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THIS POST IS IN UPDATE TO AN EARLIER POST MADE HERE.

Earlier today, one of my favorite bands, Creed, announced their new “official fan club” – I checked it out and was instantly furious. Their tour date listings, Discography, “Purchase Ticket” feature, and EVERY SINGLE LINK OF THE WEBSITE, had been “locked out” behind a 25 dollar membership wall. Now, call me crazy, but I have no plans to spend 25 dollars on a website to see tour dates or buy concert tickets.

An angry (very, very, very) blog post followed. I contacted the company that manages the fan site via email, and spoke with “Eddie” – who, after a bit of discussion, understood my points.

After a series of 22 back and forth emails, the website has now been “opened” more or less. Their tour dates, the ability to buy tickets, the update blog, and their discography are now open to the public and “general fan base” – as it should be. The “Exclusives” such as the Media Content, Forums, and “Blog” posted by Creed are all still behind the locked wall – where one could argue they belong.

I was pleasantly pleased that my feedback and criticism was met with a company that had the band fans in their best interest. In this age, with the current economic state (and the state of the music industry) the last thing you want is to be “locking out” things like tour dates, and charging a fee to view such content.

I will happily pay such a fee to view “premium” content, behind the scenes footage, forums, and other features. It was the way I felt like fans were being “shut out entirely” for not paying the fee.

In my email exchanges, I compared fansites to porn sites, movie trailers, and consumer goods. Previews, Samples, Try before you buy, and return policies are all common in those industries. Who would blindly buy a 25 dollar subscription to an adult site without knowing what the model even looked like? By “opening up” parts of their site, instead of totally locking it down, fans still can access the site and not feel “shut out” if they are unwilling to pay the membership fee to join the “Official fan club”.

“Eddie” has told me he will look into a video or sample clip of these “Fan Forums” and the other exclusive content.I was told there are 10 hours of behind the scenes videos and interviews with the band – well worth paying for. However, from their previously totally locked out website, how was I to know that?

Now, if you excuse me, I need to download and watch my hours and hours of…. music.