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Double dipping on CDs due to retailer-specific exclusive tracks?! (1 Viewer)

Mike Frezon

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This week, Diana Krall is releasing a "Best of..." CD. At first, I didn't find any exclusives at the B&Ms.
However, I now see that amazon.com has an entire freakin' exclusive DVD with three more songs and five videos! :angry: This does not appear to be a "Deluxe" edition either as it is selling for just $14.97. They are calling it a "Limited Edition."
It's bad enough an artist releases a "Best of..." disc that includes three unreleased tracks to make you want to re-buy the other material you already own. But the situation is then compounded that I know I have to check around before just buying the darn thing to see if I am missing out on something.
As it is, I don't even feel safe knowing that as soon as I pull the trigger on the amazon (if I do) I will probably then find a different exclusive at another retailer. :rolleyes
 

EricSchulz

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Mike:

Did you check out what's available at Target? Last week (IIRC) they had the Diana Krall Best of on the "Coming Soon" poster and I am positive it stated CD/DVD...because I thought of you the moment I read that! It didn't state anything about being an exclusive, though and I am not sure what tracks are available on it.
 

Mike Frezon

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This is EXACTLY what I hate about this whole thing!
Eric: I have NOT been to Target this week...but just looked at target.com and they are only showing the CD with the three "previously unreleased" tracks.
So...do I have to go to Target to find out if they've got some exclusive that noone else has? :angry: PITA
 

EricSchulz

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Mike: My local Target had the CD version (15 tracks for $9.98) but were sold out of the CD/DVD version ($13.98).
 

Mike Frezon

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Eric: Thanks for the bump. I wasn't sure if this issue was dying out or not. I guess not. :frowning:
As the music industry adapts to a changed marketplace, the album is no longer simply a discrete collection of songs but a package that changes size, shape and price depending on how it is sold. And promotion, once the relatively straightforward process of making a video and visiting radio stations, has also been transformed, as labyrinthine exclusive deals are struck with an array of retail and media companies — from Amazon.com and iTunes to Rhapsody, Wal-Mart and Verizon Wireless — eager to make an association with top talent.
With music sales depressed, record labels are happy to strike arrangements for bonus content; indeed, many recording contracts now stipulate that with a new album artists must deliver as many as a half-dozen additional songs for promotion. But artists and their managers are not always so eager to comply. Some complain of bullying by powerful retailers as well as by their own labels to pack their albums with secondary, often inferior material.
“If you have a 12-song album, all of a sudden you need two extra songs for Target, two extra songs for Wal-Mart, two extra songs for Best Buy,” said Jim Guerinot, who manages No Doubt and Nine Inch Nails. “You just barely finish getting your record done and you’re starting to make plans to put it out, and you’re being asked to essentially record a new record.”
Well, it's good to know, at least, that the artists are not happy about the situation either. Someone's got to stand up to those marketing thugs. Both artists and fans should. It hurts us both...and the only premise is to make the retailers more money.
 

EricSchulz

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I have found that several of the "bonus" tracks end up making their way to iTunes or Amazon eventually, but there are times that the ONLY way to get them is if you purchase the entire CD download. Since today's Amazon MP3 deal is the new Green Day CD, I was aware that they offered a bonus exclusive live track. While at Target today, they offer a 2-disc set of the title with the second disc being six exclusive live tracks! And don't get me started on the whole import CD/download bonus track issue!
 

AnthonyC

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AnthonyC said:
Anyone remember Elliott Yamin from last year's American Idol? He recently released his fantastic debut. Of course, the number of exclusive tracks only at specific retailers is about half of an album anyway (and considering that the actual album is just over 40 minutes, it all could've fit on a single disc):
1. Regular album (11 tracks)
2. Target version (Bonus disc with 2 exclusives)
3. Walmart version (Two exclusive downloads)
4. iTunes version (Two exclusive downloads)
5. Rhapsody version (One exclusive download)
6. Yahoo version (One exclusive download)
Tracking all of these down will be fun...
Whaddya know, he's done the exact same thing for his sophomore album! :rolleyes:Not to mention that his first has actually had additional tracks on a Japanese "special edition."
This guy's killing me. FWIW, in between these two albums, he released an exclusive holiday CD at Target with eight tracks. A year later, this CD was given a wide release--with ten tracks, rendering the Target disc moot. Fortunately I found a copy of the re-release used for $3.
 

EricSchulz

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AnthonyC said:
Whaddya know, he's done the exact same thing for his sophomore album! :rolleyes:Not to mention that his first has actually had additional tracks on a Japanese "special edition."
I'm not sure if it was brought up earlier in the thread, but there is a reason for all those bonus tracks on Japanese releases: American import CDs are alot cheaper than domestic Japanese CDs because of the exchange rate. The bonus tracks are used to persuade buyers to get the Japanese release. Not it looks like the US companies are using the same strategy to try to get people to buy the music and not illegally download it.
 

EricSchulz

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Greg_S_H said:
I like iTunes-exclusive tracks. I can buy the physical CD and then pay for the bonus songs I want.
That works out fine if the tracks can be bought seperately...for example, there are two tracks on the latest Kelly Clarkson CD that can only be obtained from iTunes if you buy the entire CD again.
 

Mike Frezon

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Diana Krall has taken me to the cleaners again. If it was anybody else...

I purchased her new CD Quiet Nights several weeks ago after thorough research convinced me there were no retailer exclusives this time out. Great CD by the way. I have been enjoying it greatly.

I got concerned when the first copy I found said it had "two bonus tracks" on it...but it turned out each copy has those same two "bonus tracks."

So my life was fine until I was browsing in an FYE store a few days ago and found a "special edition" of the CD which included a BONUS DVD! The DVD contained several tracks from a live televised concert and as track with Krall singing with hubby Elvis Costello & Elton John from Costello's TV show.

Then I did what I had to do and double-dip on the title. Half of me is happy to have the new material. The other half knows that I can't afford such extravagant purchases.
 

Mike Frezon

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When will it end?
In May, Diana Krall released this DVD which now lists on amazon for $10.49.
51D0vkcO1QL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

On Tuesday, October 27, 2009 amazon has a new SE release of the same title (2-disc) for $22.49:
51k-EEiHXxL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

Not sure what the 2nd disc is...unless it's the DVD that I found in the SE of the CD in Post #75.
I hope that's all it is...because I have the Blu-ray disc and I don't see any SE of that release on anyone's list.......yet:
518paOaowgL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

That woman is going to drive me crazy. I wonder what kind of impact she has on her hubby...Elvis Costello?!? /img/vbsmilies/htf/confused.gif
/img/vbsmilies/htf/biggrin.gif
 

Mike Frezon

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Apparently the new Barenaked Ladies CD out today has some different exclusives at various retailers.

FYE has two acoustic tracks. And iTunes seems to have the title track (of all things) as its own exclusive.

This being one of the few artists whose new release CDs I will be sure to buy I have been trying to do my homework ahead of time...but it's not easy.
 

EricSchulz

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When I saw you had posted, I thought that Diana Krall had a new CD out! Depending on the artist, often the iTunes (or Amazon) exclusive download tracks are often for a limited time. I have purchased the CD and then picked up exclusive tracks (usually for 99 cents) when they become available. Unfortunately, they don't TELL you how long they have the exclusive tracks. The exception is if iTunes has tracks that they recorded live from a concert at one of the Apple Stores. Those tend to only be available from iTunes forever...
 

Mike Frezon

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I was ahead of my time!

I've been bitching about this for years. Does Amazon have more pull than me?!?!?!?



"The main element in all of these exclusives is that label executives forget what is convenient for the customer," said Newbury Comics head of purchasing Carl Mello. "Making the album available in certain versions at certain times is not the most friendly thing for the customer, for whom it will feel like a game of hide and seek.



"It is very confusing to the customer," J&R Music World's Sue Bryan agreed. "We are muddying the water and making it difficult to buy the album. It will only hurt the industry. It is not good for J&R; it is not good for the industry and more importantly it is not good for the customer."



Merchants claim that the tactic will mute sales for the album. "Look at what happened to the Beyonce album '4,' when Target got the exclusive version of the album," said Trans World VP of music and new media Ish Cuebas, who estimates that Target has a 57% market share on sales of the album; the Target edition features six bonus tracks, three of them exclusive. "After the first two weeks, sales collapsed because the rest of retail wouldn't support the album."

And from my Original Post in this thread...made nearly SIX YEARS AGO!



I know there have been other artists which have made similar arrangements with Target (Krall among them, I believe) which has resulted in exclusive bonus tracks available only at Target stores.
I guess I could research these things better to know about them ahead of time. And, I know I could just sell the other title if I do double-dip...
But, I feel that I'm getting gypped if I find out I have a CD that is missing tracks that exist on another version of the same title. For me, the practice ends up causing a loss of good will between the artist and his/her/their fan base.
Anyone else having issues with this?
EDIT** Another glance at my Target flyer shows a Martina McBride CD with Four Exclusive Songs.
 

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