This is why people pirate CDs

You can now PRE-ORDER the brand new “Barenaked Ladies Are Me” CD!

Order before Aug 22nd and receive as a bonus the “BNL: All New Revue (Live from the Glenn Gould Theatre)” disc FREE, which is a live acoustic version of the new album.

[…] These 13 songs will also be available digitally with a bonus of two tracks for purchase of the entire album. In addition, a 25 song package called Barenaked Ladies Are Me: Deluxe Edition, will be available digitally (album only). With the purchase of the Deluxe Edition, fans will be have the opportunity to obtain either two bonus tracks OR four bonus tracks for pre-ordering. Details on the digital pre-order to follow.

In addtion [sic], a USB stick featuring 29 songs plus other special content will be released Sept 12.

That means I can:

  • buy a 13-track CD today and get a CD with the same songs re-recorded live, but miss out on 16 songs plus “special content”
  • buy the same 13-track CD next month, but miss 16 songs, “special content” and the live version
  • buy a 13-track MP3-crippled FLAC version of the CD with two extra songs, but miss 14 songs plus “special content” and live version
  • buy a 25-track MP3-crippled FLAC version of the CD, but miss two songs and special content and live version
  • buy a 25-track MP3-crippled FLAC version of the CD, but miss special content and live version
  • buy a 29-track MP3-crippled FLAC version of the CD, get everything but the live version
  • buy the CD and the second (16-track?) release in 2007, get everything but the live version

Let me recap: in order to get all 42 tracks that are being released, I have to buy the album at least twice, and more than a third of the content will be at inferior quality.

Well colour me a little more pleased. According to their July 21 podcast, there will be a subsequent physical-CD release in 2007 that includes the additional tracks. Thanks BNL!

But wait, there’s more! From the BNLBlog: The best bet, frankly, [is] to download stuff (in high-quality flac format!) from barenakedladies.com (emphasis mine). Good on you, gents!

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3 thoughts on “This is why people pirate CDs

  1. Dave Matthews gained a huge following through bootlegged albums. Maybe this is part of some grand marketing scheme to encourage people to both buy and trade. Or maybe they’re running a test with one of their albums to test loss of revenue to piracy to prove that the music industry is crazy. Does this have anything to do with the release?

  2. I don’t think MusicCreators has anything to do with this, other than that BNL are members. I really think it’s just the latest incarnation of “best-of” syndrome: that is, the practise of releasing one or two new songs on an album so you can try to get people to re-purchase material they’ve already got. See also the “Japanese release”, where different tracks are added or substituted on a CD that is then sold as an “import” for multiples of the regular cost; Holly Cole is a repeat offender on this one.

    And it’s not just the big bad labels (or the RIAA and CRIA) that are culpable: Emm’s doing it too, with an early release of her new CD (May in Ireland, September elsewhere) and preorders that include a re-recorded version of Public. I think the Irish CD also includes a different track list but, due to the extensive purge of her website that deleted the last few years of news and journal content, I can’t provide a reference for this.

    But I’m a fan, and because my iPod contains nothing but podcasts and purchased music, I’ve preordered both the uncrippled BNL disc and Summer of High Hopes/PVT despite my complaints. Anything that’s not on those may or may not appear in my music collection, we’ll just have to see.

  3. (Oh yeah, just in case people think I’m a greedy so-and-so who’s trying to get something for nothing: as well as purchasing multiple copies of CDs—direct from the performers whenever possible—and buying tickets for live performances, and promoting these individuals and groups through word of mouth and otherwise, I’ve spent a not-insubstantial amount of money to directly support and sponsor independent recording artists.)

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