Who's Not Able To Afford $100 Plus Boxsets?

Dude you have taken the words out of my mouth. You buy the stuff listening once maybe twice then stored it.
Or even better a digital file stored on the pc....or Spotify.

 

Because of illegal downloaders and streamers, fewer people are buying physical media.
Which means the price of physical media has to go up so the company can make some money on the deal.
Us honest folks have to pay because so many deem music worthless thanks to illegal downloading and the entitled masses.

 

I know a number of upper class people, and they are generally happier than normal people. I've noticed they have a lot of stainless steel appliances, but not many box sets.

 

the only logic I have whenever I buy these things, is that some people who can afford it or not don't think twice about spending anywhere from $100 to $200 a month on cable, my household included (and it isn't for me, I dont watch much TV).

If it seems worth it to me, I'll buy it.

OTOH, the Basement Tapes isn't worth it to me because it is the one era I hardly ever listen to. If it was Blood on the Tracks, I would drop the cash without blinking.

 

Good advice that I should start trying to apply.

 

My kids are six and nine. The way I look at it, they've got a bajillion birthdays and Christmases left. I'll bet they can't even remember what I got them last year. I'm not getting any younger, so I owe to myself to pick up these box sets. Besides, it's entirely possible that my children may become Bob Dylan and Lou Reed enthusiasts like they ought to. So buying these sets is sort of like an investment, like braces or college.

 

if i dont buy other things i can get most of them...but i collect godzilla/star wars 12" figures...blu-ray movies and movie collectors editions....video games and video game collectors editions.

i have my hand in 4 pies so to speak.

and the fact that the music ones can simply be downloaded for free makes them lose priority.

 

I had a buddy who collected pies but his doctor told him to stop.

 

Kids are terrible, I was one of them. My parents went broke buying us gifts, yet one of the few I remember was because I disliked it and made a big fuss. The heck with kids!

 

wow... I have a different outlook on kids... I'm like "I can spend this money on a collectible box set or buy groceries, clothes, books and gifts for them....i got enough music to last three lifetimes and most of these boxes are just reissue repackage tacky badge sort of stuff... heck maybe if i don't spend too much on this sort of stuff (including high priced concert tickets) i can actually afford to have another kid!"

not a hard choice..and its not like i don't spend money on music.. today i bought 30 cds for like $30... but some of them are worth some money and i will have to unload them...

 

If it's Bolan, I gotta have it.

http://www.myplaydirect.com/t-rex

Darryl

 

Check Import CDs for a more realistic price, it will go up after release.

 

I like to tell my kids that groceries and clothes are gifts - wrap 'em in old newspapers if I have to. Anything to keep myself in box sets.

 

I can afford 'em, I just get mad at myself if I think I'll buy them to listen to 1-3 times over a 5 year period. Then I feel like I just wasted a ton of money that could go to something I actually use everyday. Like new gear

 

Thank heavens! I thought it might be something worse.

 

There are a few box sets I would like. I would usually just go an get it on or around release day. Since it is getting close to my birthday and Christmas, I let my wife know. We will see what happens in December.

 

I can afford it, I just don't pay it. Because I've realized that, in years and years of box set/ remaster/reissue releases, one thing ALWAYS hold true- the initial demand drops, and then so does the price. If you can exercise some patience, you will eventually get the release you want at YOUR price, and only you can decide YOUR price. It's very simple, and this is the theory I now operate under: I ask myself this question: Do I NEED to have this today? If the answer is no (and it ALWAYS is), then I wait it out. It does, and it will pay off. I get positive reinforcement every time I buy a box set at steep discounts from initial pricing. So be patient, and you will get what you want eventually, and by the time you find it at YOUR price, you might not even want it anymore, so you really win.

 

What a way to lump illegal downloaders and music-loving, paying customers together. Then implying they are a dishonest, entitled mass two sentences later. Do not agree.

 

With my wife no longer working and my own income down, our income is down a full third from what it was a decade ago, while our cost of living is up significantly. Needless to say I don't buy many exorbitant boxed sets.

 

I just took the plunge into box sets...The previous few years I was saving up for guitars....so all things considered...the records (box sets) are cheaper.

most LPs cost $30 now anyway....to get a nice book...maybe 4 records or more...a CD set, and a nice book etc....I don't really have a problem with most of these in terms of price point...as long as the music sounds good and the book is nice)

I'd said in the Zeppelin threads...I've been a huge fan of the band for 30 years....I do own nice copies of all the original albums (not first pressings) but you know...copies bought in the mid 80's etc...I do have a few of my dad's old ones....and I bought the greyish brown CD box set some 20 years back...but it's not like I have picked these up 10 times....3 times in my life I don't really consider overkill (although I do own about 10 copies of In Through The Outdoor...but I love the cover art for that one and it's fun to have multiples of them all)

for me to drop $80-110 for a super deluxe box version of these Zeppelin records...yeah it's a maybe unnecessary....it is a little expensive for my budget, might be a bit overkill with basically 3 versions of the records in the box.
BUT: Zeppelin has given me thousands of hours of listening joy...so I splurged and I will get them all...and it will be the corner stone to my Zeppelin collection.....when I open it...it's like this little magical world....so the boxes to me are like the tomes that contain these epic records...the "vaults"

the other box I picked up was the Beatles mono. I only owned 2 records from the Beatles on vinyl (Abbey, and Peppers) and had CDs of maybe 5 others...so this box was an ultimate jumping in/on point...I feel like my timing and luck were perfect for getting this box. and I love it. And I feel the same way about the mono box...it's like a gift from the gods....to be that close to the original recordings is such a magical experience, so much incredible music...I was more than happy to support such an amazing and important project~!

The other I have is Jimi Hendrix West Coast Seattle Boy...it's awesome and I love it and would for sure consider more Hendrix box sets.

pick what you love or want to immerse yourself in...and save up....as others pointed out these boxes won't vanish...some do go up in value on the secondary market but most can be found for about the original price or a bit less or more.

all that said....I think the labels are biting the hand that feeds them and a lot of these boxes that seem to be getting announced daily...are starting to collapse in on themselves...it's starting to be overkill and I think a lot of people are going to stop buying them./

and yes space storing them is an issue for me!!

 

I thing what he was saying was that because of illegal downloaders, paying customers are being charged more and it's not fair to us. He wasn't lumping both groups together. I think this view, while there's some truth to it, is giving the expensive box producers too much of a free pass. I find it really distasteful when a lot of the time it just seems like they're trying to wring every last cent out of collectors, often by really cynical methods. I mean stuff like that Dylan Telltale Signs edition that had like one extra CD, but the cost to get it (over the regular ed.) was like $100. For a CD!! And maybe a book or something. I know there are less people paying for music these days, but it would seem like a better business plan to try to give better value and boost sales overall, not abuse the biggest fans and price things totally out of range for most people who otherwise might want to buy it. Especially when in most cases the music was already recorded and production costs are minimal, FFS.

It's not a new thing, either. I remember being shocked at Miles' On the Corner Box being like $130 CDN, and seeing them sit in stores. This was almost ten years ago. Kept thinking how they'd probably sell 5-10 times more if they cut the price by 40-50%, but no. Oh, Sony.

It's not even just the majors, Slint's Spiderland box was $140 or so, for basically some extra demos and a documentary alongside an album that I bought ages ago for $12. I don't begrudge them the money at all, but it seems like overkill.

I guess I can buy the big boxes sometimes, but a lot of them are just not great value at all. Especially if you've already bought some or all of what's on it before. But put together a good package, with good value (by making it really high-quality sound and/or worthwhile unreleased material) and I'm all over it. I actually really love buying records, it's just that a lot of the time the labels make it kind of hard for me to do it. [/rant]

****I also have to mention since I kind of slagged it, I actually do find Dylan's The Bootleg Series to be decent value in general, I have a ton of them and they're great. It's just that one always stuck in my mind as being really egregious.

 

They're going to keep jacking you on these boxes until you stop buying them! You know that, right?

 

I can't afford them and hardly have time to play them yet keep buying them. Oh well.