The Deluxe Album Dilemma

Are Alternate Album Editions a Cash Grab?

Image from Pinterest

Deluxe and alternate editions were once a special treat for the most die-hard fans, offering bonus songs, demos and accompanying interviews or commentary on tracks. They took months if not years to appear, allowing the artist to bring back conversation to old works. Today, in the age of streaming-dominance, things work a little different – deluxe editions now arrive near immediately following the original album release. Are they really there to enhance a listener’s experience or perhaps has the practice become more of profitable ploy extorting loyal fans?

The premise behind deluxe editions is simple – to extend the lifecycle of a release, by reviving hype around pre-existing, well received work. With behind the scenes content, a new shiny cover and a few bonus tracks, the most loyal fans are sure to feel spoiled and invest in these collectibles. 

Streaming, and the abundance of easy to access a huge catalogue of music, made everything about album releases faster, pushing for constant artist engagement due to an algorithm favoring those with frequent releases. Artists trying to maintain their work relevant for longer periods is what lead to an expedited release of deluxe albums to become a new norm in the industry, sometimes resulting in multiple alternate versions hitting the market. 

Streamer fans might not view constant re-releases as something troublesome – after all they are being treated with new content on a regular basis at little to no cost. However, for those consumers who have a soft spot for physical media, this situation brings in an economic dilemma. When the vynil gets made in four different colours, what is the right choice to make as a collector? Are you meant to splash a fortune to have all the variants? K-Pop fan, Nia Tucker, told The Journal, “I know what that feels like: ‘I can’t afford anything … So am I really a fan?”

Ari, a 21 year old music enthusiast, can empathise with Nia. For her 16th birthday, her parents gifted her a vynil player and three of Swift’s records. Today, her vynil collection stands at 60 pressings. “When Taylor Swift announced Midnights..., I pre-ordered a vynil straight away,” she explains. Yet, on release day, the unexpected happened – Swift dropped an extended version – Midnights (3am edition), featuring an extra seven songs not included on the original 13-track-record – just three hours post launch. “As a big time fan, I was kind of disappointed,” Ari recalls. “Like, we had all this new music from her, but most of it woouldn’t be on the vynil I ordered.”

Midnights (3am edition) – nor any of the other two subsequent re-releases – never got a physical version, yet the standard edition was distributed in seven different colours of vynil pressing. “If she ever did release it on vynil, I would of course get it – not so much any other version of Midnights maybe though, those felt a little pointless as they only had one or two new remixes in them.” She added, “Most of the time, it’s only a couple of new tracks, and a lot of different pressing colours...paying over 30 pounds for the majority of the deluxe to be something I already own but in a different colour or with one extra verse to the song, does not seem worth it to me. It starts feeling less like music and more like merch.”

From the perspective of the artist, it is far more profitable to push for physical sales when compared against streams. One million streams on Spotify would only equate to four thousand dollars, based on the Spotify royalty conversion unit of $0.0004 per single stream. With vynil priced at $30, that much can be made with 113 sales. 

Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department: the anthology (deluxe) Cover Art

In hindsight of lower profits, artists are still preferring consumers to stream their music. Taylor Swift didn’t make the extended edition of her 2024 release “The Tortured Poets Department” available on a physical format until 6 months later, despite being available on streaming on the same day as the standard album Why, may you ask? Algorithms and billboard charts. Fan engagement through streams is what boosts artists to the top, ensuring exposure and longevity.

Adding extra tracks can distort the original storytelling of an album. A closing track leaves little impact on the listener if the subsequent track is a dance remix. A deluxe version with only one extra track can leave a fan wondering why that wasn’t included in the original release, yet too many tracks bring the question of why a separate new project wasn’t put out. Are artists trying to leach off the success of pre-existing work rather than risk it being a potentially failed standalone?

So, are deluxe albums all a cash grabs? Whilst the financial incentives for an artist are obvious, a deluxe edition executed right can be a valuable addition for fans. A commendable example of a deluxe done right is Ariana Grande’s ‘eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days’, with six additional tracks available for streamers, and a further three remixes on physical versions. Closing track “hampstead” is just as gut punching as “ordinary things” off the standard edition, making this extension seamless with the rest of the work. 

In other instances, extended publications are a chance for the artist to experiment with their style and test how it is received by fans – taking their feedback on board for future projects. Despite being a on-the-nose monetary practice, deluxe releases are here to stay – however, artists should be held to a high standard when expanding their cherished works and pushing labels to make a more critical judgement of whether an expansion will be valuable fans.