Out of Print CDs

[Stadler]

Yeah, I get the whole notion of "artists need to eat" and all that, and to some degree I am sympathetic (there are a small handful of bands from whom I buy direct for that exact reason).   But having said that, I refuse - not out of principle or any moral compunction but out of sheer practicality - to pay $16.95 for several disks a week over the course of a year, especially when you factor in special editions and what not.   I'm 46, and when I was a kid, you had maybe ten releases a week across all genres.   True, some bands would release two records a year (at least Kiss and Rush did) but to be an Iron Maiden fan, for example, you'd pay $3.99 or $4.99 for the album, $5.99 for the UK 12" single (to get the B-Sides!) and $11 for a concert ticket.   So to be a Maiden fan, the investment was $22.98 for the year, not counting apparel.   Now?  To be a DT fan, you've got the Special Edition CD at $45.99, and the tour (min $75 per seat), and the tour has the live CD (a double, so $24.99).  And the Blu-ray ($19.99).  So every year - with new material - you're looking at $165.97 to be a fan.   Then on "off-cycles" you've got the side projects.  And the solo albums.   And the number of releases has gone way up; there are almost 100 new releases every week across all genres!!!

I make good scratch, and I can't keep up.   So I apologize to no one when I say I refuse to pay more than $7.99 for a single CD.   I do not steal, and do not download (in fact, the opposite:  I'm one of those that needs a hard CD; out of something like 22,000 songs on iPod, maybe 100 tops are digital only, and probably 75 of those are just not available on CD), so I buy a LOT from ebay, a lot from Amazon Used, and frequent great stores like AKA and Long In The Tooth in Philly, where I can get major label releases, used, for sometimes as little as $0.99. 

[bout to crash]

Well, to be fair you're equating $23 30+ years ago to $166 now, which obviously isn't a fair comparison.

Also, you don't NEED to buy a special edition album (and $46, really?! does it come with a fucking happy ending?), $75 concert ticket, live CD (not all tours necessarily have these anyway), and blu-ray/DVD/whatever to be a "fan" of a band. That's a choice you make. You also don't NEED to buy several albums a week. I've never understood how people even absorb the music they're buying at that rate, but to each his/her own. I'm not trying to knock your lifestyle, but to me "sheer practicality" would mean something other than "I need to buy 5/6 albums this week on eBay instead of direct." It would just mean maybe not buying albums constantly.

[ytserush]

Another issue with selling Promo Copies happened with me back in 2006. I bought a copy of The Flower Kings' then-new album Paradox Hotel through Amazon and got a jewel case version with both discs but the insert was a plain single sheet folded in half with the artwork on the front and tour dates on the back. This was obviously a promo copy, which was neat, but I didn't get the full booklet with lyrics. It wasn't until years later that I tracked down the European dogipak version with the booklet and all.

I also ordered DT's OIALT from Amazon waaaaay back over a decade ago and got a promo copy with a broken case, and the front of the insert had been gold-stamped indicating it was a promo copy and was NOT to be resold. Again, I didn't get a replacement until years later for my collection.

If people circulate promo copies like that, there's always the chance that a buyer won't get what he wants.

- Marc.

Well, if you find a used promo in a store that's one thing. You have a choice to buy it or not, but I completely agree that if you buy something online and are not told about it, that is pretty disingenuous.

The idea that Amazon or some other major online retailer would do that without your knowledge is pretty low.

I'm in the camp that people should be able to find out exactly what they are buying if they are interested in knowing that.

Full disclosure always goes a long way in my opinion.

[bout to crash]

Totally agreed. Certain things I wouldn't mind, but others I would definitely want to be complete copies.

[Mindflux]

Got rewiring genesis on CD now. It popped up on amazon through a third party new for $25. I'm ok with that.

Getting shafted on this.. hasn't shipped and nobody knows where the album went. 

[ytserush]

Got rewiring genesis on CD now. It popped up on amazon through a third party new for $25. I'm ok with that.

Getting shafted on this.. hasn't shipped and nobody knows where the album went. 

I hope it's not recorded on a CDR.   I've heard a few stories that sometimes hard-to-find albums that some people have ordered from Amazon show up on a CDR.

 I guess that may not bother some people, but I'd send it back if it ever happened to me.

[Mindflux]

I hope it's not recorded on a CDR.   I've heard a few stories that sometimes hard-to-find albums that some people have ordered from Amazon show up on a CDR.

 I guess that may not bother some people, but I'd send it back if it ever happened to me.

It got canceled. They said they couldn't fulfill it. No idea why other than perhaps they reallized they could have asked for more money (whos to say they would have gotten it?)

And yes, if a CDR appeared I'd raise hell.

[The Letter M]

I hope it's not recorded on a CDR.   I've heard a few stories that sometimes hard-to-find albums that some people have ordered from Amazon show up on a CDR.

 I guess that may not bother some people, but I'd send it back if it ever happened to me.

It got canceled. They said they couldn't fulfill it. No idea why other than perhaps they reallized they could have asked for more money (whos to say they would have gotten it?)

And yes, if a CDR appeared I'd raise hell.

That's a damn shame, man. If I had two, I'd sell you the other!

-Marc.