~* ON REPACKAGED ALBUMS... *~

So there's this interesting post on one of the mailing lists I'm in regarding repackaged albums (this certain band's repackaged album, in particular):

"... for an added 30 pesos, meron ka nang second cd--may music video,
ilang versions ng kanta, and a new song. sulit nga naman. however, i still
couldn't get myself to buy it. ako na nakabili na nung naunang release ng
album. i just think it's too much. it seems that they're trying to sell out the song _____, since madaming tao ang nagandahan sa song and the music video...

can you just imagine the disappointment of the people who bought (and
eagerly waited since october or earlier yata for) the original release of
the album? parang dapat pala nag-intay na lang sila for some months para yung repackaged album na lang ang nabili nila. parang ang benefit lang kasi
naming mga bumili ng naunang album is that we got a copy earlier than the rest. on second thought, benefit ba yun? or at least we were part of bringing the original album up the charts.

but i'm still interested on whatever the second cd contains. iniintay ko lang na may magsabi na super astig at sobrang ganda nung new song such that it would be worth [it].

no offense meant to the band and to all else concerned, perosana talaga this will not happen again, this repackaging thing. sana yung EP na lang ang ni-repackage with the second cd, since maraming tao at fans ang walang copy non. "

So this was my reply to that post:


ok, i noticed no one (save for one guy's post that i saw a while ago) would even touch this topic with a 10ft pole but i actually find the subject really thought-provoking :) and actually, he/she raises a valid point.

okay, let's look at this from two perspectives... *ummm, mejo mahaba to okay :)*

SIDE OF THE PRODUCER OF THE ALBUM:

I have noticed in recent years that record companies/producers have been coming out with repackaged CDs after a few months (or a year, maybe) of the original release. on a business perspective, this is actually a sales technique to generate more sales for the album. it's like extending the life/staying power of the album. it's quite similar to the obsolescence technique used by phone manufacturers -- something like nokia coming out with the 6220 and then after a few months they come out with the 6230 -- essentially the same phone except for some feature improvements/add-ons.

the producers have two target markets: 1) those who already bought the album and 2) those who haven't. For the 1st target, the producers are banking basically on customer loyalty (in this case,those who are *really* into ____'s music. coz diba if your level of liking the band is leaning on the average, you're pretty much satisfied and happy with the original version of the album that you already bought). For the 2nd one, the producers are hoping that the new stuff in the repackaged album would entice these people to finally get the album.

SIDE OF THE BUYER OF THE ALBUM:

Ok, for this one, I'll be talking based on my experiences as a CD buyer. First off, yes, I am quite peeved when I have already bought the album during the early time of its release and then after 6 mos or more, I see/hear/read abt a repackaged version. that happened to me with the keane, maroon5, switchfoot and usher album. however, for maroon5's case, since i could not find the kanye west remix of this love online, sobrang I got impatient and tamad na with downloading so I bought the repackaged album. i tried to sell my original version but ended up with giving it away as a gift to my sister. on the other hand, i find myself lucky to have held off buying some albums during its intial release because i got to buy na the repackaged ones.

i guess the most annoying thing about this, most esp. in the case of the students, is that they save up money from their allowance to buy a CD. so yun, i understand na nakakabadtrip nga naman.

as for the people who are quite OC with their CD collection like me, I really prefer repackaged ones pero if I'm not naman *really* super into the artist's music, mababadtrip ako pero OK lang in the end.

i guess the bottomline is nasa sayo naman yung final decision if you actually buy the repackaged album of artists or not. the artists do promote their repackaged albums pero it's not like they're forcing you to buy one or stripping you of say, autograph-signing privileges just because what you have is the original version. the artists are glad as it is that you bought their album. they don't naman discriminate fans and compartmentalize them into those who bought the original album, those who already have the orig album and still bought the repackaged one and those who just bought the repackaged one.

AS FOR THE EP SUGGESTION:
yeah, that seems to be a nice idea since I don't have the EP myself. But I'm thinking that if they re-release the EP w/ ________, that would probably entail a new set of negotiations with Sony in terms of distribution kaya siguro the band did not decide to do that ;)

**********************

So there. I guess it's really more of an issue with students rather than with hmm income-earning-tax-paying people like me. If I was in the person's case and I was still a student, I would have probably felt the same. Well in this particular band's case, it was no biggie to me. The repackaged album was just P280 vs. the original version at P250. I was happy when I bought the original around May and I'm happy now that I got the repackaged one this August. I mean, back in May, id na id na ako to buy the CD dba?! So why make myself suffer and hold on to the hope na the band might come out with a repackaged one thus, I should better forego buying?! It was not like I've known waaay ahead that time that they would indeed release a repackaged version. If I would have known, then of course I would have opted to wait till the re-release. What if it turns out that the band never ever releases a repacked one? Eh di I'd be this music-deprived gal without any great album to listen to dba? ;)