Was the White Album really $35 US or were my eyes playing tricks on me?

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on cd. in the mall...

How can you justify that price on something that has already recouped its production costs many times over?

― Jonathan Williams (ex machina), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 16:01 (twenty-three years ago)

Some working for minimum wage would have to put in 10 hours to buy this album, if you take taxes into account.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 16:06 (twenty-three years ago)

OBVIOUSLY THE SURVIVING BEATLES ARE ALL PLUTOCRATS

I wonder if they know how much a gallon of milk is?

― Jonathan Williams (ex machina), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 16:07 (twenty-three years ago)

why, the ever rising cost of:

- celebrity weddings
- grave tending services
- botox
- sean's trust fund
- hitmen
- moustache wax
- payoffs to jann wenner
- production costs for failed wings boxset
- neverland repairs
- plums, perfume, men's hats
- monkey chow
- beatle boots
- PBS pledge drives
- 12ft lizard dues
- dj clue mixtapes
- funding contras
- remainder pokemon merchandise
- hair plugs
- stationary

― jess (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 16:10 (twenty-three years ago)

ah, but it'd be worth it...

― adam b (adam b), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 16:54 (twenty-three years ago)

I got to borrow it from the rec library for a quid (and taped the best tracks (they sell it for nearly 20 in the shops).

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:12 (twenty-three years ago)

shameless too since i don't think any of the beatles CDs have been remastered. They are still going on the original digital masters. Maybe since the Stones have just released a bunch of remasters, they will finally do the beatles as well...

― g (graysonlane), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:25 (twenty-three years ago)

....in which case they'd use it as an excuse to put up the prices AGAIN.

I've noticed they never seem to discount Beatles albums properly in sales - people are just going to carry on buying them whatever the cost.

― James Ball (James Ball), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Comparison of the going prices for certain 60s and 70s double albums on CD (all prices taken from Amazon):

Bob Dylan - "Blonde on Blonde" - $8.99
Jimi Hendrix - "Electric Ladyland" - $13.99
Rolling Stones - "Exile on Main Street" - $13.99
Capt. Beefheart - "Trout Mask Replica" - $14.99
Beatles - "White Album" - $27.99

Clearly there is something fishy in the state of Denmark.

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Apple refuses to mid-price Beatles CDs, ever. A couple of other bands get this treatment - Pink Floyd, for instance. The preferred solution of most most UK chainstores is to have Beatles albums permanently in the 'sale' section for a fiver off their normal price, i.e. at mid-price. The problem with this is that shops like Fopp which do mid-price CDs cheaply can't sell the Beatles CDs cheaply.

I would actually like a copy of the White Album but not for £20.

― Tom (Groke), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:35 (twenty-three years ago)

What's the total time on the White album, and would it fit on a single CD, like the others that you mention, o.nate?

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Running time: 93:43, so it wouldn't fit on a single CD. That is one justification I guess for a higher price, but twice the price? The price of the CD itself is negligible anyway.

― o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:43 (twenty-three years ago)

just do what i did in college, go to someone's party peruse the cd collection...see anything you like that you won't buy...stuff it in your pants and leave.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:43 (twenty-three years ago)

This is what makes a strong case for pirate copies. ¥

― christoff (christoff), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 17:48 (twenty-three years ago)

i got the lp at a garage sale for $1.

recycle baby!
m.

― msp, Wednesday, 13 November 2002 18:17 (twenty-three years ago)

Exactly - get a used vinyl version, esp. if there's not much difference in the CD mastering. I got my used White Album for about $4 at the Princeton Record Exchange, and it sounds fine.

― mike a (mike a), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 18:48 (twenty-three years ago)

shameless too since i don't think any of the beatles CDs have been remastered.

I believe that Yellow Submarine is the only digitally re-mastered Beatle CD, but I'm not sure.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 18:56 (twenty-three years ago)

...and I'm referring only to the new edition of Yellow Submarine, at that.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 18:57 (twenty-three years ago)

1 was remastered as well.

― Yancey (ystrickler), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 19:00 (twenty-three years ago)

ah, but it'd be worth it...

You would spend 10 hours standing over a deep fryer to listen to "Rocky Raccoon"? Not me.

― Mark (MarkR), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 19:07 (twenty-three years ago)

Apple refuses to mid-price Beatles CDs, ever. A couple of other bands get this treatment - Pink Floyd, for instance.

Tangentially, you can get a bunch of Pink Floyd CDs on the cheap at Chaos Music, here. Many of them are $14.95 Australian = c. $7.17 US. (I've never ordered from them, so I can't vouch for them one way or the other.)

― Phil (phil), Wednesday, 13 November 2002 22:41 (twenty-three years ago)

You would spend 10 hours standing over a deep fryer to listen to "Rocky Raccoon"? Not me.

well, compared to most of the other things a person might choose to spend twenty quid on it's well worth it, but that said, my copy is on a C90 taped off a friend.

― adam b (adam b), Thursday, 14 November 2002 14:52 (twenty-three years ago)

People, people, are we living in the pre-mp3 age?

Mine has half the tracks stripped away and it sounds great.

― Chewshabadoo (Chewshabadoo), Thursday, 14 November 2002 15:14 (twenty-three years ago)

It's been aluded to, but isn't the reason obvious??? It's a DOUBLE ALBUM! Sheesh!

― Aaron W, Thursday, 14 November 2002 16:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Aaron W: This surely part of the reason for the high price. It is only what... 90 minutes? Not much longer than a full CD. It is very cheap to produce CDs. A typical album is like ~60 minutes right? Does 30 extra minutes justify 2x the price of an album -- especially for something sooooo old?

― Jonathan Williams (ex machina), Thursday, 14 November 2002 16:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Sorry... I really don't know what got into me on that last post... it was so ironic that it no longer seemed ironic. How very Gen X of me!!

― Aaron W, Thursday, 14 November 2002 18:22 (twenty-three years ago)

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