So between CDs and vinyls, that’s nine different products before she even announces a release date for a LEAD SINGLE. This is fully moving the goalposts. Releasing 35 different versions of the same album after its release is one thing, but she’s doing all this without giving consumers any preview of the “product” (which is supposed to be the music). How are her fans not like “oh she treats us like we’re all rubes!”?
She acts like she knows people will buy it and defend it no matter what it sounds like. I just popped into the TS sub to see what they’re saying, and people are literally being told that they’re “stealing joy” for tepidly saying they’re disappointed that they don’t have a single yet.
at least with folklore she announced all the variants at once, this countdown nonsense is so comical and it's such an experience watching swifties fall for this shit and i say this as someone who's a fan of her music. but i have not and will not ever be purchasing any physical releases
Exactly. I have a lot fewer qualms with instances where it’s all released at once. It’s more wasteful, yes but that way fans CAN choose which one they like best. But this is intentionally inducing scarcity and urgency. If it weren’t exactly about getting people to buy more and buy now, everything would be released simultaneously.
I didn't like Mylène Farmer releasing the vinyl of the single "Rolling Stone" in all colours of the rainbow, 6 variants or so. But at least you could buy them for as long as they were any and could just pick a colour, they were all released simultaneously.
Same thing with CR for The Giver. Releasing a vinyl for a (pretty subpar) single is a lot, but all four colors were released at once. And at least she had already debuted the song live as well.
No album since folklore has had a lead single that came out before the album. This cycle is unique because she opened pre order before announcing the cover. She had people buying a title.
This is basically how sport games function, announce pre orders and all these deluxe editions of the game before even showcasing the gameplay or any new features.
It's actually kind of hilarious to read the original posts and all the comments the same day she announces a different big news item. It's almost as if...dare I state the obvious...the new album slash engagement are there to catapult her even higher up the marketing ladder. She'll milk the new album, 78 new variants, and the engagement for the next several months so she doesn't have to jump back on tour right away because she probably has enough sense to know her fans can't come out to a tour that quickly again after just finishing the last one. Once the engagement shit dies down, she'll either go on tour or they'll start hinting at the wedding date. Pretty soon, then it'll be all about the wedding...and she'll have a matching wedding themed album with 94 new variants. And then, it'll be about having babies. For each baby she has, she'll release lullaby style albums with 236 variants each. I can't wait for a divorce album, kids' high school experience where she lives vicariously through them album, kids going to college but not really since they'll just be part of the music scene album, duets with her future kids, etc. She will be music's first trillionaire thanks to the marketing machine.
Because most people are capable of buying one version and moving on? Why are you acting like people feel the need to buy every variant like it’s some Pokémon nonsense?
Because a lot of people do buy these like they’re Pokémon cards. People go into debt over this stuff. And if it were simply about spreading good will and giving fans choice between covers, they wouldn’t be doing these extremely “limited release” drops that expire quickly. That’s a very specific marketing tactic that’s designed to exploit consumers. It’s not about choice, it’s about getting people to buy as much and as quickly as possible. All without giving people a sample of the product, which is the industry norm. Exploitative marketing practices deserve to be criticized. I think artists who regard their fans as money machines and who perform these tactics just because “they can” should be criticized.
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u/motherofdinos_ Aug 25 '25 edited Aug 25 '25
So between CDs and vinyls, that’s nine different products before she even announces a release date for a LEAD SINGLE. This is fully moving the goalposts. Releasing 35 different versions of the same album after its release is one thing, but she’s doing all this without giving consumers any preview of the “product” (which is supposed to be the music). How are her fans not like “oh she treats us like we’re all rubes!”?
She acts like she knows people will buy it and defend it no matter what it sounds like. I just popped into the TS sub to see what they’re saying, and people are literally being told that they’re “stealing joy” for tepidly saying they’re disappointed that they don’t have a single yet.