Funk-rock impresario Prince [ tickets ], who was openly critical of the promotional push that his latest album received from Arista Records, has unveiled plans for a subscription-based online club to market his music and other perks directly to his fans.

Members of the club will receive “VIP access to ALL Prince concerts, never-before-heard rehearsal tapes and live webcasts of rehearsal jams at Prince’s legendary Paisley Park Studios,” according to a statement issued by Prince’s camp. The new service, dubbed the NPG Music Club (after his band, New Power Generation) will debut at midnight on Wednesday (2/14).

“This new mode of xchange and distribution effectively eliminates the need 4 any intermediates between the Artist and U,” reads a missive on the NPG Music Club website. “All that is required of U is a computer with Internet access and a direct subscription with us.”

Club memberships will be broken into two tiers. Basic subscriptions, priced at $7.77 per month, will allow members to a minimum of three new NPG songs and corresponding music videos each month, a monthly one-hour radio show hosted by NPG members including Prince, and various multimedia features.

Premium memberships, which will carry an annual membership price of $100, will augment the basic membership plan with preferred seating at all Prince concerts and VIP passes to all of Prince’s after shows and parties. Premium members will also receive a special edition of Prince’s "Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic" album that features 14 remixed tracks, as well as “more original NPG music and videos than the Basic Monthly Members as well as special NPG Music Club merchandise.”

The club plans to add additional perks for its members in the future, including live webcasts of rehearsal sessions and tapes of rehearsal sessions.

During his career, Prince has often locked horns with the major labels that he has been associated with over issues related to creative and economic control.

The Minneapolis-based artist, whose real name is Prince Rogers Nelson, stopped using the moniker Prince in 1993, when he was battling Warner Bros. Records over creative control issues. He resumed using the name Prince after his publishing contract with Warner-Chappell expired on Dec. 31, 1999.

Prince set up his own label, NPG, after fulfilling his contract with Warner Bros. Records in 1996. In 1999, he forged a one-off deal with Arista Records and released “Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic.” However, he refused to allow Arista to release an album of remixes, and publicly expressed displeasure with the marketing of the album.