Due to lack of storage space and the advent of streaming with the exception of the occasional boxset I no longer buy many cds. Has anyone else noticed how many boxsets are being released at ridiculously high prices only to be reduced considerably over the following 6/12 months. The new Springsteen set (Tracks 2) is on preorder for £250 on 7 cds and £300 on 9 lps. Has the world gone completely mad?
It does seem like with some releases those who preorder/buy on release are penalised. Although I suppose not every release is still available on 12 months time. As far as dynamic pricing - I think it’s just adapting the market. It’s not like it’s costing more if it’s selling fast like gig or sports tickets.
Whilst not defending the price of Springsteen vinyl boxset it does works out at £40 per album (7 unreleased albums) plus a 100 page book. At £40 an album that’s not much more than current new album prices.
If you sign up for a Rough Trade account then you can bag a 10% discount which equates to £4 saving per album. That said, I still think it’s slightly over priced though not as bad as the CD boxset which I believe is ridiculously overpriced.
Graeme
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Due to lack of storage space and the advent of streaming with the exception of the occasional boxset I no longer buy many cds. Has anyone else noticed how many boxsets are being released at ridiculously high prices only to be reduced considerably over the following 6/12 months. The new Springsteen set (Tracks 2) is on preorder for £250 on 7 cds and £300 on 9 lps. Has the world gone completely mad?
Yes
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The times I have bought old favourites, with bonus tracks, I always feel ripped off afterwards.
Alternative versions, trail runs and unreleased tracks, are always inferior to what was originally released.
I feel that record companies and artists, are scrapping the bottom of the barrel, down in the tape vault, to take advantage of completists and our nostalgia.
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Perhaps record companies have recognised that there are few ‘new artists’ that hold much attraction for music lovers & that older artists are still stable sellers &, very importantly to them, the biggest money earners.
They are therefore very keen to mine artists material in anyway they can to re-issue past successes with additional material/re-mixes/re-masters etc. in the knowledge that there is still probably a larger market for Beatles/Pink Floyd et al than the majority of today’s here today forgotten tomorrow artists.
If the current market were flooded with great new talent, I suspect that the likes of the new Springsteen set either wouldn’t see the light of day or would be priced rather more keenly as there would be a lot more competition for music lovers money.
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Given the sensible pricing of the Tracks 1 Box Set on CD I really can’t get my head around the pricing of the new CD box set. Dynamic pricing of Springsteen tickets tarnished his reputation for me. The cost of material on CD, from the cutting room floor, really shouldn’t be this costly. He’s a disappointment given his ‘blue collar’ credentials.
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Your reasoning is correct, but there is a lot of good music being made today. If you look outside the world of Rock/Pop Rock, and start exploring, you will find plenty of new sounds worth listening to.
Gilles Peterson, on Radio 6 on Sunday is a good place to start.
The big problem is that the majority of music buyers are only interested in the music of their youth. Nothing wrong with this, but this is why we see so many box sets and reissues, and remasters, of classic Rock.
A a music moving forward, I believe Rock is pretty much dead, and is becoming a museum piece like Classical Music, Swing or New Orleans Jazz.
I tried listening to some “modern” Prog, (Magenta) but i found it was mostly music checking Yes, Pink Floyd and Genesis.
Probably unfortunate referencing the Fab Four & PF.
I didn’t intend to refer specifically to rock, more to all types of music from the 50s, 60s, 70s era.
I fervently believe that a lot of this music will be around & listened to 100 years on from now & that the majority of today’s music will be totally forgotten (except by the record companies desperately trying to promote an ‘early 21st century music revival’).
I think that the best of the ‘golden’ years of the 20th century will go on & on in much the same way as the best classical music has.
And the best thing? Nobody from now will be around to prove me wrong!
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When it comes to reissues the Dylan camp have set an example. They have given us what we wanted and more and their pricing has been very reasonable.
Hats off to Bob Dylan and his archive team.
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