The Deluxe CD Package - Will Consumers Buy It?
New York, NY (November 19, 2007) – As sales continue to lag and with no concrete evidence yet that new strategies are working, some labels are going the route of adding extras to pull customers back into stores and keep the registers ringing.
Justin Timberlake will drop "FutureSex/LoveSounds Deluxe Addition" on November 29, and the move is both genius and risky. USA Today did a feature last week on the topic, and while the original album is already nearing quadruple platinum status, sales are finally beginning to trail off after 14 months (no shit) to the point where the label is seeking something to help stem that erosion. The new edition will feature “Until the End of Time” (his duet with Beyoncé), new versions of “SexyBack” and “Sexy Ladies,” along with and a DVD that contains videos for “SexyBack,” “What Goes Around” and “LoveStoned,” plus additional performance footage and various interviews.
"Consumers are getting leery," says Geoff Mayfield, Billboard’s director of charts. "If there’s an expectation that a high-profile artist will re-launch an album later, you’ve given them a reason to think twice" before they buy.
"Consumers would rather have the choice up front," Mayfield says. "In the early ’90s, the enhanced package came out the same day. Then someone got the idea to wait and goose sales later in the album’s trajectory. It does give a second life to an album. But artists need to be careful. Consumers can feel played."
It’s always interesting to hear both sides, so getting some commentary from Timberlake on the topic would be nice. Ultimately, the artist wants to get his or her music to as many people as possible (for money, ego and/or art’s sake, of course), but bringing fans something totally new is obviously always best. I can remember back in the late 80’s and early 90’s when some artists, usually rock acts, would release new albums containing hits from the previous album. Being an organized person, I appreciated the fact labels would give me all the good songs in one spot, but it still never really made sense to have only six new songs on a nine song album.
That aside, though, deluxe additions are not a new trend. This year, they have been seemingly almost everywhere, and not always from the most popular acts. Click here to see some of the notable deluxe addition releases from 2007. The unsigned artist viewpoint on the topic would also make for an interesting read.