should the charts change? deluxes, variants & versions galore
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- Опубликовано: 7 окт 2024
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today we're talking deluxe albums and variants... in their many forms. We'll talk about why it seems so many artists are dropping deluxe albums now, sometimes more than one, and those can be use to game the charts. We'll also talk about album variants, and the current conversation about how artists can "weaponize" them in a sense to maintain their chart position, or even rise. We'll also talk about some current cases with the pop girls, where Taylor Swift was accused of dropping variants of The Tortured Poet's Department to block both Billie Eilish (Hit Me Hard and Soft) and Charli XCX (brat) from debuting at #1 in their respective countries. Not only will we talk about if this is 'fair'- but if it matters.
Email: naomi@sparkmedia.la
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variety.com/20...
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• Jackpot Hit While Dump...
Being a school district employee and STILL having to do Uber eats on the side so you can blow money on Taylor swift merchandise is lunacy.
lmao I laughed so hard at that part. what an id##t
Literally Unhiniged....then will be on Caleb Hammer saying they just need to stop eating out so much!!
schools pay hardly any money though, to be fair.
Mentally that woman is not a single day older than her daughter😭
Yes, finally someone started this conversation 😭 lately things have been getting out of control with chart manipulation
Stream looping as well is also an exploit for plays, that should be called out.
@@GeteMachinefiltering exists though, Spotify does tend to filter many
I agree with you. It makes the Billboard Hot 100 and 200 charts not as fun to look at. Then again, it’s good to know how these songs, and albums perform. Even if it’s too much consumerism😒💯
@@GeteMachineI might be wrong, but I think there are very strict rules about what counts as a stream, and the number of different songs that must be played before it is replayed. I might be wrong tho
The conversation has always been there for years
people just didn't want to believe it or the ones exposing them would be flagged & silenced
I always think about a study that said that 50% of people who purchase vinyl records don’t own a record player. I feel like physical media, especially exclusive variants & signed copies exist more as merchandise than actual ways to consume music.
one detail about brat’s debut week is that Taylor also restocked the TTPD vinyls that same week exclusively in the UK. people will claim that this is organic, but it’s just scarcity marketing and just adds to the list of tay’s chart games.
Taylor does nothing without intention
First of all, let's also stop comparing pre-streaming era to streaming era. Streaming era achievements are laughable compared to physical sales of cds.
Agree
I agree with you. It’s not a good comparison. At least in this lifetime😭
It definitely needs to be viewed differently. However, that’s how people primarily consume music now. It shouldn’t be treated as nothing.
@@liteflightify oh for sure- I think they’re saying tho it’s not really fair to be like “Taylor swift/ Drake broke Michael Jackson’s records” and it not being touched on they’re making music in completely different landscapes, and music is easier and cheaper to consume now
@@perfectallycromulent the point is people would have to leave their homes and make the conscious decision to buy these albums. You can stream by choice ofc, but it’s not always necessarily a choice. now I could be laying in my bed and have the song of an artist I don’t regularly listen to/ care to listen to come up on shuffle bc they paid for that playlisting and it counts as a stream. Yes it counts for less, but there’s often a lot less intentionality behind our music consumption these days, and it’s easier to consume quite a lot more for vastly cheaper, which is what we were talking about. There was no option back then to pay $10 and have access to almost every song in existence, find them on RUclips for free etc. also, back then I could buy an album and play it 10k times and have it count for nothing other than that initial purchase (which is still true today I guess in terms of physicals)
I’m sorry but there is no comparison to what Taylor is doing with her variants and to what other artists are doing. Billie and Charli for example released their handful of variants the week of or the week after their album releases. That’s pretty standard. Taylor releasing variants strategically on other artist album release dates, making them available for a limited time or only making them available in the UK in Charli’s instance. There’s a difference between 40 variants with each one having a differentiator to 8-10 variants that are just different colors/have different cover art. Yes, Billboard should regulate this- this is an example of the massive problem we have with late stage capitalism in this country.
THIS! taylor only gets away with it because she’s literally the biggest artist on the planet, but also her fans enable that sort of behavior from her. she knows her fans will buy any sort of deluxe variant she puts out, it’s this feedback loop of mindless hyper consumption, and billboard needs to pull the plug on it like they did with those stupid album bundles. there’s a huge difference between a picture disc variant vs 30+ versions of an album each with an exclusive bonus track lol
you guys are hypocrites
@@jenora3015 that’s fine you feel that way but there’s nuanced involved as we said.
@@jenora3015explain how. this comment literally spilled
@@yorluibrochero9297 no it’s just st -upid because you don’t like here you lost logic
I struggle to understand why some people buy multiple variants of the same exact album. It feels like a poor financial choice. You’re going to listen to one variant at most while the others collect dust. While I agree that the artist isn’t forcing their fans to buy their music, I do think they are enabling them to be very wasteful.
Unrelated, but I am also enjoying how more artists are abandoning the common “deluxe” title and creating more creative titles for their deluxe albums(ie. Brat, guts, future nostalgia)
I've seen some people say in the past that they will not open 1 to collect and then they will have another one to open and listen to.
Sometimes it’s a collectable. Other times it’s gifts. But for many, it’s the only album(s) they are going to get that year.
The same reason why people have 100+ perfume collects, people are over consumers and like to buy stuff just to say they have it
People do it with books and special editions too
@@crystalsnow1138I understand if you’re only buying one extra variant. I’m talking more specifically about the people who buy way more variants of the same album. I’ve seen people who get 5+ versions of the same album on vinyl.
I think this speaks to a larger conversation of music artists promoting extreme consumerism. That lady that thought bonding with her daughter meant buying things just felt sad to me. She also kept buying more things because more variants dropped. Seems so wasteful because the artist is manufacturing want, she wouldn’t have wanted more if the different variants never dropped.
Late stage capitalism
Exactly
1. You look amazing. It’s giving brats a doll. I want to say yes because there is no reason there’s 2 million different versions of a song, but also no. I think it should be limited to being used but not abused. I love Taylor, but she abuses this system so much that it’s not fair, but it’s not just her.
Also it’s a waste to the music environment, sometimes it also feels like you have to constantly buy, buy, buy. I don’t like when they contain different things that we all can’t enjoy, but I don’t get it if they are for collectors.
@@ahmarindungu9010 yeah, I feel like Billboard limiting the number of variants they’ll count towards charts would help things
You’re correct! It’s an abusive tactic😒
Charli and Billie has more physical variants than Taylor but you aren't ready for that conversation. You mad cause Taylor can actually sales.
If you look at her album consumption it's mainly streaming units and physical standards vinyls.
@@rahuljoshi2728 in the last line at the top I said it’s not just her I’ve seen how Billie and Charli have been using this tactic too. I found Billie to be very hypocritical while speaking about other artist doing this.
Great video as always! I really appreciated Billies take on variants for HMHAS by ensuring every variant had the same music no matter which one you bought. It gets really frustrating when artists release an exclusive song for each copy, sometimes I really like multiple exclusive songs, eg on TTPD or Guts but don’t want to spend 60-70 dollars just to get each 2 extra songs. I wish more artists would take this approach instead of to price gouge fans as much as possible.
This is exactly my problem with Blondie, doing the exclusive songs for different copies is so nasty and extremely manipulative.
@@Jose-sx4ql for real!!! And the releasing them one at a time, claiming their “limited edition”. I want to support Taylor but she doesn’t make it easy with these deceptive and honestly scummy releases.
Billie isn't innocent either. On top of her variants, people who bought her new vinyl said its poorly mastered. How 'sustainable' can you be if the product you're releasing is poor quality and unlistenable?
@@rndmusrnm2763 I bought Billies album thought was mastered fine, i think that’s something thats subjective. I think the number of variants was a bit excessive but at least its not forcing fans to buy 5+ copies to own all the music.
As much as I love Billie’s approach I also think having colours of eco mix vinyl really defeats the point, the whole point of eco mix is that it’s general scraps not specific
Finally someone calls out Taylor swift for this type of crap. She did it with midnights as well and it’s a tactic she is actively doing for years to block artists from getting her 1st place on the charts
it's normal to block artist on chart lol taylor has also blocked by other artist numerous times. it's not a big deal
EXACTLY! After learning about her making an EXCLUSIVE UK drop RIGHT when Charli released Brat, I'm disheartened af, she knows better, I wonder how 2012 Taylor would feel about a bigger artist blocking her albums with 100000000 variants. Play fair Taylor!
@@GarrettLaFlor if that had happened to her we'd still be getting diss tracks to this date about said artist
@@wioletwoes Yup
@@wioletwoeswell what’s stopping the other artists doing the same
I feel like something definitely needs to be done regarding this craziness. To me personally it's fine to have *a handful* of variants that vary in aesthetics only and not in content. That way fans have the option of picking their favorite looking version without missing out on any song or demo or what have you. They could also still collect every version if they really wanted to, but there wouldn't be a strong incentive to do so.
One of my main issues with the multiple variants is the environmental impact. Besides the manufacturing process & packaging generally being damaging to the environment, there's also the issue of excessive buying & mass dumping of records (especially if they aren't seen as "valuable"). I remember a similar discussion occurred amongst Kpop fans when pictures of thrown out boxes filled with albums was circulating online. And while there are efforts to make vinyls more eco-friendly, I don't think it will solve the issue of excessiveness (kinda like the how excessively buying sustainable clothes isn't sustainable).
In the end, this whole process of "getting your fave the number one spot on Billboard" is just promoting excessiveness & environmentally harmful practices.
K-pop is worst imo they put photo cards for all members in different albums for the fans to collect all and then they throw away the albums only keep the photo cards lol and they even have the fans to purchased like 100 albums to get a chance of face time call or meet and great with their favorite kpop idol
@@aidentan6547 Midnight Theories just dropped a really awesome video on this!!
I got a fancall when my sister bought 5 albums! It’s true that 100 probably makes you more likely, but they definitely aren’t icing out people who just buy 1 or 2
I hate that sm. We don't need 20 versions of an album and then different photocards for each member. It's crazy.
I grew up with the era of deluxe álbuns, or even platinum or collector's editions. I always bought them because they had many great extras, like bonus tracks that were actually good or even better that the Standard version, they had dvds with the vídeos, shows, behind the scenes extras or even visual items, like books or another box with a different cover. But we had maybe like 3 versions and they came in successful eras and made sense. But now the álbum not even came out and we already have 4 different versions only with a different cover. I still love to buy cds or a vinyl but at this point is just too much. Sometimes i don't even know how many different álbuns an artist has because seems like a new álbum cames out every week. I mean i'm a collector, i love buying cds and sometimes a good vinil too, makes me sad when i don't find them but at this point i feel like they are also too many versions.
@@dinasilva9263 I only ever buy the standard now if I buy an album, i don’t even bother w everything else it’s too overwhelming 😭 and if more tracks come I can just stream them usually
@@naomi.cannibal i still buy the deluxe not the standard, if both are for sale on cd or vinyl, i just wait for the deluxe. And i buy maybe one or two versions of an álbum. I can't afford buying like 4 different versions or something like that 😅
This is what they need to go back to
So happy you touched this topic Naomi!! I genuinely think this conversation is so important especially with recent antics from certain artists to try uphold chart placements ❤
Mmm, Taylor's shady and wasteful. There are over 30 iterations of the Tortured Poets album! It's inexcusable.
that not true, theres too many for sure but not over 30, thats an edit someone posted that got taken as fact. with casettes, vinyls, cds, and digital releases combined she has 19 which is too much by itself. It seems inflated because of sales and re-releases of already released editions.
@@tape-619 is for sure just as inexcusable… i get your point that over 30 is inflated, but at that point its semantics. the point still stands. 19 variants is crazy
I like Taylor's music and I don't care. Nobody is forcing me to buy all these variants and I don't. I listen to her music on Spotify and have never bought her CDs or vinyl. I'm only willing to spend money to see her in concert.
@@IRINA___ No one is making you buy products from Amazon either but that doesn't mean their harmful capitalistic tendencies shouldn't be called out.
She's showing her true colors releasing at the same time as other artists just to steal their #1, girlie is definitely not humble.
That poet whaterver album is her absolute worst and she has the courage to release a million versions.
Not too sure about albums, but for the Hot 100, remixes definitely shouldn't count towards the same song. Artists releasing instrumentals, acoustic versions, random throwaway remixes to boost one song is questionable. They're not the same song
Chart Manipulation and market flooding these days should be unethical and shouldn't count on billboards. It might also stop a certain in organically 'record-breaking' loophole artist, from blocking others as soon as they get too close to number 1 after a few weeks.
When I got back into Kpop, I used to buy every version available cause I treated them like a collection. Lately I’ve been focusing more on buying older CD’s from artists or albums that I’m really into to make a collection that im actually proud of (cause some of those Kpop albums just take up way too much space, so now I just buy one version of the album and that’s if I REALLY vibe with it)
I noticed with Kpop especially that most first week number are very massive and it’s simply cause of the multiple versions, and I agree that it really isn’t indicative of an albums or a groups success cause the numbers are inflated, but idk what a good solution would be since there’s also so much novelty that goes into the hold experience
It’s unrealistic, but in my opinion one standard black and one color variant is enough. Maybe throw in an alternate cover but that’s it. Having so many variants just comes across as greedy and like the artist doesn’t have a clear concept for the album’s marketing.
are u kidding me I love the different coloured vinyl it's the reason i collect in the first place
I’d prefer three variants - Standard, Artist exclusive, Indie exclusive. Maybe one has an exclusive cover idk
The problem is the public ain’t gonna be pleased either way, particularly Stan Twitter cos most of the other Twitter communities have some common sense… it’s so hard to make them happy, if they don’t promote and don’t hit no.1 it’s a “flop” BUT if they promote and hit no.1 it’s “payola”… honestly artists should stop trying to go with what the “fans” tell them to do because these people are also mocking them
This a good conversation, because I have been noticing that artists will release different versions of their songs to get chart success.
this is why number one hit songs do not feel like a number one song, is just the same people buying and playing the same song multiple times
i mean it's streaming era not radio & digital era like 2014
You don’t understand how I love when you make a video! Great video as always
I always hated the idea of store/country exclusive album or CD variants back then since you can't listen to the bonus tracks anywhere easily (unless somebody uploads it to RUclips). But tbf I can see the appeal of colorful vinyl variants so fans can pick and choose which color they vibe with. I do notice that only huge artists are doing this and frankly they're already profitable enough. So this feels inauthentic since they're preying off stan's terrible spending decision and FOMO. At this point, most stans just buy them as a wall decor. I do appreciate artists that create interesting vinyl designs (like pinkpantheress' Heaven Knows that it is its own visualizer while it's spinning if you record it on your phone).
It's a different thing to release a couple of different vinyl variants at the same time or even bundles, vinyls ARE collectible items so it only makes sense to give fans different options. But to keep releasing variant after variant after variant over a long span of time JUST to keep your most mediocre album chart positioning and actively sabotage other artists from reaching the top spot is CRAZY and DEPREDATORY. Some of these artists are simply doing their best with what their given having to navigate such a crazy industry, while some other artists are the reason why music nowadays is nothing but a product with no value other than the chart/sale performance they have while simultaneously being painted by their fans as the saving grace of artistry and the epitome of feminism.
I used to be a HUGE Taylor fan, and even though I still like her music (not the newest album), her business practices made me sour on her a lot during and after 2023... And as a fan who knows a lot about her carrer I looked back on some things and started to see them with different eyes... especially now as and adult. The variants thing def should be limited, her new album is not mainstream at all, it barely plays on the radio, however since she has a HUGE super dedicated fanbase, their sales alone make the album no1 and makes it seem like it has much more impact than it actually does outside her bubble. I mean, most of my family knows most singles from RED and they are not taylor or music fans at all. Play them a song from the new album and they won't recognize it at all!! Still, it's no1 for weeks.
No one cares especially not Taylor
@@simeonfrancis6751 You think I think she cares? lol, I don't even know her. Might be hard for you to believe but most people form their opinions about things regardless if other care about it or not, it's not about that..
her single is on radio, it has like 40m airplay support weekly + it's streaming era, it's now all fans carried. radio/television impact is slowly decreasing. that's why gaga & katy flopped bc they didn't have that much of dedicated fan base. it's the same way general public hasn't heard beyonce since halo yet she's still on top.
@@filipeeeeeeeee5615 the business practices that get me were when she used the dynamic pricing for the US shows of the Eras Tour. It was not required, and if she wanted fans to be able to get the tickets, at a reasonable price like she said, she wouldn't have done that. She was doing the price gouging herself, before resellers got to them, and then at that point the tickets were absolutely insane. I almost don't want to know how much money she made off of being able to do the dynamic pricing, but I want to know at the same time. It had to be at least 100 million dollars. I also think a lot of people put that blame on the resellers, but so much of it belongs to Taylor Swift.
Yeah honestly but like her fanbase keeps on concocting a new excuse to defend her new business practice (which I think is solely not her fault but she agreed with her team on this one for sure).
I think they should change the rules, because these days it seems like its being exploited as a loophole to force an artist to stay on the billboards through multiple and unjustified timed rereleases and the profiting off of it. Its why I agree that these are wasteful artists who do this and it shouldn't count to the billboards if they are just rereleasing remixes and slight variants.
As an ocasional pop girly and mostly interested in jazz and rock, I think the point about old jazz, punk, early metal album collecting has more to do with the interest inclinations and purpose of the collector, not necessarily a shade towards pop musicians/listeners.
Those kinds of albuns are super rare and have incredible music that people often don't even know exists, like Japanese city pop and USSR albuns that most (western) people never heard of and are really hard to find. People collect them because they love music and finding "new" old things, things that we may have forgotten. (they also were made for that medium specifically)
While when it comes to modern pop, vinyls serve more as merch then something to actually listen to. Because of streaming and easy access to music online, we can listen to albuns and singles anywhere and anyway we want, vinyls are unnecessary to the experience because the music is made with streaming in mind first
Just in the last 5 years Billboard has changed on how they Chart Music 6 times in the last 10 years they have changed it around 15 times. Billboard admits that they have been struggling to come up with a good way to Chart Music with the internet.
@@tomcarson985 it’s not an easy task, I’m sure. Bc part of me even wonders what the point of the chart still existing is if it can be gamed so easily, but I know they’re not just gonna shut down the billboard charts either
@@naomi.cannibal Yes music charts don't have a point anymore but like you said Record Companies won't stop using the charts because it is how they determine success of artist & if they are going to drop the artists even though record sales are at a all time low. Usually when people talk about the collapse of physical media they are talking about films but this includes music as the collapse of physical media has crushed the music industry.
Yes, the charts are being ridiculous. Different releases should be seen as DIFFERENT releases.
Taylor Swift making variants from vinyl totally kills the vibe (and the enviroment too lol) because vinyl should be a special edition to the fans. like a collector's item that you have if you really love that record. back in the day having a vinyl edition means that the fans loved the record so much that owing a CD is not enough and then the vinyl would have new songs, new photos etc. now it's just capitalism wrapped with a bow around it.
every artist does it but it's just taylor sells more. + vinyl are mostly to decorate rooms now like it won't affect environment if they're selling out. but it might affect environment even if they're environmentally friendly & still not sold out like billie album. no matter how much environment friendly the product is if they're not selling out it'll all go in ocean & the sea creature will choke on that.
I’m fine with physical variants. However, releasing multiple variants with one or two new songs or remixes does feel like gaming the system and desperation. And yes, “deluxes” should count as another album on Billboard.
This is so mean but I’m grossed out listening to the reasons why people are buying all the tpd variants. Bonding with your daughter over owning each one, getting excited over packages, being able to work more Uber shifts to get to experience the joys of having packages delivered. All this just sounds so bleak. I can’t relate to the feeling of wanting to spend hundreds on concert tickets but I at least understand that as an experience, ordering things online for the experience of it feels so disconnected.
I definitely think it should change, but this is all happening because music is corporate now and there are numbers they need to hit to be considered a success especially when it’s so easy to stream albums for “free”.
another thing is “playlisting”😭😭 it’s getting out of hand.. ty for talking about this
Thinking about how Sabrina Carpenter has 15 different versions (two remixes) of Please³ & Espresso out right now.
She can relate to desperation.
@@TheCrogun and how espresso plays after literally every song on Spotify💀(not complaining tho love u Sabrina)
@@kimendable what does playlisting mean
@@Balianderson5 basically a company will pay Spotify to add a new release in tons of playlist, so it has a bigger reach (more streams)
@@kimendable Billie,ariana & Chappel songs too.💀
Yes absolutely! It’s such a desperate move
i'm a huge fan of taylor and a lot of other artists but i will literally never understand other stans (and specifially what i've seen from being on stan twitter) obsession with buying buying buying. like i completely get buying a vinyl if prefer to listen with a record player over streaming and for that reason i actually like having a couple (i would say no more than 5) variants as long as there are major differences between them. there should be a different front and back cover, vinyl coloring, and different inserts/bonus content. taylor does do this well; i'm pretty sure she had different photos of handwritten lyrics for tortured poets and 1989 tv depending on which variant you got, as well as a completely different set of photos for the lyric booklet, etc. but i really feel like the purpose of the variants should be for the aesthetic choice of the consumer and not to be a collectible item set, which is why i don't like when there's exclusive whole songs on some of them and especially when they're announced and sold at different times, plus the limited-edition-ness of it all adds pressure on fans to buy it as quickly as possible. for me though, i know that i'll never buy physical music or digital downloads (heavy on the digital downloads, literally WHY would you ever lmao) and i'm very happy with that, i just stick to a couple pieces of merch per artist maximum. better for the environment, better for my wallet.
Y’all jokers must be CRAZY!!! I love having physical & digital content but I’ll never buy 10 versions of the same cd with a slight chance. I usually just listen to album in full on RUclips & wait til the deluxe drops to have for my collection. This is coming from an extreme shopaholic but I still TRY to spend wisely. I only buy the whole album if there’s no skips but there’s only a few I like I’ll only buy those. Everything else I’ll listen here for free on RUclips
I feel there is a underlying issue here. Artist are preying on fans with who are really young and those with mental illness. I truly think majority of super fans/Stan’s have a problem and they are the ones who continue to buy multiple versions of different albums & physical copies, even when they don’t own cd or record players. They are clearly not buying these items to play or listen to them.
Appreciated this video!! 😊 I think billboard limiting how many variants count will help, but then the goal post will just move again. bigger artists will block smaller ones from having similar success b/c they have the fan base and resources. Not sure if there’s any ultimate solution at the end of the day
When these artists talk about the Environment, yeah sure Jen! xo
People need more personal relationships with music again. Community is wonderful, but let the music be art and not a product that must be collectively pushed.
This 💛
In the past it was common to release a greatest hits album (and strategically release it on someone else’s release date) but now because of streaming, greatest hits albums don’t exist. There’s give and take with these different eras. I think other artists should just be more strategic with their release dates for deluxes and variants the way Taylor is, instead of acting like she’s doing something wrong.
It's weird to me how hard Taylor is trying for these sales and chart records with obviously shady tactics. Like surely if she does get the records she wants, will those records not also be remembered with the caveat that she intentionally gamed the system to get them?
@@ChristineChu-r8o ok series of random letters and numbers, if it's business then why does she have to release 37 versions of one album to cling to her chart position? shouldn't she just release an album that naturally charts that high? she's literally done it before. being publicly desperate is not a savvy long term brand strategy
Billie new song is literally on autoplay in Spotify. First it was lunch then chihiro & now its birds of feather. she's also trying for these sales & chart record with shady tactis. yet i don't see why ppl not complaining about this. They'll only complain when taylor does it
As someone who doesn't live in a consumist country as the US, I own like 7 CDs and I just use spotify, is wild what people would do just to have a rush
I don't think it should be polarizing to say that over-consumption is bad and there are better ways to support an artists than buying future antiques that are the same thing in 50 different colors
Also, we should be supporting more small/independent artists. I love Flora Cash. Not opposed to mainstream ones, but the lesser knowns just deserve some love, too.
I must let you know I found this video exquisite, I'm subscribing
I’m *SO* over variants
Regardless of who the artist is, having to buy four separate albums hear four bonus tracks is insane and anti-consumer. The consumer-the everyday person, shouldn’t have to spend a bunch of money to hear four songs. You can say, “oh, you can just listen to them illegally online”, but some folks want to support the artist (just not four-albums-worthy support) or they want a physical copy.
TLDR: Regardless of who the artist is, having to buy four separate albums hear four bonus tracks is insane and anti-consumer.
Billboards won't limit the sales because they are now more valued than ever physical sales because of the rise of vinyls, before it the music industry has been struggled to sell albums after streaming and many artists talking about losing money because of streaming revenue are so low
"You can't always get those experiences back."
What experience? The experience of clicking the purchase button on Amazon?
They want front row tickets for an album.
No, its more like capturing a moment. Buying a ttpd vinyl is pretty cheap today but it won't be in 5 to 10 years. I tried Buying a evermore vinyl this week but it's alot more expensive than what it was at that time.
So, this is more like collecting your happiest memories with your daughter in her case
Also, let's not pretend consenting adults are immune to propaganda and marketing manipulation. That's not how it works.
i prefer deluxe albums like the The Fame Monster and Scarlet 2 Claude because the new music adds on in theme and storytelling to the original project instead of when the deluxe is the same as the original but with 2 or 3 throw away tracks to boost album sales
15:30 also to anyone criticizing Billy's decision to release the isolated vocals version, as a fan myself, getting those isolated vocal tracks is very rare, and often you have to wait for years for them to leak, most don't leak at all. Same for instrumentals.
Personally, I don't care if its for the charts or not, but I do hope that more artists start doing it too.
I feel like parasocial relationships has such a huge part in this situation, especially in recent years. Singers/companies know how dedicated whichever fanbase is to whichever artist so they’ll pop out a bunch of variants or any cash grab either to easily get more money, get more streams or do better or as well on the charts and fanbases will buy every version to support their favorite artist and make them more successful. But I think that there really should be a crackdown on this, especially with billboard. This whole variant epidemic and taking advantage of an audience has gotten sleazier and it’s so sickenly manipulative. And I feel like Taylor Swift’s one of the worst examples of this doing it so blatantly and even to block other artists and doing it back to back like with Billie Eilish and Charlie XCX. This whole chart manipulation situation needs to be more regulated
I'm glad you're calling this out. Great video btw! I just want to buy my favorite artists' CDs damn it.
I got back into buying physical copies of albums I like again because of what happened to many kpop artists' music on Spotify in 2021. Basically many Korean record companies pulled their artists' music from Spotify, all without warning. You do not truly "own" the music that you stream, and it sucks that companies can just take the music we love from us without warning. I just want to own the most complete version of a CD without all this extra crap surrounding buying physical media in this current day.
I personally don't mind cosmetic variants since I can just buy the cover I like the best and go, but variants that gatekeep songs between them is too far imo. I'm currently buying a Japanese version of the Late Night edition of Midnights since getting an authentic English copy is impossible. That version was only sold at the New Jersey Eras tour shows and online for 24 hours as far as I know. People are really good at making fakes and are trying to sell those fakes on Ebay. Gatekeeping a whole other variant behind would could be a concert ticket worth HUNDREDS or THOUSANDS (due to scalping) of dollars is wild to me. Even THAT version is not complete even though it has the most songs across all the other versions of Midnights. I just want to enjoy music, it's exhausting.
It's definitely about the money/rate of return. Successful tours do tend to generate more income for the artist, but prepping and planning tours is so. much. more. work than releasing merch and stuff. Considering that we also live in the parasocial artist fandom era, there's no way that labels will ever let this cash cow go. My question at this point is about the lobbying power of labels with Billboard. Changing the chart rules wouldn't change much, but it would at least change the game. Trying to convert streams to physical copies is impossible in the current landscape though (imo).
This camera quality okayyyy
5 should be a max, please!
Am I the only person who just chooses the deluxe or the colour I like ONCE
I am a fan of both Taylor and Billie but I don’t think that it’s fair to compare Billie and Taylor (you haven’t done it here but I’ve seen people on social media do so) because Billie released all the colored variants of her vinyl at once and the content is the same on every single one. There’s no additional track whatsoever. Meaning that you don’t necessarily need to buy all 9 of them, just your fave color or the color that you think suits the album best (that’s what I do). Taylor, on the other hand, sells variants with different contant which pushes people to buy all of them to be able to listen to all of the song physically. I think that these techniques she used are very shameless towards her fans + dropping new versions when other albums (especially by female artists) drop weeks or even months after yours is very low. She claims to be so supportive of other artists and female artists but when it comes to charting she’s always looking to do better than her own self and just basically break her own records. Which is dope alright but at what cost. Allowing other female artists to shine is not going to take her own shine away and that’s what she sings about in Clara bow for example so it’s very annoying that she doesn’t put it in practice. She has broken so many chart related records that I absolutely don’t give a sh** about them anymore tbh, especially when she has achieved them through shameless tactics. I wish these charts were way more organic but since everybody uses different ways to make their albums chart at the end of the day it loses all significance for me.
I always enjoy your content
The emphasis and uptick in pure sales and vinyl variants really confuse me because I’ve been collecting for YEARS and I have a pretty kited out setup that I don’t even use the majority of time to listen to music because it’s more so a special thing that I go to when I want to feel the music and to fully emerse myself in an album. I know people in my life who only own Taylor Swift vinyls, and they don’t even have a record player to listen to it on (mainly because streaming is just so much more easy). I’m not saying that one form of listening is better than the other, I stream my music more than I play it physically… I’m just saying WHY are people buying things that they aren’t going to use.
You look so good you almost give uncanny valley feeling! ❤
it was standard for there to be 2 variants of an album, the standard edition and deluxe edition maybe even a third super limited collectors edition, I don't see an issue with these 2 variants being issued on cd, vinyl and cassette, some artists do extended mixes or a remix album which is also a great way to keep the album alive a few months down the line with the fast pace of this new era of music. I think some artists have taken it to the extreme with 10 different variants for the digital age and I think it might have something to do with how little the streams to pay so they issue another version so by the time all their variants have been released they earn the same as if they sold physical copies and then there's also the way charting is these days, you can chart with very little physical & digital sales but have millions of streams and have a #1 album on billboard with less than 1,000 sales
I remember when Nicki Minaj did a feature on a remix of Say So by Doja Cat and it was trending to use as many devices as possible to stream it so it could be number 1. That made me question the authenticity of Nickis first no.1 and it wasn’t her fault.
Also it seems very weird when people complain there’s nothing different about the variants besides aesthetics so there is “no point” in their existence, but when adding different bonus songs on each variant they argue it is unfair.
Am I the only person who just thinks it’s nice to have options of which colour and cover I prefer. I didn’t buy cowboy carter vinyl originally because I didn’t like the cover art. I bought the vinyl when she released the vinyl with the official Cowboy Carter cover.
Peoples homes have different aesthetics etc and someone may want the pink edition of a vinyl instead of a blue because they like that colour more.
I have not bought a Red (Taylor’s version) vinyl because it only comes in standard black pressing and an actual RED colour vinyl pressing is a Target USA exclusive that cannot be shipped to the Uk without excessive price gouging
if i buy a vinyl im spinning it. i only get 1 version
I love collecting records and was a variant collector for my faves, but recently I’ve stepped down from owning too many variants. Now I just get 2 vinyl variants. For CD’s I only really buy the signed ones. But I never buy the digital versions because they don’t seem worth it to me. I can always find that version later on RUclips or somewhere else.
as someone who's coming from a kpop background in terms of collecting, i think the 'variants' a)not having the same musical content and b)not having anything different other than the color of the record is insane. i think what billboard can do is limit the number of variants for each project (maybe limiting them to 5?) and making it a rule that all variants need to be dropped at the same time.
Pause ✋🏽 -the hair is eating!!!🔥🫶
Imagine taking anything billboard says or does serious in 2024 🤦🏽♂️ I haven’t payed them much attention since 2012 which is the same year they added streaming data to their charts that’s why all these people getting these fraudulent #1’s get no respect from me the only artist with tons of #1’s I respect is Mariah Carey & Rihanna because they actually earned theirs although some of Rihanna’s #1’s came after the 2012 rule y’all get what I’m saying at this point music charts in general don’t hold any weight anymore 🤷🏽♂️ it’s all about gimmicks and who’s popular like I remember when a song organically went #1 now a song can debut at #1 and be gone from the charts entirely in 3-5 weeks 🤡 (Hey Nicki Minaj 😂) it’s ridiculous
You re so right. See its all about stans getting their fave to number one. I dont pay attention to bb, i just listen to music i love
This culture of variant covers seem so bizarre to me. The only version I would buy of an album I love is the one with the main cover. And these "exclusive" bonus tracks are always forgettable anyway, and not really part of the album. I think labels are exploiting fans with this, and I believe almost all of them will regret spending their money on so many versions of the same album.
I think it's fine if it's just like different colours or cover art. like, if I was still buying physical media, I would probably just buy the colour I liked best and wouldn't really feel the need to buy the whole rainbow if the content is the same. I think it's a bit weird when the content itself is just marginally different. like have one standard album and one deluxe one that's a few dollars more with extra content. back in the day, there was taylor swift's fearless, and then the fearless deluxe version with some bonus tracks. that was great. a slightly different cover (just the background was black instead of white, and speak now had the dress be red instead of purple, and if they wanna do a whole new cover for the deluxe, that would be cool too, and having a different name rather than just deluxe is great marketing). but this new having just one extra song on so many different variants feels excessive and kind of overwhelming.
As a vinyl collector myself, I don't really vibe with collecting variants unless they have a good amount of exclusive material and have been released a substantial amount of time AFTER the main album's been released. For example, a deluxe released a year after the main album with several new songs? Sure, if I have the main album already, I'll still consider picking up the deluxe. If we're on some TTPD shenanigans though? Absolutely NOT. Not collecting those variants.
Great video! As a side note though, I kind of hate when someone says “If you don’t like it, don’t buy it, no one’s forcing you, the artist has the right to do what they want”. If you’re writing a video essay it’s important to address those points, but just as a fan, you also have the right to be pissed at that. Just like the artist technically has the right to release all of those, the fans have the right to be upset about it. It’s like how if you express disappointment your favorite artist priced their tickets way higher than most fans can afford even before fees, people will say “They’re allowed to price their stuff how they want”. Yes, that’s true! They are allowed to! I’m also allowed to not like that and not financially support someone who does stuff I don’t like.
this was an excellent video
I feel like the perfect album cycle for me as a consumer is album and a deluxe, +/- remix album. A couple different colour vinyls or cd covers is whatever. Alongside, I feel like we should encourage people to consume practically and consciously, don’t buy more than two variants in colour or content you don’t need it. (I do however strongly believe everyone should collect and listen to cds but that’s just me.)
I've gotten so I don't pre-order for a lot of artists, but especially Taylor Swift. There's just too many variations and it drives me insane when I order an album, then there is a surprise drop. It just feels like I've wasted money.
If I am not there for the initial release of the artist but only got into them or that era later, for me ther eis not a single reason when I listen to or even buy the album to even think about the standard edition if there is a delux or extended at all
The last time I got a deluxe album was the pink Friday Roman reloaded re-up cd because I had too I might buy a standard bow but all these variants together cost about $50 I can’t do that
For me 4 is the maximum for it to be reasonable. An example of a variant album that I don’t mind is Pearl Jam’s ‘No Code’ from 1996. If I remember right there is 4 varients, at least for the CDS. (A ‘C’ version, an ‘O’ version, etc) I think it’s fun and clever, each comes with a different set of Polaroids which makes it worth it to me. But more than 4 is questionable for sure
thinking about fall out boy’s swfs album that allegedly has pete wentz’s tears baked into it
Sure, of course she's gonna blame her daughter for a Taylor Swift addiction lol. I just don't get why so many variants lol. I like to purchase a physical copy as well as a digital copy
Didn’t Billie complain about variants but she made all those
!
Billie was talking about the wasteful impact of variants. All her variants are made from recycled plastic. And in the interview she includes herself as “part of the problem” so to speak. You can look up the interview, if you’d like.
I’m kinda angry cause I got the 4 Tourtured poets departments cd variants cause there were limited songs and then she released them all in deluxe and if I knew that I would’ve only gotten 1
this must be a cultural thing, the US is so shopping-driven. I show my support by listening to the album and appreciating it or not.
I don’t think variants should count, maybe limited to ONE deluxe or variant version.
If you’re creating more variants than that, that should be between you and your fans. Taylor is losing her mind with this shit I’m sorry. It’s absolutely wild.
Not saying she doesn’t have the right to do that, she didn’t make the rules, and I am just using her as an example bc of the OBVIOUS reason. But it’s fucking the charts up to the point the charts are losing any relevance they had left bc it’s completely dominated by like 2 people and 8 songs.
Within kpop, the group EXO in 2013 were the first to break 1 million album sales in 12 years. They did this with 2 base versions of their album (one with the songs in Korean, the other having the same songs but in Mandarin) and 2 deluxe versions (again each in a different language). Aside from avid collectors, the majority of consumers just bought the version of the album which was in the language they preferred to hear. I for example just own the deluxe version in Korean. The group was massively popular at the time, and there wasn't yet a culture around mass buying - previously successful groups would sell around 200k, but none were close to EXO's level of popularity. In Korea a lot of the "Album of the Year" awards are based on album sales (not jury votes), and EXO won these 5 years in a row, including with the first EP to ever sell over a million copies (with just 2 versions, no deluxes).
Then in 2017, 2 things happened. The group Wanna One debuted after being formed on a "survival show" (a competition show to form a new kpop group). That season of the show was huge in Korea and so the group debuted with people already invested, meaning their debut album broke 1 million sales. The second thing was that 2017 was the year BTS really started to hit big internationally, and also hit the million mark.
This then sent the message that if you want to be considered popular, you need to move 1 million units of your album. So fans of all kinds of groups began to mass buy their artists' albums in the same way that they started doing streaming parties. Kpop companies in response started releasing masses of versions of their albums where the only difference is the photos included in the photobook, as well as the randomised photocard that you can get (basically gambling for a piece of plastic). Now groups that would have had 250k pure sales and been respected for it, are called flops and are completely unable to viably compete for awards if they're selling under a million. This has led to several instances of fans having such an excess of albums they bought in order to boost their faves' sales, that they literally start dumping them in the streets. There are groups that cannot sellout their tours moving millions of album units.
All in all, this has meant that kpop album sales now literally mean nothing to me, much like RUclips views on kpop music videos, because they're so severely inflated. Songs and albums with little actual cultural impact now appear to be the most popular releases, compared to a the 2000s and early 2010s when what had the most numbers WAS what everyone knew.
I’m a swiftie who loves collecting, but even I got tired of all the variants by now. Folklore era was fun, all those vinyls were really cute (I only bought I think 3?) and the special edition vinyls were also really cool. Midnights was a bit rubbish, especially because it’s so hard to decide which cd to take to get the most songs physically. For me, ttpd and 1989 were some of the worst ways to treat fans. Releasing versions and then releasing more and more was really frustrating. Especially because you can’t even combine shipping, and it was all being held until release anyways. And the timers never really ran out because it would be “brought back for a limited time”. Meanwhile the things a lot of people really wanted like the cardigan, lover live from Paris vinyl etc are never restocked. It’s become less fun and more clearly about money and that ruins the experience.
This has been happening for a while now, but I think it’s usually a problem when the music actually sells. These artist could release all the variants they want but if no one is buying them, then no one is going to talk about it.
Buying all those variants of Guts just to not listen to them all cause "muh collection" is fucking insane, I do believe in letting people do whatever with their money but people like this is where I kinda draw the line, so stupid. Reminds me of the people buying vinyls but don't even have a vinyl player- bffr.
TTPD would have stayed #1 in the UK without the variants
bu clearly taylor wasn't sure, hence dropping more. you can ride for your fav and acknowledge it's a bad look
@@westworlds I don’t really care and neither does anyone with a life
@@westworlds and she was performing in the UK at the time
Billboard wouldn't move a finger till Bts does something
@@BadaLee-sr5sj lol right, if they wanna talk about lifetime sales, the variants are the same thing but with an album, just a loophole bc of a minor “tweak”, but if you’re counting it towards the same album on the charts, then it IS still that album (not that I disagree, just think it’s should apply w albums too if it’s gonna be a rule)
literally and it frustrates me so much :/
Its so weird that the only artist that sells well is Taylor. Remember 2011, a bunch of different artists of different music styles being successful... what the hell is happening
Taylor's Swift's kind of monopolizing. She's not really that exceptional, she just had a billionaire for a dad who bankrolled her fame by buying major stock in one of the biggest record labels.
If I love a vinyl like gaga joanne or ancient dreams by marina yes ill get two but only play one, one black one coloured
I ONLY have a (offline downloads) playlist which I add 'liked songs' from an album. I NEVER BUY anything cuz most album tracks are skippable sadly. So why waste my money.
Damn maybe you need to listen to better music because I listen to albums all the way through.
The music industry has always been money-hungry and exploitative, that's not new. However, I do think the current business model is more harmful than before. Art has never been this diluted by consumerism. A deluxe album used to be exciting, but now I find myself praying that no more variants come out.
I just want a cohesive start to finish body of work...
Album cycles now thrive on disposable culture: buy, discard, buy, discard; repeat
She has always been like this, anyone remember the Spotify drama?