I don't want to debate the topic, but just to say that the other message you were sending is that the record labels ought not make too many of these sets, since you're contributed nothing to their creation. For me, none of these sets were over-priced on release. And sadly, along with this, the market has turned into a "Limited Edition" nightmare. But if I pay a pirate, then I'm actively supporting an outfit that has little care for what they're producing, and goodness knows where the profit goes, other than knowing it's to China. I'm actively supporting someone who is hurting the industry I rely on, for all its faults. But we all make our own choices. But I don't doubt you got them cheaply, I just wouldn't personally feel good about it.
I understand all of that : I wanted to spend the money with the estate of Bowie, but they saw the fanbase as nothing more than wallets to be dipped into, exploited, and ripped off, that we should be grateful for the opportunity to spend money on overpriced product where we already have 90% of the contents of, and that benefits people that had nothing to do with the creation of the work, and I didn't like that. The Estate has had plenty of my money in the past five years. More than Bowie himself had from me in the last 15 years of his life.
I checked around online, and can't spot this David Bowie 1983-1988 11CD Box being sold "direct" anymore from a major retailer...has this Box technically gone out of print?
Yes, probably the download is still available, but I was referring to the actual 2018 CD Box. If it has completely Sold Out at every major retailer, that happened quicker than I thought it would.
There are things I want that, I can't afford. I could steal them, buy a knock-off version, and so on. But hey, the other option is to simply go without. So I go without some things. If an artist releases a box with things I already have, I move on. Any exclusives are simply things I go without. I feel better about that than handing hard-earned money over the bootleggers in China. But as I say, you do you. Again, I really don't want to debate this. It's something that inflames people and just causes upset. I completely reject your assertions, but it's not something we'll ever agree on, so let's agree to disagree.
I guess the fact that Chinese authorities don't cooperate in this plays a role as well. There is no one to prosecute except for western resellers who can claim they did not notice.
He's dead. "The Estate" is his widow, children, and a business manager or two, probably. What $$ would go to "him" still alive now goes to them. If he didn't want it that way, he had plenty of time to make it not so. He was very much "exploitative" with compilations, b-sides, rarities etc. when he was alive. He also wasn't holding a gun to anybody's head.
The first two Parlophone boxes had electronic books supplied with the download. That practice tragically remains unusual.
They could have stamped out the counterfeits by making these (and all the expensive boxes for all artists) hybrid SACD's. Fans would get something extra and it would stamp out the counterfeiters so would more than pay for itself, it amazes me that the record executives haven't picked up on this!!
You misunderstand! It's not about quality, SACD's cannot be faked at this stage, hence fakes are easily spottable and worthless. Offering HiRez is a nice bonus to buyers but not the reason I'm suggesting these boxes should be SACD.
I see what you mean, but than they have to use a different way of packaging so that you see it on the outside of the webshop before buying. They already made the cd's golden to prevent forgery and that did not work. The only fakes on the market are the simple box types, I think everything other than a cardboard box and paper sleeves is too complex for them to handle. Pink Floyd added marbles to the box for this reason. The long OOP Genesis boxes would seem to be a good target for fakes but no one forged these.
Those Genesis boxes were SACD and sort of back up my point! 99% of the general public are not aware of the gold/silver CD tactic, where as, SACD is a very obvious difference (yes I know 99% of the population don't know or care about SACD but they will check when it is advertised on the packaging). It would advertise SACD on a sticker on the outside of the Box (like the Genesis ones did). Hey presto no more Bowie/Beatles or whoever else counterfeits and the extra manufacturing cost is covered by extra sales! As I say, I am amazed that the, record companies are so down on SACD they don't even want to use it to make more money and stop counterfeits!
The Genesis boxes were big cubes with a holder for the cd's, that is why they were never counterfeited. If they were sold in a small box with SACD in cardboard sleeves, the Chinese would have made copies with standard cd's inside. And they would even print SACD on the box and label, I bet most people won't notice.
To be fair there is a lot less sellers of counterfeit boxes on AliExpress now than there was a few years ago and when they see them they do ban them. The sellers then start up a new storefront. The sellers get around it by being sneaky with their descriptions and they usually manipulate the pictures to hide band logos etc.
Fair enough - but I'd never buy anything from there, period. I'm sorry, their reputation goes before them. I'd rather than a little more and not have to deal with the doubt.
It's far more of a mixed bag than that, I feel... the Serious Moonlight Live show was the best it's ever sounded, in this box! Ditto for the Absolute Beginners soundtrack songs. Whereas the studio albums on it are pretty squashed. Conversely, the 192 kHz version of Five Years suffers from tape oxide shedding and bad digital repairs... and a squashed Aladdin Sane
yeah but I'm in my late 40s and have spent 30 years going to loud concerts. I can't hear the difference. Maybe when I was 16 I might have heard a difference. But I didn't want to then and don't want to now. The incremental and mostly (totally) illusory improvements that require "quality gear" in a totally quiet room negate the whole effing point of pop music. It's not the Royal Philharmonic. It's supposed to be played on crappy radios, in noisy environments, at parties, in your car, in the pub, in a club, on the beach on a crappy boombox, in the background when you are with your girlfriend etc etc...