A perfect reason why even indepedent labels sometimes deserve a punch in the nose
Lost Highway Records is, on June 27th, reissuing Van Morrison’s “Pay the Devil” album, adding a bonus DVD which features Van the Man performing four songs live.
Hey, great! Thanks, Lost Highway! Oh, and a very special thank-you for doing that LESS THAN FOUR MONTHS after the album was initially released! That way, you’ll make sure to totally fuck over the fans who bought the album when it came out in the first place…!
Okay, I admit it, this shouldn’t bother me as much as it does, given that I got a promo copy so that I could review it; really, this’ll be the first time I’ve actually put money in Van’s pockets…or, more realistically, Lost Highway’s pockets. This isn’t the first time they’ve pulled a stunt like this; they did the same thing with Elvis Costello’s “The Delivery Man,” although at least they waited six months to do it, and they included seven extra tracks and a DVD. But no matter how much more you add, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s totally fleecing the fans who went out of their way to support one of their favorite artists as soon as the album hit stores. (I had to laugh when I looked at the Amazon listing for the expanded version of “The Delivery Man,” where someone commented, “I think I’ll wait for the Rykodisc reissue, which should be out in time for Christmas 2005. Rumor has it that it will include the little-heard Elvis demo entitled, ‘Shilling the Rubes Was Never This Fun.'”)
So, seriously, Lost Highway: why do you do this? We love the music, but this treatment is simply unacceptable.
Posted in: Artists, Music Labels, Rock
Why do you hate the artists so much? You should feel privileged to pay twice for every album in your collection.*
(* – This does not include the possibility of buying an album on LP or cassette, then upgrading that copy to CD, which would make a CD reissue the third time you’ve bought an album. Or, depending on how old said album is, the fourth purchase, if you originally bought it on 8-track, then cassette, then CD, then reissued CD. Regardless, you should be ashamed that you’re thinking about screwing over Van Morrison like that.)
The labels are all over these “add-ons” to goose their profits, but treating the fans like shit will hurt them in the long run. Why not offer just the extras on iTunes for a reasonable price? Pretty pathetic.
Exactly. Or instead of iTunes, offer them through the label’s website at a cut-rate price…? I mean, of course, Lost Highway didn’t invent this practice…but they’re certainly perpetuating it. Why not take a step forward fan friendliness rather than performing maneuvers which one can only imagine them doing while putting on their best Monty Burns impression…?
Good thing no one in the movie industry does this, because man, if I had to buy the “Star Wars” movies over and over again…
Hey, wait a minute…