In the light of Emeli Sande supposedly releasing a special edition of 'Our Version Of Events', I wondered what you think of the whole practice, rather than releasing a full new album?

I wanted to vote for two options there but went with "I just cherry-pick new material".

 

Obviously the record company could choose to make the songs 'album only', but the idea of paying for all the same songs again is just silly really. It is only value for money if you haven't bought that particular album yet and intended to but never got around to it. If as an artist you've recorded some new material and want to get it out a.s.a.p. why not just release a stand-alone single? In the 1960s this happened all the time!

Edited August 29, 201212 yr by Doctor Blind

Dislike. Special editions just give artists an excuse to stay on their current era for much longer. For example, Katy Perry released California Gurls over 2 years ago now and there is no sign of her releasing a new album anytime soon, because she re-released TD with 3 or so new tracks on it.

Edited August 29, 201212 yr by Thermometer

I don't mind if they're like The Fame Monster or Animal/Cannibal because they had a whole EP worth of material (8 tracks for each, 9 on Cannibal because there was a remix too), if they're my one of favourite artists I will just buy it again, but even for my favourite artists I will not buy an album again for 2 or 3 new tracks. I always cherry pick in that case. I don't know what to put in the poll tbh, I put like because I do like having new tracks, even just 2 or 3, but I like it it much better when you get a nice 7 or 8 tracks.

I just don't buy albums until the special edition comes out but the artists I'm into generally release their deluxe edition on the same day as the regular one.

Like Liam said, it depends on how many extra tracks are added. I would buy a re-release with a EP worth of tracks, but two or three extra tracks are just completely a waste of time. I *might* buy the special edition of Our Version of Events, however, as there's 5 extra tracks and she's my favourite artist of the year! :D

 

I just don't buy albums until the special edition comes out but the artists I'm into generally release their deluxe edition on the same day as the regular one.

 

I sometimes wait if it's by an artist who has re-released in the past, but if it's by an artist who's album I really want, I'll just buy it when it comes out. And like you said, a lot of artists release a deluxe version on the same day.

 

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The one thing worst than re-releasing you're album once, is twice! David Guetta released Nothing but the Beat in August, re-released with a 'deluxe version' in November, and is now re-releasing again with a 'Nothing but the Beat 2.0'!

Edited August 29, 201212 yr by liamk97

The Corrs did a lot of this in 1998.

It's obviously a ploy by record companies to make up for lost revenue in sales. However, I do like re-releases if they have something good to offer. Lady gaga's fame monster was an exception with 8 new tracks. Nicole Scherzinger's re-release only offered three new tracks though and seemed a waste of time.

For me it depends on the number of tracks on the re-release. Like Liam says, The Fame Monster, Animal/Cannibal, Bright Lights and the upcoming Nothing But The Beat 2.0 did/do have plenty of new tracks! So it is like buying a new album which is great and it allows new fans to get the original too. But when they are re-released with just a couple of new tracks: Teenage Dream, Killer Love, Good Girl Gone Bad, I either just cherry-pick or don't bother and wait until it becomes cheaper in a few months time.

I wish they would release a seperate EP that contained the new track along with the special edition. However I know this is unlikely to happen as it's defeating the point of re-releasing the album i.e. more sales from people who have already bought the album

It depends on how many new songs there are, really. Take Lana's re-release, it has about 7 or so new tracks which is basically a new EP anyway, but on Emeli's, the only songs there not available elsewhere right now are Wonder (which will be by the time it's out), Imagine and the new version of Breaking The Law which already has a version on the album as it is. I've got Beneath Your Beautiful, and Abide With Me is out to download too. Easier In Bed was a free download before the album was out and I got it then.

It depends on how many new songs there are, really. Take Lana's re-release, it has about 7 or so new tracks which is basically a new EP anyway

 

But it ends up that you're paying like £10 for 7 new songs if you buy the album. I know you can buy the new tracks individually but it would be better (as it's cheaper :lol:) if they had a seperate EP which was like £5 if it was for like 7 or 8 new songs. If it's 3 or 4 new songs the EP should be about £2.

Not many of my favourite artists bother with them so I rarely (if ever) buy special editions of albums I already own. When Lana Del Rey does her re-release I'll probably just buy whichever of the new tracks I like.

 

However, with albums that I haven't bothered to pick up I'll sometimes buy the special edition in the January sales. I bought Ellie Goulding's "Bright Lights" when it was going for cheap just a couple of months after its release (it was actually cheaper than "Lights" in HMV, go figure) because I wasn't sure I wanted to shell out a tenner for an 11-track album that I might not like.

I've never bothered with a special edition, never mind a special edition of an album that I already owned. I'm not counting 10 year anniversaries or re-releases with b-sides etc, in this.

I do like them but they have forced a change in my decisions now when purchasing albums. There was a time when i just bought albums on release but now i have moved away from that and i hold out for much longer for 2 reasons.

 

01 I wait for the deluxe version.

02 The price drops.

 

 

I've made a rule. If I own the original album yet didn't pay for it I will buy the re-release. Otherwise I don't bother. iTunes is there for a reason

It depends on how many new songs there are, really. Take Lana's re-release, it has about 7 or so new tracks which is basically a new EP anyway

 

First I've heard of a Lana re-release?

First I've heard of a Lana re-release?

It's called the Paradise Edition, with 7/8 new tracks (I've seen both banded about) and it's out on November 2nd; apparently the single premieres soon!

It's called the Paradise Edition, with 7/8 new tracks (I've seen both banded about) and it's out on November 2nd; apparently the single premieres soon!

 

I wonder if this is why she pulled the re-release of her first album - perhaps some of the 'new' stuff will be reworked from there?

 

Either way, it should help push her album upwards towards 1m. :)

Oh and I find it a happy coincidence that both artists I have a passing interest in so end up buying the special edition (Ellie, GaGa) and ones I'm a fan of and have the original album already tend to go the whole hog and release 6-8 extra songs rather than just a few in a cynical cash-in. At least then if I had the original or not I'm getting decent value for money.

 

On the other hand, I find it a shame that artists can clearly knock out two thirds of a fairly coherent album within a year of releasing yet if the first album does well they feel the need to strap the new tracks onto a re-release as it might sell better than releasing a full LP six months later.