Very interesting article from The Guardian here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/aug/04/a-pressing-issue-vinyl-albums-riddled-with-mistakes-charli-xcx-olivia-rodrigo

It speaks of vinyl releases of albums that don't contain the full, final product, generally because there are such tight deadlines for production, citing the latest Charli xcx, RAYE and Olivia Rodrigo albums as examples with unfinished versions of their tracklists.

Is this something you've picked up on? Does it bother you, and would it put you off buying a physical product? This issue has applied to CDs as well as vinyl so affects any collector of physical products.

This is something that's frustrated me for a short while now. I'm a keen CD collector, but it really bothers me when an incomplete, unfinished version of the album is what's pressed on physicals. Tate McRae's So Close to What is a great example - I love the album, but its original physical format features two songs that got axed from the digital edition (not bonus tracks), different mixes of a few songs, and misses out several other tracks. It's basically a different album to the digital release! Likewise, Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday 2 features only 10 tracks out of the full 22 on its CD!

The first example I remember is Avril Lavigne's Head Above Water album in 2019, featuring a version of Dumb Blonde without Nicki Minaj on it, presumably because her contribution hadn't been recorded or received in time. Beyoncé caused a pretty big storm with COWBOY CARTER being incomplete on physicals, even including an alternative album title on the print...!

To me, it feels like little care is being put into physical products, which is curious when they're being relied on to prop up the album market so significantly. Many albums these days don't even have the tracklist printed on the back, which is crazy to me! That includes the aforementioned Tate McRae and Olivia Rodrigo albums, so perhaps a result of their unfinished status. I do think it's unfair on fans, who buy the album in good faith assuming it's the final product they're receiving. I don't see why one single deadline for the album's completion couldn't be given, rather than one for the vinyl and one for the digital release? Curious approach from the labels, who clearly don't seem to mind unfinished albums being produced.

As a fan, I'd actually rather wait a bit longer for a proper physical release if there's no way of the finished product being available physically on the same day as the digital release. Of course, chart-wise this wouldn't work and labels wouldn't choose this route, but it's at least a route that doesn't take advantage of the fans who pre-order.

It definitely is irritating. Because sometimes the ‘full version’ is then released months or years later and if you’re a collector it’s more to spend out on.

I understand that artists are perfectionists and want to work on the digital version right up until it goes live but it’s not great for the consumer having a potentially inferior version (as presumably any changes are made to improve things!).

Still, so many vinyl plants have shut down that lead times must get so long for some releases that you almost understand it. A body of work they greenlighted for production six months or more prior to release must feel quite dated by the time they get round to promoting it.

This definitely does influence whether I buy something or not. I really enjoyed Cowboy Carter but there was no way I was buying the initial vinyl release that didn't have anything close to the final tracklist, especially when vinyl isn't a cheap product to buy. Fortunately in that instance they released a complete version that I got instead, but it was some time later than the original release date.

Confessions II is another where there are shorter versions of the album available on vinyl. This is a slightly more weird case as the full version is also available as well, but it makes me think that they were still working on the album when the original pressings were made and that they later added a few more tracks and also got a 'deluxe' version produced with them on it.

But I do understand why it happens... there's a finite amount of pressing plants in the world and the industry never anticipated the rise we've seen in demand - so the labels have to book in their slots so far in advance that if they miss them there's literally no capacity to get another one in time, unless you're a hugely influential act - hence why Adele got so much criticism within the industry for the label clogging up the production plants with so many copies of 30, to the detriment of smaller indie acts who heavily relied upon vinyl for sales. I believe it's also largely why we had a period of vinyl being released after the digital versions.