Thursday 1 December 2011

RANDOM : the price of a deluxe edition...how much is too much?

so as frequent vistors to simonsez-CD will know, i likes me a specially packaged-limited run-deluxe edition. i enjoy collecting them. i enjoy supporting my favourite artists by buying them. i enjoy seeing what materials the pieces are crafted out of. i enjoy seeing what extra bits and pieces are included in the sets. in fact i'd go as far as to say it's my favourite part of an album release (apart from the music of course :D). so i'd hope that my faith in "deluxe editions" was upheld by record companies and the artists and that as a fan, i'm being served a piece that i'm worthy of (something with great music and is well made).

but this week saw elvis costello, legendary musician that he is, go onto his website and write a statement to his fans concerning the boycott of a 'super deluxe set' release celebrating his 'spectacular spinning songbook tour' (see a picture of it below), asking his fans not to purchase it. he writes:


"we at www.elviscostello.com find ourselves unable to recommend 'the return of the spectacular spinning songbook' as the price [$200] appears to be either a misprint or a satire...if you should still want the component items in the above mentioned elaborate hoax, they will be available separately at a more affordable price in the new year..."

costello even goes as far as to recommend fans purchase another deluxe box set by louis armstrong, rather then this one! yes $200 is a large amount...but is it bad that if it was an artist i support, i'd pay it? i think it's the collector in me and not wanting to miss out on a limited run of something (there was only 1500 made of the 'spinning songbook' piece). i feel like my faith in the artist would make me trust that the edition was worth the money i'd pay.

so what i want to know is, what's your thoughts?

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