I am all for bringing back physical media. If you are paying for something, you should own the actual item. However, I find that the recent trend of releasing multiple versions of the same album with little to no difference is utterly wasteful. This practice is overconsumptionism at its finest and is bad for consumers and the environment alike, as any unsold copies are likely headed straight to the landfill.
There is a difference between releasing multiple copies of the same album at the same time and rereleasing an older album. Oftentimes, an album is rereleased when a band or singer is celebrating an anniversary or reaching a milestone. These rereleases usually happen many years after it was originally published, and help draw in new fans while regaining the interest of older ones. The same cannot be said when an artist releases multiple variants of the same album all at the same time. For example, Taylor Swift’s most recent album, The Life of a Showgirl, has 11 CD versions and 8 vinyl ones. Additionally, there are 5 digital download versions. Why does anyone need 5 digital versions of the same album?
Swift is not alone in this practice. Lady Gaga released multiple alternative covers for the vinyls of her album MAYHEM. However, the only difference between each variant is the art itself. Meaning fans could simply choose which cover spoke to them without sacrificing any songs.
The only reason Taylor Swift released different “bonus” tracks on each version is to create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) and encourage her fans to buy more copies. This benefits her financially and inflates the number of copies sold, making the album appear more popular.
An artist who truly cares about getting their work into the hands of their fans would release all the songs together. No one needs 20 copies of the same album, and owning them does not make you more of a fan. Fans can’t listen to all those copies at once, so all those extras are just sitting around, taking up space and collecting dust.
