The text of the petition is below:
The Fanclub is a Cannibal - u2.com, fans need more
Published 2 days ago
An open letter to U2 and their management;
To whom it may concern,
We are petitioning you today because recently, many of us have become dissatisfied with the way that U2.com is run. When U2 partnered with Live Nation in 2008, Bono said "With regards to U2.com, we feel we've got a great website, but we want to make it a lot better. We want a closer, more direct relationship between the band and its audience and Live Nation has pledged to help us with that." However, since then many fans have felt ostracized from the band. Not only has the cost of subscription increased, but also many paid members now feel as if they are not getting value for the money that they are spending.
Here are some of our problems with the current website.
1. Customer Service – Purchasing almost anything from U2.com has become a nightmare. Orders are frequently delayed, sometimes for months, or simply canceled. When people try to find what happened with their orders responses are both generic and uninformative. Often emails sent to subscribers about the status of their accounts are completely incorrect.
2. Presales – For years many years U2 fans have paid for U2.com membership to get the first crack at U2 tickets. However that is no longer the case. Presale entry is now also available from a variety of sources including from certain credit cards, sports teams and other
3. “Exclusive” CD’s – Aside from the pre-sales one of the best parts of fan club membership were the exclusive CD’s. Melon, Hasta La Vista Baby, U2.Communication, Zoo TV Live and U2 Go Home. However recently the quality of these releases has taken a nosedive. All of the songs on Medium Rare and Remastered were previously released with The Complete U2, Remastered Albums and various single releases. All were also available on iTunes. Only three tracks on Artificial Horizon were not previously released and “Fast Cars” was featured on a previous free gift.
The upcoming release of U2: Duals has crossed the line. Four of the songs were released on widely available studio albums sometimes multiple times and nine of the tracks are directly available on iTunes. This has pushed us to the breaking point. To put songs from studio albums on a fan club release is quite frankly ridiculous and almost insulting.
4. Value – Aside from Willie’s Diary, widely beloved by U2 fans, there just isn’t anything available to justify spending $50. REM subscription is $12 and members receive actual unreleased tracks. Pearl Jam’s fan club, described by many U2 fans as one of the best that there is, gives streaming radio access, a magazine in PDF and hardcopy formats, free tracks for both download and vinyl, limited edition t-shirts, and a coupon that allows a user to download a free ‘bootleg’ Pearl Jam concert of their choice, in addition to all of the other perks that U2.com offers (full website access, some exclusive video and interviews, and pre-sale codes), for $40.
5. Incorrect Information – Often information posted on U2.com is dead wrong. The site has frequently post wrong set-lists, wrong tour dates, $100 lithographs of the wrong concert and many other ridiculous mistakes.
Whenever news is about to drop U2.com seems to be at best several hours and at worst several weeks behind fan sites such as U2gigs and @U2. In fact now many consider the fan-sites to be more accurate than U2.com.
6. The Press – Instead of utilizing U2.com to speak to fans the band ends up sending information via statements in the press. Many of us are baffled by the conflicting information that emerges. For example, depending on what article you read the new album is either definitely coming out in a few months or may be coming out in a few months. It is either a club album, the meditative Songs of Ascent or something with Danger Mouse.
So if we are going to spend $50 there really has to be more than Willie’s Diaries as exclusive content. What should be changed?
1. Better customer service on U2.com.
2. Less blatant errors. No one is perfect, but the amount of screw-ups that happen should be unacceptable for the biggest band in the world.
3. More exclusive content. Propaganda was beloved by the fan-base as a direct connection between the band and the fans. While a print version may no longer be cost effective a pdf or even some original stories on U2.com is a must.
4. Actual “exclusive” CD’s. We know that U2 records almost everything they do, be it concerts, jams in Bono’s basement or sound-checks. It’s time to bring some of that to the light.
5. Full-length videos as opposed to short cell-phone camera recordings.
6. More information directly from U2 as opposed to through the press. Even something like the Oracle, on Coldplay.com would be fantastic.
We know how much Bono, The Edge, Adam, and Larry care about their fans. Larry taking the time to personally sort out the ticket debacle at the beginning of the Vertigo Tour is proof of that. We also understand that this is a crazy time for U2 with Bono’s injury, a tour, a new album and Spiderman. But the fact is that we just can’t justify continuing to spend $50 for a product that is embarrassingly sub par.
Bono once thanked us all for supporting the band through the early years, and for “giving us £500 each day”. We will all be more than happy to continue doing so; we’d just like to get some value from that money, so that we can say that we continue to have a special and intimate relationship with U2.
Sincerely,
The Fans
This petition is open to all U2 fans who have either joined or considered joining U2.com.
