Today, Justin Timberlake readies the release of his "Deluxe Edition" of FutureSex/LoveSounds, the Grammy-nominated album that took the pop world by storm this past year. Strategically arriving right on schedule for the holiday season, this re-release follows an ever-growing number of albums that have been re-packaged in recent years. The re-release is marketing brilliance from three standpoints:- it's money in the bank for the record execs; throw a few remixes on the same CD and re-sell it to the same people
- it offers the eager and zealous fans a chance to buy another piece of... er... art from their favourite artist.
- for the artist, (remember them?) it regenerates interest in the album and can potentially allow the record to garner additional GRAMMY nods.
So the re-release truly hits the nail on the head because it pleases the 3 fundamental parts of the music industry. The outcome, however, of a re-release ends in only four ways:
- It saves a failing album: Shakira's Oral Fixation Vol. 2
- The re-release fails to add any interest in the album: Beyonce's B'Day
- It capitalizes on the success of an already-hit album: Usher's Confessions
- Attempts to save an album flop too, and are usually scrapped: Janet Jackson's 20 Y.O.
Beyonce has got to be the most guilty of abusing the re-release. B'Day saw three seperate releases and is currently available in TEN versions. Desperate much? A lawsuit from one-hit-wonder Des'ree (1994's "You Gotta Be") caused the second version of B'Day to be pulled from shelves within 2 weeks of release... *doh* RE-release. Another case of Ms. Knowles illegally making money off of other people's work. So yet another B'Day was issued. A re-re-release.
It's funny because there were days when 10-12 track records could stay popular for years at a time, garner several singles, and allow a band to tour all through it. It really shows a decline in quality I suppose, or maybe just a complete change in the industry. Would Thriller have benefited from a re-release? Surely not as it produced Seven Top 10 hits!
The realization is that a consumer can get music in 10 seconds now; there's no longer a wait and rush to the record store to buy a new album. People get bored, that's where the re-release comes in. It's shady, but --hey!-- it's worth a shot... or 10.
