Why So Many Box Sets?

Great post, agree close to 100%. As to the critical mass point, as one who has bi*ched repeatly about the surround mixes
couldn't they just extend the run on this non-vinyl or cd part of the process? A DVD/BRay standalone, even shoved into a
a cheap case and retailed for $30-40 would have extracted a lot of purchases from me, especially for things I
don't "have to have".

 

I sold most of my Deluxe Album boxes.

 

You have to milk the cow before all the milk drinkers die.

 

Because people will spend their money on them. If they were not making money, they would not make anymore box sets.

 

Well, you're making my case for me. YOU don't want the surround, I don't want the hi-res. But, the only way to get the Peanut Butter Cup, is to get it with the chocolate, AND the peanut butter. That's just how the sausage gets made. I'm willing to pay for both, because the one feature means enough for me, because I've already got a stereo mix I'm perfectly satisfied with, and don't need another one.

I have a car to get me to the store, so I don't need a Lexus, just to fit into the same parking spot.

On the other hand, I could certainly use that Alan Parsons Quad mix of Dark Side, without prying it out of a hundred-dollar box that's only increased in value with no increase in benefit. In this case, the four channels are quite superior to the 5.1 channels...it's all about what goes into the channels.

 

Fair point but 30 years ago it was more of a novelty. Go to the record store in 90-91 and you'll see Zeppelin and maybe Queensryche's Operation Livecrime.

Now everyone and their grandma has a box set.

 

Did you rip them first...?

 

Very true (I'm the surround guy BTW lol) Reviews here are great value, heads up to @mark winstanley and @riskylogic.
My point was I'd take a risk for $30 or so, but not for $150 or so, to find the surround mix had only used the
extra channels for "ambiance" or crowd noises. And with some exceptions, I'm more likely to play outtakes or
alternate mixes once, unless they are (to me) outstanding. So I find many mixed media boxsets irritating. IMO of course.

Edit: Also appreciate that many love the books, posters, etc. and whatever else they enhance with. but often it's just read/looked at, and gets filed with the container for me.

 

Your analogy seems more accurate than mine.

 

I used to gobble these up, but no more. My wallet and my shelf space need a rest. The only boxes I buy any more are those by Los Beatles.

 

Trying to milk that cow while she stills has something left. Now is the best time to it, especially with Covid around.

 

Whenever I can, the CD's in jewel cases come out of the box, and into the drawer cabinet. The surround discs have different shelves for that, depending on Dolby,SACD or DVD-A-or-V (the Blu-ray Audios end up on yet another shelf, often mixed with a small collection of 3D Blu-rays).

The boxes alone go at the top of the shelves. Unless it's Zappa, Beatles or Guess-Who, which have their own shelves.

This is one of the reasons I started my NAS server project. Just walking around the "library" for the music, tuckers me out!

 

We know that CDs are going the way of the dodo??

 

I have a ton... but it's easy to be humorously cynical about it. It is a new marketing paradigm; The Kinks' 50th Anniversary box sets with CD's, outtakes, 21st Century remixes, vinyl LP replicas, 45 rpm single replicas, in-depth books, etc., etc. It offers the buyer a different kind of pleasure experience. Or maybe it offers the obsessive music fan a different kind of consumer experience. Hard to judge, but it definitely transcends music.

 

LOL, you're WAY more organized than me. My phyical media's not bad, although I just inherited a bunch of vinyl
and cds that got wildly disorganized on their way, and it's on mt To Do list to sort. My digital collection is.. well
scattered over numerous hdds, duplicates in different resolutions (sometime mislabelled) 5.1 mixes unidentified, etc.
I'm a slob. My grade 5 teacher told my Mum, "He's very bright, but he's lazy" LOL

 

When you move into a new house, you usually only get one shot at getting it right. Because once you're in there, and the nic-nacks start appearing on surfaces and the party invitations go out...you've lost all control of further planning.

 

Well I have a huge CD box set collection mostly from the 90s and into the 2000s. Tons of jazz sets and a plethora of whacky box sets designed and released by Rhino and so many other labels. Virtually every major league artist has a collective box set out on CD . The Virgin Mega Store and Tower in my town had shelves full of them

 

Could you fit anymore metaphors into the post? Peanut butter, chocolate, sausages, cars, parking.

 

I have no space in the "library" for any more box sets...all I have room left for are metaphors.


And, maybe some cabinet space for the similes...
(the analogies have to go into the shed out back...)

 

I like PB, chocolate, and sausages. I have no interest in any of them being combined.

 

When the boomers die, so goes the box sets.

 

With all the inheritances, a whole new market who can afford them is created

 

Currently addicted to the Esoteric/Cherry Red/Grapefruit clamshell boxes.

 

In the Seventies Frank Zappa tried for years to get a nine-album box set of unreleased Mothers stuff put out, only to be told it was commercially impossible. Times have changed.