I’ve got a super idea! Instead of limited edition vinyl and other little gimmicks to try to save record stores, would it be possible for record labels to stop trying dodgy fanbase-milking crap like the “2.0″ re-release of Atreyu’s most recent album Lead Sails Paper Anchor. Pretty please?
This sort of thing is hardly new to the music business, as evidenced by every re-release with one or two additional tracks the major labels have thrown into the marketplace the last few years, but has anyone stopped to think that when a fan has to consider purchasing a new (full-priced, natch) version of an album they already bought to get one new track, two covers and a bunch of Web-linked video they might not be thrilled with the industry? Of course, this Atreyu disc is different than all the other stone-milking efforts. The bassist takes you on a video field trip to his favorite comic book store! The singer takes ju-jitsu lessons! Sign me up for two!
In switching to Roadrunner, Atreyu may just have found the one label more eager to bleed its “indie” status dry than Victory Records.
Releases like this is why p2p/filesharing is so popular.
“I already bought this album once, I can either pay $17 to get 1 new song, or hop on any number of places to get the song for free.”