Shifting Para-dij-ems
Posted on | March 27, 2007 at 7:58 pm | 2 Comments
I stopped by Best Buy at lunch to pick up the new Kaiser Chiefs album Yours Truly, Angry Mob, which they were advertising for $7.99 with three exclusive bonus tracks.
On the positive side, this exclusivity policy supports the buying of the physical media instead of the downloading (and possible theft) of the digital version. The iTunes version of the album is the same price, so who wouldn’t rather have the CD, with its full dynamic range? You can just as easily rip it yourself to iTunes as download it. And you get three extra tracks (The Angry Mob (Live From Berlin), I Like To Fight, and From The Neck Down)!
On the negative side, the iTunes version has its own bonus tracks (Boxing Champ and Ruby (Live In Berlin)). That brings up a whole ‘nother can of peas, as gadabout 2fs talks about here. Essentially, you’re damned if you do and and damned if you don’t. (At least you can download the iTunes bonus tracks without paying for the whole album.) You can never get the complete version of the album if you stick to only one media. And the people who buy the CD from somewhere other than Best Buy, especially those who don’t have access to a Best Buy? They don’t get any of those bonus tracks. They are essentially stuck with an incomplete version of the album.
Which brings up another question: What is the real version of the album? Is it the one without bonus tracks? Allmusic seems to think so. Then, of course, there’s the European version, released last month. But it seems to have the same tracks as the (non-exclusive) American version. And there’s the Deluxe Version, which includes a DVD with 6 live tracks. It’s enough to drive an obsessive collector crazy! If he weren’t already there, that is.
I’m sure this is all just a bump on the road that leads to wherever the music industry eventually ends up. CDs obviously aren’t going to last much longer, but some people are always going to want more than what digital downloads can deliver, especially if they don’t have a computer. How ever it all shakes out will be vastly different from what’s on today’s musical menu. I just want my pie and my cake.
Latre.
P.S. I’m still sick but feeling better, and I went back to work today.
Comments
2 Responses to “Shifting Para-dij-ems”
March 27th, 2007 @ 9:18 pm
Dynamic range is a good reason to buy the physical CD. I rip my albums at 192kbps into MP3s. Can’t do that with iTunes. U2’s latest Greatest Hits album has new tracks you can’t buy individually, so you have to get the whole album. The have officially entered the “Soak The Fans” stage of their career.
March 28th, 2007 @ 10:04 am
I’ve streamed the album a couple of times, and nothing leapt out of the speakers at me. However, it currently has my vote for Album title of the year.