I have been struggling for a while with a question that I need your opinion about…
Many artists and labels release their music in a fast pace, often with a very limited physical release edition. The physical releases are often sold out on the day they are officially released – because of informed fans pre-ordering. At other times, they are sold out when I publish my recommendation – because of the delay. There’s always a pile of music to be listened to so, by definition, I’m lagging behind…
I’m afraid tha in most times, only the digital edition (download, streaming) remains available by the time a blogpost is published…
That is no problem for me, personally: I play 95% of my music digitally and have become somewhat ‘detached’ from collecting physical releases. As long as a (hi-res) digital release is available, it’s fine with me.
But I also know that most music lovers are avid collectors, and definitely want to own physical editions to hold in their hands, Vinyl, CD, DVD, Cassette, USB or whatever physical format is thinkable.
So, the question is
Is there any use in publishing recommendations when the physical edition has already sold out?
Until now, Ambientblog’s policy is to publish a recommendation even after the title has sold out immediately – if a digital release is also available. The music rules, not the medium.
But doubt grows – do you, the reader, become frustrated reading about a release you want to check but that has already sold out? Does that even matter to you?
Or do you still like to read about it to check out the digital stream or download, or maybe take notice for when you might find it later in a second-hand shop or on Discogs?
I’m interested in your opinion, so I would be happy if you take a minute to fill in the polls below.
If you want to leave any other remarks, you can of course use the comment section below this post.
Loading ... Loading ... Loading ...Thanks for your input!
[edit 29-01]
Thank you all for taking the time to react and let me know what you think about this issue.
I think it is clear that most readers still like to read about an album even if the physical edition is sold out. So I will continue to do so.
It is a bit of a relief to know this, so thanks! I will still try to keep up and not get tóó far behind.
BTW – polls will remain open, so you can still add your opinion about this if you didn’t do so already.
I am all about the physical releases. My collection keeps growing. But yes I agree, any review is great even if physical edition is sold out. I’ve found more and more artists that I like just be these reviews alone.
I agree with Gosh Snobo. I’d rather hear about a Kleefstra/Bakker/Kleefstra issue that has sold out than not hear about it at all.
On a separate matter, I wonder if some folks are buying multiple copies of physical releases knowing they can sell them later at a premium. Well, c’est la vie, I suppose.
I think you should not worry (if the physical release is sold out) for many reasons. Even as I personally prefer physical editions (for the carefully selected music that I have become attached to), I can see that there will be more and more digital releases, or respectively more people who, like you, switch to digital. Maybe even I will do it myself one day. And then, there is still Discogs and other possibilities for hunting the physical thing in case one is really eager to get hold of it…
And finally, your words and recommendations can be useful in helping discover the artist in general, so even if that particular release you’re writing about is gone, there might be others.
The release notifications of labels and artists are far ahead of reviews and it happens a lot that the physical copy is sold out on the same day. That is more frustrating then a review on ambientblog which I think is a channel for discovery of interesting music…whether or not a physical copy is available.