Death Of A Polaroid

[starstruck]

Originally Posted by Stillborn Christ

You really think so?

With the multiple format options both physically and digitally of the last few releases I see them as totally that. Especially for a band that is so in touch with their fans.

They're big enough to say no to all of this.

i did say at face value. milking the fans by saying "it is what they want" is a nice way of cashing in without overtly saying "give us money please".

[Stillborn Christ]

Originally Posted by starstruck

i did say at face value. milking the fans by saying "it is what they want" is a nice way of cashing in without overtly saying "give us money please".

Do you think Nicky Wire looked at that lipstick and mirror in the £165 box set and thought 'it's what they want'.

[Heart2Heart]

Originally Posted by starstruck

you mean restricts them further than Sony do?

Of course. Sponsors want to control image. That means interviews that are canned and more pressure to produce hits than they already have.

[Manic Street Mike]

I know they're not exactly struggling for cash and never will be, but with the upcoming break and James's child on its way, it's more understandable if still rather annoying.

[cricri]

I honestly don't get it. Once again, if people want to buy overpriced stuff, it's their choice. Yeah, right, you could say that it's not that easy when you aren't given great options, but there's always a 3d choice: just don't buy anything at all. I still haven't bought any of this new stuff, or made any preorder because I just don't give a damn about greatest hits and stuff. I think I could be described as a Nicky fangirl, but I'm definitely not losing my sleep over this overpriced book edition. I'm buying the 30pounds one and I'll be happy with that, without thinking ''Wire, you cash whore!''

[Manic Street Mike]

Originally Posted by cricri

I honestly don't get it. Once again, if people want to buy overpriced stuff, it's their choice. Yeah, right, you could say that it's not that easy when you aren't given great options, but there's always a 3d choice: just don't buy anything at all. I still haven't bought any of this new stuff, or made any preorder because I just don't give a damn about greatest hits and stuff. I think I could be described as a Nicky fangirl, but I'm definitely not losing my sleep over this overpriced book edition. I'm buying the 30pounds one and I'll be happy with that, without thinking ''Wire, you cash whore!''

Hear, hear.

I'm really not bothered about getting Forever Delayed beyond the DVD, for instance - I probably will eventually when I've got everything else, but that's my choice.

National Treasures isn't overpriced - the box set is, and yeah that's a rip off, but the album itself is a decent price, as is the book, which will need to reclaim publication costs, and let's face it, not many people are going to buy it.

[stegmastino]

Dear The Buckle,
I did a thread about this book a few days ago.

I also gave in it the news about the HMV exclusive, while the superlimited is reasonably described in the rough trade website (as already pointed out by L.A.M.F.). It should weight between 2,5 and 3 kilos.

What remains unclear is if (or NOT) the mounted polaroid included in the superlimited will be, a different one for each copy, one of those used in the book or not.

If you want news about the already deleted versions of Cummins photobook and more you might check
http://steg-speakerscorner.blogspot.com/ and look for the post illustrated by the MSP Zippo.


Cheers.

Steg

[starstruck]

Originally Posted by Stillborn Christ

Do you think Nicky Wire looked at that lipstick and mirror in the £165 box set and thought 'it's what they want'.

yes i do, otherwise why include it? that's not the handiwork of some fucker in the marketing department. sourcing the cheap contents probably was, but including them has Nicky Wire written all over it.

Originally Posted by cricri

I honestly don't get it. Once again, if people want to buy overpriced stuff, it's their choice. Yeah, right, you could say that it's not that easy when you aren't given great options, but there's always a 3d choice: just don't buy anything at all. I still haven't bought any of this new stuff, or made any preorder because I just don't give a damn about greatest hits and stuff. I think I could be described as a Nicky fangirl, but I'm definitely not losing my sleep over this overpriced book edition. I'm buying the 30pounds one and I'll be happy with that, without thinking ''Wire, you cash whore!''

i agree entirely with this and all other comments to this effect. it just gets a bit tiring when there's a band you want to support and they keep dishing things like this up. i don't see why they could not have produced, for instance, a full singles box, stuck a copy of this in, charged somewhere around 200 for it - those who could afford it would have bought it without much quarrel or complaint.

[Bathtub]

"Cloth bound" editions are one of the biggest swindles in publishing and have been for years, but the publishers know how much people fetishise them. To stick on an extra £270 for a new cover and a "personal polaroid" is a bit jaw dropping.

Obviously you can "just not buy it", but that doesn't mean you can't be affronted. I blame Faber, who presumably know that the standard edition is fairly expensive to produce and of pretty niche interest, and so have kncoked up the special editions to enlarge their profit slightly. But then fair enough, they're a company who has to make money in tough times for the industry.

[cricri]

Originally Posted by Bathtub

"Cloth bound" editions are one of the biggest swindles in publishing and have been for years, but the publishers know how much people fetishise them. To stick on an extra �0„5270 for a new cover and a "personal polaroid" is a bit jaw dropping.

Obviously you can "just not buy it", but that doesn't mean you can't be affronted. I blame Faber, who presumably know that the standard edition is fairly expensive to produce and of pretty niche interest, and so have kncoked up the special editions to enlarge their profit slightly. But then fair enough, they're a company who has to make money in tough times for the industry.

I guess that people are entitled to feel affronted or whatever they want to feel like, but it doesn't mean that I have to feel sad/angry/sorry for what they're going through, because, once again, it's their choice. I don't complain on what I can't afford, I just don't think about it and carry on with my life.
I've read a lot of posts on FB of people who are buying the limited ed book, and believe me, none of those comments belonged to affronted people, they were pretty happy with their purchase. All the nasty comments belonged to people who can't afford it.
It has to mean something, hasn't it?

[Bathtub]

Originally Posted by cricri

I guess that people are entitled to feel affronted or whatever they want to feel like, but it doesn't mean that I have to feel sad/angry/sorry for what they're going through, because, once again, it's their choice. I don't complain on what I can't afford, I just don't think about it and carry on with my life.
I've read a lot of posts on FB of people who are buying the limited ed book, and believe me, none of those comments belonged to affronted people, they were pretty happy with their purchase. All the nasty comments belonged to people who can't afford it.
It has to mean something, hasn't it?

Fair points.

From my point of view, regardless of the rights and wrongs (if there are any) of releasing this kind of thing, it's about bang for your buck, and I just don't know how anyone could be happy with what they're getting for £300. Obviously some people do because they're buying it, so that's just personal opinion.

I'm not against lavish and pricey special edition DVD's/Cd's/Books/vinyl etc altogether or think it implies selling out, but I do think that if you are going to shaft the fans financially at least give them a happy ending and make it worth their money from the content point of view, as some artists do.

[Takk]

Originally Posted by cricri

I've read a lot of posts on FB of people who are buying the limited ed book, and believe me, none of those comments belonged to affronted people, they were pretty happy with their purchase. All the nasty comments belonged to people who can't afford it.
It has to mean something, hasn't it?

Well, if you have lots of money, i guess it being expensive doesn't matter then? Maybe if they bumped up the gig price to 100 pounds or charged you to look at pictures of nicky?

[cricri]

I've paid 80 euros for the R.E.M. gig at the Arena of Verona, so it's kinda closed. And in the summer of 2008 I followed R.E.M. up and down my country for 5 gigs and spent nearly 500euros in less than one month. I see what you mean, but the thing isn't different for me. If I can do it, then I do it. If I can't, then why complaining about it? I have more important things to complain about, like the fact that I can't afford a better university but most of my friends do.
No, being able to spend 500euros, which I had been saving for like a year, on gigs, doesn't mean that I can afford to pay twenty times more for the uni.

[cricri]

As for Nicky pics...ah, shit, isn't it going to happen, is it?
Never mind, I'll turn into a Jamesy girl. Jamesy pics are still available for free, right?

[Takk]

My point is just, if you know you have a captive audience of collectors you can charge what you like...but if you have some kind of ethics/appreciation of your fans, then you don't need to rip them off....Especially when other bands do so much more for so much less (see sigur ros box set for new film, includes loads of unique stuff and is not 300 pounds).