.

[ShinigamiPWN]

even had an argument with Mike and he knew me at a M&G as the girl who yelled at him in pink.

Pffft. I am curious as to what you yelled at him about. o_O

[Ashwhisker]

So were most of your early posts here. And shoutbox comments. And PMs, I'm sure.

I didn't know how to PM around that time, so no, they weren't.

[Energy]

Pffft. I am curious as to what you yelled at him about. o_O

That's a long story - mainly revolving close to the Fort Minor time of things... Me and a few others got close to wearing shirts that said 'Don't worry Mike we're not Bec'. Bec's just wonderfully vocal, and Mike n her made up now

 

Bec's also done lots (officially) for MFR & stuff like that. So she's a good egg and knows what she's talking about!

[Anality]

Pretend To Be - aside from it being available to download from bazinga! and various torrent sites (I didn't get it there), I actually heard it through a friend.

When I tried to download it from bazinga! I got sent some weird site named iFolder, am i going to jail?

Edited August 23, 2010 by Anality

[StephenTerrel]

I will admit that the price does seem rather high considering we know so little, but if the lack of information is such a major problem for you then wait and find out what the benefits are. It's not like you are being told that if you don't purchase your membership now then you are never going to be a true member.

 

Adam didn't mention whether or not the international fans will benefit from the package at all, but seeing as so many international fans are LPU members already, I highly doubt they will be ripped off. You either trust the LPU to give you your moneys worth or you don't, and if you don't... Well, that's your problem.

 

I can see why they would get rid of the package, all the majority of people do is bitch and carry on about how the CD isn't to their liking and how they would rather not be seen wearing the shirt. If I was in charge, the packages would have been gone long ago. Even LPU 8 was complained about... That I didn't understand.

 

One thing I don't understand is Hahninator saying that the prices are higher to remove the more noobie fans. I don't see why being poor makes someone a noob... And either way, if a fan is left out because they are a noob then they will probably ditch the communities altogether. I get the feeling you didn't mean it that way though, considering back in the LPF days you were one of the people who got me from noob fan to fairly well informed fan.

 

tl;dr:

-Don't trust LPU? Wait and see, then make up your mind.

-Fans always complain about the package, so no wonder it's been discontinued

[FaiNt]

Wrong. ATS will most likely divide the fans into people who feel that the band has progressed and the people who feel they haven't progressed. It will divide into those who think ATS is a good new sound and those who don't like ATS because they feel it doesn't sound like the Linkin Park they grew to love.

 

The leftover people who have been bitching since Minutes to Midnight have already been divided from the rest of us. They really aren't part of the fan base anymore. Those people who haven't liked a single thing that the band has done since M2M are just fans of the old LP. They're not fans of the LP from M2M or the current LP...and they probably won't be fans of the future LP, whatever that proves to be. This album is about those of us who are still left. Those who have survived through M2M and still like some or most of what the band is doing. Some of us have been fans for 10 years. And now we're going to see who sticks around even longer, and who goes. Or if you're like me, I won't be leaving even if I don't like ATS. Even though I wouldn't be a fan of the band's new music, I'd still stick around if that happened. The band has put out 3 damn good albums so I can forgive them if they put out one mediocre one.

 

I'm pretty sure that I love music and understand it. And I know that I don't give a shit about radio friendly music or bands and whether or not something is experimental. So if I don't like ATS, it won't be because I only listen to radio friendly bands and can't accept experimental things. It will be for many different reasons but the biggest reason will be because I don't think the band has progressed in the right way while staying true to who they are. Not saying this will happen though but if I don't like ATS, that will be why.

I'm not wrong. I just generalized to the max. Tell me who you think the majority of LP fans are, and what type of music they listen too. My statement doesn't apply to all. But, if you think MTM divided the people * which was just more typical rock ballads than anything* then you better bet your ass that a super experimental piece of music will divide a fan base that MOST LIKELY the majority of them listen to whatever is played on their local rock radio stations.

Edited August 26, 2010 by FaiNt