This is a multi-tiered post.

Tier 1 (ultra-fine granular): Does anyone know if Big Boi's new one will have exclusive bonus tracks in any version (iTunes, Target, Best Buy, whatever)?

Tier 2 (less granular, a little more general): Is there some specific place you go to get this kind of information on new releases? Or is it really scattered all over the net and you have to dig, dig, dig before buying?

Tier 3 (universal): What the fuck is with this bullshit anyway? I get that it's to hype an album from a particular outlet and money is changing hands behind the scenes and all that - I get the mechanics of it. But from a fan's standpoint, it is annoying as HELL. I've bought 3-4 albums twice apiece because I didn't know there was a version with bonus tracks. I gave away a plain-Jane version of Big Boi's last record after I found out about the bonus tracks and re-bought the CD. The dumb thing from a business perspective that they may not be considering: it is a serious nuisance and obstacle to purchasing when I start worrying every time if I'm buying the right version or not. My next step is never buying a CD until I'm sure I'm getting the right one. And the next step after that is never buying it, period, because weeks will have gone by since the initial release, the newness and damn-I-want-this!-ness will have worn off, and maybe I'll just cave and download the version with the bonus tracks rather than wait for it to be shipped from wherever the fuck actually stocks it (like I had to with Kendrick Lamar - always fun having to mail order a CD that should be in stock at the Target two minutes from my office).

Between CDs and videogames I've about had it with all the exclusive bonus crap they use to separate us from our hard-earned money. Once in a while wouldn't bother me, but it's the fact that it's on every single album and game. And if they don't do it at release, then you have things like the "Relapse: Refill" - reissue the same damn album months later with a bonus CD. Double-dipping motherfuckers...

>Tier 3 (universal): What the fuck is with this bullshit
>anyway? I get that it's to hype an album from a particular
>outlet and money is changing hands behind the scenes and all
>that - I get the mechanics of it.

I think you just answered your own question.

It's less a question than a rhetorical jumping-off point for complaining. I do think though that ultimately shit like this might help drive off some of the remaining loyalists to physical products (and not just because sometimes the bonus tracks are digital-only). You shouldn't paralyze your customers with worry that they're throwing their money away on a lesser version of the product.

It used to be so much easier, you walk into the shop on release date and you buy it. Now you gotta check the tracklisting online to see whether there are iTunes bonus tracks or deluxe editions - how an album can be called 'deluxe' with just three extra songs is beyond me.

Yes, the Big Boi has a deluxe...and it seems to be in every store. The deluxe cover is white, the regular is purple.

Nope, other than Wiki it's all digging...even then you may find that an album has a deluxe in the sunday paper, but you don't know what's deluxe about it until you buy (or someone else does and uploads it). It's a crapshoot.

Personally I always want the most tracks as possible when I'm buying...so if itunes have extra, I buy from there. Especially since no one gives a fuck to make the physical worth it (little credits, no pictures, no liner notes) I just go where the music is. I'd rather get the physical tho.

boycott the american entertainment industry.
download everything.

like u allude to though, it can lead u in the opposite direction. downloading alleviates all of the BS. they're effectively shooting themselves in the foot.

> And the next
>step after that is never buying it, period,

>and maybe I'll just
>cave and download

it's like the end of the Matrix when Neo sees the whole world as 1's and 0's.

they lost me w/the fucking deluxe editions of albums. i used to go buy a CD shortly after release...and then get pissed when 6 months to a yr later it was re-released w/new tracks that were only available on the newer deluxe edition. fuck them for trying to make me buy the same fucking album twice. i scoffed and would just download the new deluxe edition tracks. for free.

of course, that's not the real reason i stopped buying CDs. but it definitely helped me feel better about the practice.

>i scoffed and would just download the new deluxe edition tracks. for free.



DVS Jackson, Esq. - DVS for Alderman
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that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

and it's kinda symbolic b/c that was the last album (i think)
that hit that sweet spot where something was both commercially viable
and artistically flawless.


one one level, i was like, "see, people WILL buy an album if it's good."


but then they slapped me in the face by re-releasing the special edition
a few months later that had the bonus tracks. (unrelated, it's amazing that
in 2004, long after the LP era was finished, that usher released an album
where every song was good enough to be a single, and to top it off, he had
unreleased stuff that was great enough to fit on the album as well. it's like
enough material for a double-album where everything was rock solid, artistically.)



anyway, to your point, i downloaded the bonus singles out of spite.
and really, that was the breaking point in terms of me buying CDs as they were released.

i never went to the store with anticipation to buy a CD after they did that to me.





*** sidenote*** i STILL pay for music.
i buy songs off of iTunes instead of downloading them.

but that's b/c i still feel that there is something to be said for trying to
financially support the art that i want to be produced. but i can't recall the last time
i bought an album at a store b/c there was "buzz" attached to it. "confessions" was
the last album that did that for me, and they burned me.

so they kinda lost a hardcore supporter of music
by pulling that shit. and if i feel that way, i can't imagine that casual music fans
are even considering buying an album at the store.




fuck the labels, they deserve what they get.

just buy one deluxe version. trade with a friend for the others. you can usually find the itunes deluxe versions online. i do it all the time to get the bonus itunes joints.

And you know what? I don't even mind having a deluxe version and a regular version. That's fine, and that's a way to reward die-hard fans. I was looking through the deluxe edition packaging of the G-Unit albums I bought back in the day - Lloyd Banks' "Hunger For More" and Young Buck's "Straight Outta Cashville" - and it actually made me happy that I purchased them, even if I don't listen to the albums anymore.

What's aggravating is when you have multiple deluxe versions available. I wanted to get "good kid, m.A.A.d city" the week it dropped to support those numbers, but the Target in my area didn't have it, and that was the version with several bonus songs. So I got the deluxe version at Best Buy, but it's still missing what, four bonus songs between Target and iTunes? Fucking terrible.

I get it with places like Target, FYE, Best Buy, & (the clean/edited) Wal-Mart version, & downloadable iTunes & Amazon versions, then you got the Fat Beats & UGHH online packages that usually come with extra cds or items; yeah each one of these places have exclusives pressed up by the label just for them but c'mon why fuck around with the fan's money just for one to five bonus tracks especially with prices being so different from place to place?

Let's not even get into how it was in the past (and still is practiced today) on foreign pressings of albums which always included bonus tracks as well.

What really pisses me off is when the label decides that after an album has been out for three to nine months that if it's real popular they want to repackage the same album with even more bonus tracks or the same exclusive bonus tracks that were on these *name dept. store name here* exclusive and/or a bonus dvd, and even worst a newly recorded song that wasn't on any of those cds (they usually do this around the holiday season to boost sales).

Also have any of you have noticed how some pop artists will release a dvd (videos and live concert footage) that will be packaged with an audio disc with one or two unreleased studio bonus tracks?

What I've noticed that since albums don't sell big numbers anymore the record labels are trying to find ways to keep making money off of low sales by issuing the same album with the same name which will be included as part of the original album's sales, to me that's just another sneaky move but it gets annoying from a fan or music buyer's point of view.

I know music is all about marketing & making money but it's went overboard on ways to trick fans to purchase the same album more than once in a market where most people will just say "fuck it, I'll just find a free download of *so & so's* album instead".

>What really pisses me off is when the label decides that after
>an album has been out for three to nine months that if it's
>real popular they want to repackage the same album with even
>more bonus tracks or the same exclusive bonus tracks that were
>on these *name dept. store name here* exclusive and/or a bonus
>dvd, and even worst a newly recorded song that wasn't on any
>of those cds (they usually do this around the holiday season
>to boost sales).

To me, that's like a slap in the face to the people who already purchased the first record. What I think would be dope, is if labels/artists had some sort of situation where if you 1) show a picture of you with your purchased copy, or 2) bought the album digitally, that you'd get the new songs or DVD material online for free since you were an early supporter. Would take more time, but it'd be dope, IMO.

it's twice in a row now she's dropped an album, then given them a re-release 6-12 months later with an EP attached that not only has the songs you actually love hearing on the radio, but the new highlights you want to download as a mixtape or buy for $5 as an EP.


~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz

I'm pretty sure it's only happened once with Nicki.

First, she had "Pink Friday," which was her debut album. Next, she had "Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded," which was her second album; despite the title, it was a completely different album than "Pink Friday."

"Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded: The Re-Up" is the only re-release with extra songs, as far as I know.

~~~~~~~~~
"This is the streets, and I am the trap." © Jay Bilas
"I don't read pages of rap lyrics, I listen to rap music." © Bombastic
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/archive/contributor/517
Hip Hop Handbook: http://tinyurl.com/ll4kzz