Things that annoy me, Vol 1: When companies try to get me to pay twice for something.

Hi,

Did I lose you guys with the two consecutive weeks of American Idol posts? I promise that won't happen again. Let me try to get you back with ranting about something that irks me.

I don't like it when people try to get me to pay twice for the same thing. Here are some examples:

Deluxe CD's: Beyonce has just released a "Deluxe" version of her B'Day CD which i believe features videos and a new duet with Shakira. Now, if you've been holding off on buying the CD, this is good for you. However, if you are a rabid Beyonce fan, you probably already bought the CD and now you you have to buy it again just to get this song. Because you will have to have that song.

So far, I think this is only the second time this has happened (I believe Usher did it a year or two back) but it's got to stop. But it's not as bad as when...

Bands put out more than one "Greatest Hits" CD: Now, I'm not talking about Elton John, Red Hot Chili Peppers or Billy Joel. If your career is vast enough that you can fill up two or more Greatest Hits collections with COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SONGS ON EACH ONE, then more power to you.

But take,for instance, Van Halen. In 1996 they came out with "The Best of Van Halen, Volume 1". Only 17 songs. No Janie's Crying, no Hot for Teacher. But, at the time, I thought that might be coming in a volume 2. It wasn't. Instead, in 2004, we get a two disc set that includes all of the hits from the first disc (minus the originals they did with David Lee Roth for that compilation) plus all the other songs that should have been included the first time around. So, again, fans who bought the first Greatest Hits had to but this double disc to get all the songs they missed.

And VH isn't the only one. Rick Springfield has about 5 greatest hits CD's. Bruce Springsteen has a Greatest hits and a three disc "Essential" set, even my beloved R.E.M. got the act, with a compilation last year that covered a lot of the same ground that their 1987 album Eponymus. Each time this happens the new CD has one or two different songs to make rabid fans pick up the disc.

Special Deluxe Edition Anniversary DVD's: This is how it happens. They release the DVD of a movie. Then, a year later, a version with bells and whistles. Then, some time later, another edition with even more bells and whistles. Then several years later, they come out with an anniversary edition with even more bells and whistles. Why don't they put all the bells and whistles on the first DVD? Because then people wouldn't buy five copies of the same movie on DVD.

Magazines with "special collectors edition covers": Variant covers used to be just a problem with comic books. Now magazines (and sometimes books) feature them as well. I think they do this for two reasons. For people who have to collect every issue of the magazine and to fool the not-so-observant into buying the same magazine twice. It's not so bad when it's like the most recent Entertainment Weekly where they had the three stars of the Harry Potter films on the variant covers. If you told someone to pick up the EW with the Harry Potter star on it, you'd most likely get only one issue. However, the most recent Comics Buyers Guide has two covers, one with "300" on it, one with Spider-Man. Luckily, I get mine through subscription, so I know I got this month's issue. But that could fool people who buy it on the newsstand, say, if they bought the 300 one and several weeks later came in and bought the Spider-Man one thinking it was next months issue.

 

Why do companies do this? To make as much money as they can. Why am I so annoyed by this? Because  I am the sucker who falls for this over and over. I have both VH CD's, both R.E.M. CD's and three different versions of Reservoir Dogs on DVD. I can't help myself. I am a completeist.  

What does everyone else think?

Bill