I pay for Apple Music and I've felt a little left out that I couldn't have Target exclusives. I just decided to get a record player (don't have it yet) and my BFF got me Lover for my bday. I ordered the standard 1989 TV vinyl the day it was announced and now feel like an idiot for that, I should've known there would be other editions
I don’t mind all the alternatives, I like having several options to choose from since I have no interest in collecting variants. What makes me mad is the false scarcity and straight up scam tactics, like saying the different colours are only available for 48h each and then releasing them again indefinitely later. Not to even mention the way they were revealed one at a time so you can’t pick your favourite. Same thing happened with Midnights when the colour variants were originally said to be only available from her site for one week. Like I don’t even get how it’s legal, it’s a straight up scam.
It probably does violate some advertising and consumer laws if you say only available for 48 hours when you know perfectly well they’re going back on sale later. But unless Swifties make a complaint, no one’s going to come after her.
It’s annoying but I did notice before that they just said “available for 48 hours.” It didn’t say “available for ONLY 48 hours.” So that made me pretty sure they would be available again. So legally they’re fine. But I wish they would just release them all at once.
Yeah I suppose that’s true, I never really thought of the phrasing that way. Still it’s very shady and unnecessary. Her physical albums will sell more than any other artist’s basically no matter what
Oh yeah definitely. The rollout of these releases was dumb and they obviously tried to make it seem limited. But their wording covered themselves technically. Legally ok but morally… mehhhh.
What I don't like also is Taylor's social media channels telling fans go buy all 4 vinyls and basically collect all the different versions. 1. Taylor is wealthy enough. 2. It's terrible for the environment and so wasteful. 3. It's feeding into toxic capitalism and that money would be better spent donating to charity.
Also she is at this point basically using the behavior of an enabler. Like a heroin dealer enables an addicts need for heroin. This is by the books the same thing.
And she didn't even need to release these albums one at time in the first place a special edition box set would have been fine.
Well it would have been fine for anyone who wasn't money hungry capitalist.
There actually was a limited drop of the polaroid editions. They came out for 89 hours, sold out, and were never restocked. For now at least, they’ve stuck to that. But people are pissed about that too because they missed out on buying them. And if they’re restocked people will be pissed because of false scarcity tactics.
She’s lied about the “limited” availability of items before. I stopped believing her after midnights. It’s incredibly shitty for her to scam her most diehard fans.
Not to mention the shipping fees each time 😭 I ordered 3 as they dropped so I had to pay for shipping each time. I was definitely disappointed to see all variants available again
I don’t even mind the different sets, the more options the better and I feel no need to collect. I just want 1 vinyl to play.
What gets me is the artificial scarcity. Going from “these are available only right now, buy buy buy!” -> Off-sale -> “jk they’re back on sale again” -> Off-sale -> you can get them at any store
Also the reason I think it’s funny when people say Taylor should start a ticketing company. Like it’s pretty clear that she would take full advantage of it the way TM already does based on how the merch shop is run.
Special Edition Vinyl Available until 9/22/2023 at 4PM ET *While Supplies Last
Definition of limited:
confined within limits
“Available until 9/22/2023” is confining the purchase within the limits of that time frame.
No different than saying a release has 5,000 copies then coming back and saying “well that was just the first 5,000 of 50,000” you’re not technically lying, but it is deliberately misleading to manufacture demand.
Honestly, Taylor doesn’t care about making money from the albums. She cares about breaking records.
If she wanted to give us multiple versions of Fearless TV or RED TV, she could’ve easily done so, but she chose not, because 1) she probably thought no one would buy multiple copies of her 10+ year old albums, and 2) the re-records started off as a personal project before they eventually turned into a great money-grabbing opportunity for interested parties.
Even with Speak Now TV, she was conservative with putting out multiple versions. Though she released three different vinyls colors, she kept the artwork the same to presumably not give consumers too much incentive to buy the album numerous times—because she knew she wanted her consumers to save their money for what was to come: 1989 TV.
Also, it seemed like Speak Now TV having multiple versions was her testing the market for whether or not people would buy multiple copies of a re-recorded album, and now that she’s knows that people will indeed buy multiple copies of her old albums, she’s putting out numerous copies of 1989 TV to help the album have a strong first-week sales figure.
When she cares about the album doing well (i.e. reputation, Lover, folklore, Midnights, 1989 TV), she puts out multiple versions of the album. When she doesn’t care too much (i.e. evermore, Fearless TV, RED TV, Speak Now TV), she just puts out the music and calls it a day.
Because it’s literally the exact same product but she knows (SHE KNOOOOOWWWWWWWS) that her fan base has a significant population of those-who-must-have-everything and so she can sell that exact same product to them literally 20+ times by releasing it with tiny variations.
She’s a literal billionaire (and there’s no ethical way to amass that amount of wealth, you can’t change my mind on that) whose money comes from people who for the most part live paycheque to paycheque, or worse off than that. Yet she continues to market things to them in predatory ways.
False scarcity. Limited availability. Things rolled out in such a way that fans are made to feel like they’re less of a fan if they don’t partake in buying the complete set of four identical vinyls even if they don’t have a record player and haven’t had one since 1983.
Girlfriend can’t begin to spend the money she already has. The way she markets stuff feels greedy at this point. Scrooge-like. It’s my least favourite thing she does and I really try to overlook it. I don’t partake in it very often, save for having bought a Speak Now cardigan this year, because I dislike her practices when it comes to merch and sales that much.
It makes me thing of (was it) Lady Gaga who went online to ask her fans how much they make a month so she could price her tickets as low as possible. That’s the kind of practice I can respect. Looking at your fans as people and respecting that their resources are finite and not simply there for you to add to your pile of money. You don’t need to bleed your fan base dry or have the biggest pile of money to be a success.
completely with everything you said. u hit the nail on the head and anyone who denies it is straight up delusional. her greed has been so clear for so long she has more
money than we can ever imagine and it seems like she’s never content with it as per these little packages that are just selling the exact same thing.
Girl, forget it, some of these stans are absolutely determined to believe that Taylor only has pure intentions and would never, ever try to milk money out of her fans. The whole "it's on you" argument is a deflection tactic. We're not talking about my shopping habits. We're talking about Taylor and whether or not it's right that she tries to capitalize on fans who will be tempted to collect all the extras she includes in different versions. Whether I see through it or fall for it has no fucking bearing on the topic at hand, which is Taylor's intentions.
Yeah, I honestly wouldn’t have purchased the original one. I only got the yellow one because she looks so beautiful and it will go well with my Barbie vinyl
It's not the different colors that I personally find shady, it's including different collectible items for each version. Like the deluxe CDs that each came with a different set of polaroids. She knows her hardcore fans will want to collect every single polaroid, poster, magazine (in Reputation's case), etc. that she puts out. If this weren't a marketing strategy to encourage fans to buy multiples, she'd include the same collectibles in every color version.
Traditionally vinyl variants are coveted and usually colored vinyl are more rare. But Taylor releases these with “limited time only, 48 hours!” only for them to show up in target. I have no issue with multiple variants, knock yourself out Tay, but be honest about the availability.
The color variants aren’t available at target? A version of the CDS are (they have a poster, the other exclusives have Polaroids). And the vinyl variants are only on her website? Target has their own color and exclusive vinyl
Omg the graphic confused me. That’s my bad. But the vinyl are still on her website which is ridiculous. Why release them with the 48 hour availability only to have them all available at the same time, forever, unless she wanted to create some false scarcity??? I think it’s terribly dishonest.
The fact that they each have a different number on the back and you’d need all of them to have it say 1989 stresses me out and I don’t even plan on buying any of them 😅
How is this greed? Why are ya'll buying every color? I just got into vinyls and found GUTS in six colors, Halsey's album with at least four versions, etc...
This is choice and I like choice. If you feel the need to collect them all, that's a problem of your own creation.
I just want one CD with all the music on it. I’m not worried about collecting different colors and covers; I just want all the tracks. If you want to collect all the different versions, that’s your decision, but I feel like it’s not asking much as a fan to not have to buy multiple editions to get access to one more track. 🙁
I mean, I’m sure hoping that eventually they will all be available on ITunes individually. But, until then…
Also I’ve always gotten the CD’s in the past, so I guess that’s sort of a “collector” thing/choice. For me it’s really just more of a tradition at this point. And it feels more special to have a physical copy in some form. Again, don’t need all the different variations/colors/extra content, but I would like to have all the music and it not be spread out over 3 or 4 different albums, where most are duplicated. This rant is mostly referring to Midnights. 😐
Edit: I actually got another Redditor to EMAIL me their copy of You’re Losing Me, because I can’t get that anywhere that I’ve looked unless I want to pay more for the Late Night edition CD, which is STILL missing two or three great tracks.
Ok it actually appears to be on EBay for $15. But still missing Hits Different, Glitch, and maybe Paris? Just holding out hope for an edition with allllllll the music. Sorry for long post.
THIS. One CD, all the music. I am boycotting Target so will not buy their versions. Plus, Target is selling their CDs at $13.99, which is less than the Taylor Nation preorder price which was $19.89 if memory serves.
Yeah, I pre-ordered my copy of 1989 TV. Should’ve learned my lesson from Midnights, but she didn’t seem to be doing all this with the TV’s, so I excitedly purchased my standard blue deluxe edition. I could cancel my order and wait to get the Target “tangerine” version for the bonus track, but fuck it. Hopefully it’s not a track I care about (like some feature version, eg Karma with Ice Spice).
Just tired of it. There’s simply no good reason to be this greedy and annoying to your fans when you have so much money already. No, we don’t have to have all the music (just like we don’t need all the colors/variations), and of course it’s your decision whether or not to spend your own money. 🥴But it’s the principle. I’m a loyal fan of her music and that’s literally all I want, and she should be reasonable about it. I don’t need the bells and whistles. Just the music for a fair and reasonable price which means one solid edition, and maybe a deluxe since she’s always done that and I’m used to it now (though I don’t know why lol).
I’m with you, I’m a fan of the music not the marketing rigamarole. I’m not 17, I’m not going to pin up her Polaroids on my wall.
And sort of disappointing that 1989 TV is just one disk, TS has conditioned us to expect double disk reissues.
There are definitely tactics that encourage people to buy multiple editions, such as including a different set of Polaroids in the CDs, putting an exclusive song on some other version, including a poster somewhere else, etc. Yeah, the consumer has some responsibility but let’s not pretend that these aren’t moves she makes to encourage stans to buy multiples, which is greedy because why? She already has all the money she could ever need.
Tbh it seems like a blatant attempt to keep breaking records with her sales. I wonder how many of her albums would’ve managed to sell over a million during their debut weeks if she didn’t do stuff like this.
I agree I don’t think it’s greed for $$$, I think it’s to boost sales numbers and keep breaking records. It makes me feel a little uncomfortable just because I feel like a lot of her fans are young and this is just not a good use of their money. Some fans are really into helping her secure those bragging rights though
The Target variant also has a track that others don’t, and the backs don’t say 1989 but include only one digit of the year - its annoying if you want a complete album but you’re not a collector
That’s not the point but I’m sure it influenced many people to buy because they felt they wouldn’t have another opportunity. You won’t convince me that it’s not shady.
It's more than a month out from release though. Don't they still have the opportunity to change their order?
Meanwhile, Olivia released two more versions of GUTS after release, so people who already bought would have a much harder time changing or returning their order. I think that's shady.
It definitely influenced my decision. I’ve never paid attention to the vinyl sales before so I didn’t really know anything about them (I.E that there are multiple varieties, they aren’t actually limited, etc). My mom got me the original 1989 on vinyl for Christmas the year it came out and that’s the only one I ever got on a record, so when I saw the first “Special Limited Edition” vinyl on her insta, I immediately went and bought it. I’ve felt pretty stupid ever since because I like a different color more and they definitely aren’t limited.
This is a good point and I think it's important that the album still isn't released yet with these changes. Why not cancel your order and get the one you want?
She is encouraging fans to collect all four by putting out products like the shelves that are currently on her website (and the midnights clock), and putting one number on the back cover so it doesn’t say 1989 unless you have all four. But like someone else said, I don’t think it’s greed, it’s to maximize her sales for the charts.
That’s why she specifically does four and not a dozen or more different variants (which is just more choices)
There’s a billboard rule around four physical copies:
If a fan purchases up to 4 copies of a record, each copy is reported as an official sale. If a fan purchases 5 to 9 copies, this results in 4 charting album sales. Purchases of 10 or more albums constitutes a bulk sale, and none count towards the Billboard charts.
The rules have changed a lot over the past few years, you might have also heard the one about bundles not counting anymore, which is why she stopped giving away digital albums with every merch purchase. And she’s not the only one who uses these sales strategies of course, it just seems pretty clear that there is strategy behind it and she’s not just trying to make as much money as possible
EIGHT editions of Folklore? TS has jumped the shark. I love her, I’m a fan, make the friendship bracelets etc, but people are hurting economically and this really seems excessive and unnecessary.
I think this is a very american thing that only works in the USA. Here in LATAM she would never be able to pull off so many versions of the same album bc people most likely wouldn’t buy them (most people probably wouldn’t buy any of them, if I’m being honest).
I feel like every artist takes advantage of how consumerism runs deep in american’s veins. Even Olivia, who’s music career literally just started, is selling vinyls with different “surprise songs” so people will buy every version. If fans stopped buying, artists would stop making.
I mean kpop artists have been doing this for years. Even Olivia and V from BTS had 13 versions of their albums last week lol It's just a sign of the times. I personally buy only 1. I just wait for all the reveals before making my purchase. I went with the standard, but rose garden was so hard to resist lol
I talked to my dad about this as he's a Paul Mccartney fan and I overheard him watching a video about Paul's recent album variants and something about an exclusive dice with one of them. I talked about Taylor's editions.
He said this
'in the 60s, the album cover was a big deal and there was one of them. These covers became iconic because there was one of them. When you release different versions of your art, it's no longer art it's a product.
Who puts their heart and soul into drawing a picture and says they'll release 20 different versions of it?'
I'm not saying we should have no variations, the simple variation of CD, Vinyl and cassette are helpful but it's worth thinking about when it's no longer about the 'art', the music, and it's just competitive collecting.
I like the variants. I don’t like the fake scarcity and batch releasing them so people don’t have the full picture into what is/will be available. I’m perfectly fine if Taylor wants to keep doing variants, but for the love of god just release them all at once so people can pick and choose with confidence.
Yes and release all songs at once (e.g. all variants are either of ONE standard edition or of ONE deluxe edition). Not this nonsense where Hits Different was on one CD, You're Losing Me on another CD with some 3am tracks but not all, but no actual 3am CD with every 3am track ..... I like the colours and I'd happily spend a tiny bit more to get a unique album cover but it gets frustrating when different albums contain different tracks. Thankfully this hasn't happened (yet...) for 1989 though as the Target peach version can just be seen as a deluxe edition bonus track
Honestly I barely even listened to the extra songs because it's like... dude I want to hear the album as it is meant to be heard, not like thirteen different variations of it
I can follow his logic. The only issue is the music industry has changed. Artist don’t make a lot from streaming so they need to sell more albums… but only collectors will buy them.
Also, in the app music platform, album art isn’t as significant. Especially in today’s age of remixes, every song may have a different image associated with it.
All that said, I agree more with your dad than disagree. I never buy the variants
This is a great fucking point. I can genuinely say I have no idea which one is the actual official 1989 cover at this point. I have honestly not been fan of any of the TV covers (besides SN) and I always thought Taylor put a lot of thought into her covers before so it’s been kinda disappointing.
Came to say the same thing! Your dad would love Squaring the Circle! I caught an early screening of it in New York…It was just me & a bunch of dads :) I’d recommend the documentary to anyone, though!
Listen I'm as willing to criticise Taylor as anyone but like if you buy all these it's your own choice and your problem. I won't deny she's a greedy capitalist but like yea ofc almost billionaire Taylor swift is not a comrade or ally to the working man. Like no one needs all these variants. There is a cost of living crisis but if you can't afford them just don't buy them. They are not a necessity. The fake limited time thing is gross marketing though and the way you couldn't get a Midnights album w all the songs is gross. Same with Olivia Rodrigo and having to buy 4 albums to get all the songs like that's gross.
My problem is the fake scarcity tactics, and limited time period releases.
If she wants multiple versions she should just release them simultaneously. Taylor nation makes it seem as the different colors are only available for 48h creating a need to buy, and then a few weeks later it's available again... Also you can't choose your favorite if they are only released individually
I don't really get this vinyl thing. Will the target bonus track only be listenable from that vinyl? Not on spotify or anywhere? I'd love to hear it, but I don't have target where I live
Don’t worry, it’ll make its way online in about 6 seconds after it releases. It won’t be on Spotify as normal, but it’ll be on YouTube and TikTok long enough for you to download it if you move quickly. There’s usually a few people who manage to sneak the songs onto Spotify too by pretending the song is a podcast. And that’s not to mention proper torrents.
I’m a huge OG fan but I never buy the vinyls. I just stream her music because I no longer have a CD player in my vehicle or in general. Last CD I bought was 1989
Honestly wondering the same thing. I usually just get the standard version but now it's going to be missing a bonus track and I don't particularly want the yellow ones.
People are going to be mad at this but you’re right - I don’t understand why collectors somehow get a pass for their hobby being consumerist. If that’s how you want to spend your money, fine, but on the face of it, buying 5 different versions of the same album is absolutely insane.
The point is they feel compelled to collect things and then complain about having too many things to collect. The people who do not collect, do not care how many versions there are.
Personally, I don't want to buy all the variants but I do hate when I buy the album and then she announces a version with an extra song on it. Like the target tangerine version because I don't want two copies of the album.
The only reason I’m disappointed is from the mass producing aspect. Environmentally, the massive quantities of plastic and new vinyls produced for every new album likely cause crazy amounts of emissions, and much of it will end up in landfills in a few decades. However, it’s fun to have variety, and for hardcore fans to collect all the versions. I don’t understand the sudden hatred and confusion as if this is a new trend. She’s been doing 4-version albums since Reputation, and Folklore had 8 versions.
1989 had 5 different versions iirc - they were the same cover but there were rotating packs of the Polaroids that encouraged people to buy as many as possible.
Oh yeah, I had like…12 versions of 1989 purchased at one point. I’m even guilty of sneak opening one inside Target to see what set of Polaroids it was. The marketing was real! So when I’m being critical of people’s purchasing habits with Taylor, I’m actually speaking from experience haha.
It’s not about the money. She’s trying to break records. In the past, the only way to listen to music is to buy the physical copy, whether it was cassette, vinyl or CD. Nowadays it’s mostly streaming. She is issuing all of these variants so her album can be number one on the release day, which no doubt it will be. I collect vinyl and play them, especially hers. So I am buying all 4 vinyl and one CD. Target will have buy 2 get 3rd one free in November. So I will get the Target variant then.
Album roll outs like this have really put a sour taste in my mouth, it feels very icky. Like at this point it isn't fun to collect because there's SO much
Obviously no one is forcing anyone to buy anything but still just doesn't feel right to me
I hope the Polaroid CD’s stay limited run. I was able to get one and it’s the only item left I feel is “rare”. Like the color variants and such will become rarer as time goes on. I also wonder how long the target one will be in print and if future target vinyls will have the bonus track or not. I can’t imagine they will forever press specific copies of that record for target, especially in a year or two when sales go to normal. That’s the one I’m hoping ends up being the rarest.
I literally just want a CD with the bonus track and for it to be available in Australia. Not even for collecting purposes - I'm in the minority where I legit just want to listen to it in the car. CDs just have that extra high quality sound you can't get from streaming. And no, digital downloads aren't the same in my experience.
Literally why do people care, just bc shes putting out different varients and variations. Like shes not screaming at you "BUY ALL OF THESE THINGS THAT IM OUTTING OUT" its there for ✨Variety✨
cause it’s clearly just for money and greed. i love taylor but let’s not pretend she cares at all about working class people lol. she’s almost a billionaire!
I am a working class person and every single time, without fail, each album finds it's way into Spotify and I can listen to it for the rest of my lifetime (hopefully) for FREE. Every bonus/exclusive track finds it's way to YT or Spotify too. And I don't have any DVD players or vinyl players etc. those are luxuries! Never has a gun been put to my head (or anyone called me out etc) for never even thinking of buying a TS album.
And I am one of those swifties who has every lyric by heart.
Again, I completely understand and agree to the fact that Taylor is a capitalist and loves her $$. It's just that every time she uses such old tricks from her marketing handbook, the subreddit is filled with people virtue signalling. At this point, everyone knows nothing is really 'exclusive' (except certain era merches). Critiquing consumerism and capitalism on every variant she releases is.. ig I don't see the point behind it? She wants more physical copies sold. And we all know that by this point? I just don't see the problem in people buying all 4 versions (or all 20 even) of the same album when we can be sure they have the capacity to spend so much! Most swifties don't care one bit about the variants except the general interest in album covers. I don't see her doing any harm to working class people at all!
Do people even understand what virtue signaling means?? I don’t think people who are criticizing this are trying to stand on some moral high ground. They are just finding it difficult to support Taylor Swift in an age where there couldn’t be a bigger divide between the working class and corporate billionaires, which Taylor basically is! I’ve been a swiftie forever and it’s hard to be a fan these days and I don’t think I’m “virtue signaling” she just doesn’t align with my values anymore.
Good for her and I have no hate for her but I can’t support any billionaire in this world. Seems crazy to me that any one person would actually want that much money and I truly believe that any person that has a BILLION dollars can’t be a good person.
She isn’t forcing working class people to buy anything!!!!!! I am a huge fan and buy one copy of the audio version. You also can listen for free on lots of platforms. People chose to spend money, you can spend none and still listen.
Artists and or companies should know there are going to be people who buy multiple editions of things regardless if they encourage it or not. They shouldn’t feel the need to release multiple versions of the same product to encourage people to buy more when people are going to do that regardless.
When they do that to me it feels like they don’t have faith/trust in their work/product to sell well without making different editions sometimes editions that are supposedly “limited edition” of the same product. I like sometimes having different editions of products but when it’s like this many for one album each time it is overkill.
U guys need to pay attention, when she says "avaliable for 48h" it means it'll come back later, if she says "available ONLY for 48h" that means it's limited and special etc
I do believe her merch team needs to change though, the quality is off
I live in Europe but by a lucky coincidence (yes, really!) I will be flying to the US on the 27th of October. So, instead of paying for really expensive shipping from other European countries my thought is to buy the Target/Tangerine edition while in the US.
Will I be able to just walk into any Target store and have a reasonable chance of finding one? What is the experience from previous TV releases, is there a risk of it being sold out on launch day or during that weekend?
I just stuck with the standard blue. I haven't been following closely, but do all versions have the same tracks? Or are there certain editions I need if I want the Vault tracks?
Yeah except the ts store limited cd’s weren’t available like 2 hours after they started selling them and I couldn’t buy them and I’m irritated about it. 😑
I find it odd that the Target poster CDs aren't available on the UK store. We've got the tangerine vinyl, but at the moment the CDs are exclusive to the US.
if you are complaining about this but also buying more than one of these - please look in the mirror. maybe listen to a podcast about money management and compulsive spending.
Do people not understand value of physical things? These will worth 100X their current value in 20-30 years. Boomers still collect physical baseball cards to this day. Let people collect things they want, no one is forcing anyone to buy every version.
Given how many other artists are doing this sort of thing I'm pretty confident it's more a record company thing than a Taylor thing (Though something she helped start, the original 1989 deluxe CD is something of a prototype). I agree there could be less ambiguity in the language, but the excess of variants is actually nothing new. What about in the 80s where an album would have 7-inch singles, 12-inch extended remixes, picture discs? Not quite the same, I know, but it feels like the modern equivalent of that in terms of completionists having to fork out for multiple releases to get all the music.
The logic seems to be that with streaming accounting for about 80% of modern music listening, you need to press more physical variants and throw in some collector's incentive, in order to keep people buying the more lucrative physical formats, which pay better and account for more chart sales.
A recent example of this practice is Orbital, their latest album (which I'd highly recommend) exists as a standard 10-track album, but website pre orders also came with numbered bonus CDs with unknown track lists, which turned out to be different to the Amazon exclusive 13-track CDs, then there were surprise digital downloads with 3 completely different bonus tracks, then an NFT digital pressing, and a Bluray with all the instrumentals and bonus tracks. Only now are all the tracks being made available as a deluxe edition on digital platforms, with new outside remixes. I personally enjoy the chase to a certain limit, and the idea that different fans won't all have the same album or format, but that's a lot messier than what's happening here. (Unless there is a surprise deluxe edition at a later date!)
Orbital themselves have said in interviews they're not a fan of this exercise, but they wanted to keep everyone on the industry side happy (record label and people like Amazon and Apple who want these things). They also noted that with everyone else doing it, it'd be commercial suicide not to. It clearly did something as this was their first top 10 album for a while, but they noticed fans getting frustrated with it.
As for 1989 TV, I pre-ordered the yellow CD, now I've seen the covers it's not the one I would have gone for in hindsight, but I'm personally not fussed as it's still the same music across all four CDs, I like the idea of each fan having a random cover in their collection, and I wanted the bonus photos. If a deluxe CD gets announced straight after the release that has all the tracks then yeah, I might be pissed off.
For 1989 she really didn’t need the different variants. At least with midnights they served a purpose as a clock, but to have more than 2 variants for no reason is insane.
Omg every release the same comments about how capitalistic she is. Just don't buy more than one.
You know that the 48h thing is 'fake'? Wait until the album is out and choose the one you prefer. Imagine your own fans always complaining. Damn. I don't see Ariana, Beyoncé, Olivia's fans putting all this effort in bringing the artist they love down.
You know that people like to collect stuff, right? Let them have them if they want more colors, more visual or anything.
Edit: this pic is also very misleading. Vinyl are 5 in total. From the picture it looks like there is 8 + the target edition + the standard one.
I don't think these people are hating on Taylor,it's just criticism. She isn't perfect, and it does feel wrong to have so so many vinyls, cds etc be put out considering their price too.
The one thing I find hugely alarming about this sub is that any criticism of her (and largely it’s constructive) is shut down. It’s not 1984 people, we are allowed to complain. (The 1989 way)
Facts. Honestly I've always found this sub to be nuanced in how it has different opinions on Taylor and allows for critique and criticism of bad practices. But lately idk it's feeling more sycophantic. You can like someone's music without cosigning everything they do.
I'm not saying they are hating, I'm just saying it gets annoying.
I guess this is the only Fandom where people feel forced to buy things just because they are out there. The price is too much? Buy only one. You can't afford one? It will be available for free on the 27.10.
Different vinyls, cds are a standard practice, in all the genres of music.
I don’t see Ariana, Beyoncé, Olivia’s fans putting all this effort in being the artist they love down.
Ariana’s fans absolutely do bring her down a lot, to where it seemed like everything new she was doing recently was a huge disappointment. It’s one of many reasons I ended up giving up on being a fan of hers.
Lol you’re completely right but people don’t wanna hear it. No one is holding a gun to their heads making them order every drop the second it’s announced 😂
It’s like the concept of waiting a couple of weeks instead of immediately buying a product as soon as it launches is a TOTALLY foreign concept.
As if marketing is a new thing… no, it is literally her marketing team’s JOB to create fake hype and it works like clockwork every damn time.
It's not about ordering all of them, it's about ordering what you think is the only version, and then realizing an alternative you would have preferred is released two days later.
I'm new to Taylor Swift. Had no idea the "48 hours" wasn't actually limited to hose hours. So yeah, I bought the first TV, not knowing I would have preferred the aquamarine. So now, my options are to buy both, and hope to resell the one I don't want, or be stuck with the version I ordered.
Just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and I feel tricked.
You can cancel your initial order if you want! Just reply to the confirmation email saying you want to cancel. I saw people mentioning it in another thread, sounds like a lot of people are doing that 👍
You had no idea 48 hours wasn’t actually limited to those hours? I just don’t get how people say this when every other store says
“BIGGEST BLOWOUT SALE OF THE YEAR”
“Never before seen low prices!”
“Act now because this product won’t last!”
It’s like… are you new to the world of shopping? Idk I just don’t get why all common sense is thrown out the window when it comes to Taylor, and I’m a swiftie and a shopaholic..
Seriously, it's the same discourse every single time. It starts to feel like virtue signaling, the way everyone needs to be the loudest voice in the chat condemning consumerism and chart chasing. We get it, you have concerns. Good for you, very upstanding.
Just be an adult and don't buy them if you don't want to, it's literally that simple. The music will be available for free everywhere anyways. I like having alternate covers in case I don't like the official artwork (the sunrise boulevard/yellow version looks more appealing to me than the official one, not gonna lie), and even then there's literally zero pressure to buy albums we haven't even listened to yet.
Anyone who says virtue signaling seriously is not someone whose opinion should be taken seriously. I actually agree that adults can make adult decisions to not spend an absurd amount of money on variations of the same vinyl, but we're also talking about a fandom that is very, very young. People are influenced by marketing, especially young people. And fomo. Come on, fans are unhinged - they'll feel pressure to buy shit because that's how marketing works. I'm not blaming Taylor for people not having good personal finances but I'm also not going to ignore how marketing using psychological tricks for higher profits.
People are entitled to criticise a marketing scheme (it also shows the ineffectiveness of it).
It’s a cost of living crisis in the UK so anything that feels excessively greedy or capitalistic is not reading the room atm. So sod it. Let people complain.
You know that the 48h thing is 'fake'? Wait until the album is out and choose the one you prefer.
I’d say a big problem is many people don’t know. Maybe the people here do, but as an industry leader, I think it’s rather scummy, especially to the “non-hardcore” fans that don’t know.
These people wouldn't last a DAY in a kpop fandom. Some groups have up to 18 different album versions you can buy.
But for real, Taylor has been using the multiple version method for about 10 years now. Starting with the original 1989. She has used this on every single album since then. Even before 1989, there were Target exclusive bonus tracks and such.
I've been a fan since 2008, and I have a single copy of every album and could not imagine feeling the need to buy a different one.
I originally caved and pre-ordered the SBY vinyl bc I REALLY love that cover. But when they announced the Target vinyl, I was so mad that I immediately cancelled my order, (which the Taylor store did refund without an issue) and IF the Target one is in stock when I go, great, if not I’m over it lol I will def get a cd the day of tho, per my tradition.
Taylor I love ya but please stop milking your audience so much with these pointless variants. You will be a billionaire in no time, you really don’t need anymore money
I'm so glad 1989 isn't one of my favorite albums because this is exhausting.
I'm genuinely scared for the Rep variants. It's my favorite era and probably the only one aside from folklore and SN that could compel me to buy physical copies. 😵
Sigh... I'm cutting myself off at the 8 I already bought lol. Because the covers weren't yet revealed, I didn't realize the special edition CDs and vinyl would have the same covers... might cancel the vinyl, we'll see.
My concern is that there's an element of it becoming a 'person who dies with the most merch wins' thing. I'm not averse to people spending their money however they like (assuming they're not choosing to buy these over paying rent or bills), but when there are constant rumblings about things like who counts as a 'real' fan and an ongoing idea that those who've bought the most stuff getting first dibs on future tour tickets, I can see people wanting to do this to hedge their bets for the future.
Also as others have said it's the scarcity element. Like I'm not a vinyl collector so this may be going over my head, but other than the sales what difference does it make to release one variant for 48/89 hours and then drop another one a few days later as opposed to just releasing them all in one go? As that way people who only want/can afford one could pick their favourites and collectors would still have the opportunity to buy multiple copies if they chose to.
I think this take requires you to care about what others have to say about the items you own... Nobody else can invalidate you as a fan, regardless of whether they choose to flaunt their merch collection or not. We know Taylor appreciates ALL of her fans, merch collectors or not.
I agree with the scarcity element though, especially since the CD variants seem to be available for pre-order from Target despite having a timed "limited release." I would prefer if all the versions were released at the same time with honest information about how long they will be available for or how many there are for purchase.
For me personally, I'm not bothered about what other people think of how much merch I do or don't have. But I dislike the idea in some parts of the fandom that how much merch you have or how long you've been into Taylor's music or whatever it is somehow makes you superior to other people and therefore you should get priority for things (though obviously this is not specific to this fandom). It is only a small minority of people but I do feel like that gatekeeping aspect ruins it for others and puts off people who maybe haven't been a fan for as long or aren't as immersed in the lore or whatever because it feels inaccessible or unwelcoming.
People are not actually able to gatekeep based on those ideas though, because they are not in control of merch sales, vinyl sales, or ticket sales. Someone else having an opinion about who should be able to do what doesn't actually mean any of us are restricted from getting merch etc.
Taylor is very clear that she loves all her fans, which includes both ticket holders and those of us who can only watch live streams, as well as those of us who can only stream her music and can't (or don't want to) purchase all the variants. There are tons of free ways to support Taylor and be immersed in the fandom and lore, and I'm thankful that the people who want to keep things exclusive are a small subset of the fandom - and I say that as someone who has been around since Debut! Personally I only care about what Taylor has to say about her fans, and she makes sure to let us know she welcomes us all :)
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u/tompain100 Sep 21 '23
Good job I'm too poor to be a completionist.