The deluxe edition of Amy Winehouse's album Back to Black has sold 650,000 copies
When did you last go into a record shop, or wherever you bought your CDs before the advent of the digital download, and, well, buy a CD? If you're one of the zillions who have apparently abandoned the so-called "physical" format, it's probably been a while. People like you make industry types wince, not least because they suspect that a lot of you are downloading music illegally.
What the business wants more than almost anything else in these end-of-CD times is for music fans to see the compact disc as worth buying again. To which end, the gargantuan Universal group thinks it has the answer: deluxe editions of big new albums.
The way it will work is that albums by its major acts (eg Killers, U2, Keane) will be released in 'standard' and 'deluxe' versions, with the latter costing more and coming festooned with twinkly add-ons like exclusive tracks, prettier packaging and links to 'secret' sections of the artist's website. The hoped-for result is that the fan will think he/she is getting something special and part with the extra cash rather than go for the cheaper option (which is so cheap that chart albums can be had for £5-£6) or, worse, download the thing for free.
The absolute best-case scenario is that buying CDs will become fashionable again; teenagers who assume that recorded music is free will be lured in by all these extra features and next year's Glastonbury will cost £2.50 a ticket (free milk included).
There's a kind of method to this madness. The deluxe edition of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, released last Christmas, has sold 650,000 copies despite being around £5 more than the original and is still in the chart, while the standard version has dropped out of the Top 75.
Take That's special edition of Beautiful World (featuring a DVD with videos and interviews) sold 400,000 copies, which is pretty impressive considering that it didn't come out till the regular one had sold over 1.5 million. But that's the power of Take That, I suppose - if you really love Gary and co, you won't mind buying the same album twice. (I'm assuming that only confirmed fans bought the expensive one, because Take That aren't the kind of boys you might throw into your basket on spec while shopping for your Nick Cave and Fleet Foxes, are they?)
But will it stop the rot and make CDs valuable again? Valuable to people, that is, outside the category of super-fans who'll pay extra just for collectibility's sake? If it makes the Universal execs happy, I'll admit to being interested in the idea. The only time I buy CDs is as gifts for other people, and I'd probably spend more on something that would make the giftee slavishly grateful. Or rather, even more slavishly grateful. But will it tempt you back into the record shop?
