Inspires by Taylor Swift’s The Life Of A Showgirl and it’s 14 variants comes my newest question. Multiple answers are provided so choose the ones that match most! Imagine this question applies to your favorite artists.
ehhhhh i buy whichever one speaks to me the most, either through alternate covers or vinyl variants. any content i may miss will be available through other channels typically, so whichever one presses the dumb consumerist buttons in my brain the hardest wins
I can’t answer the poll because I really decide this case by case.
If any I would need the option “I buy the Version that comes with a poster” 
The same as Missa, I buy whatever speaks to me at any given moment. Sometimes it’s the normal version, sometimes it’s the version with extra tracks. I’ve long since accepted that I never bother watching any DVDs that come with albums (even if they have music videos) so I usually don’t get those 
I’ll usually buy the most expensive one. I’m very selective in what I purchase so when I do, I make sure to splurge on it.
I saw that recently, and it gave me flashbacks to the Type A–E and Type A–K single releases that were around in VK roughly a decade ago. I used to prioritize the regular or Type B releases to get all (or most) of the tracks, which gradually turned into purchasing all the types. Over the past few years, I can count on two hands the number of ‘new’ releases I’ve bought physically. Nowadays I rely almost entirely on streaming with the exception of physical-only, live-limited, fanclub, etc. Second-hand it’s pretty common to see all the types bundled together for a listing, so I naturally grab all of them.
My priority when buying an album or single is the one with all the songs. If the single has different versions in each version, I have to buy the different versions. If there’s a regular and limited edition and they only differ in the DVD version, I buy the DVD version. But if they’re like the GazettE and the “CD-only” version has more tracks, then buy the CD-only version. I’m also very interested in DVDs that contain live shows, and I also buy them. What I’m not interested in is simple DVDs that contain MVs.
the only instance I bought two versions of the same single was with
as I bought them in a set of four CDs and I also had the benefit of getting two bonus tracks in one. beside marblehead which were an obvious special case with me I usually try to go for a get one release of every band you care for and stay with it approach.
CDs just are too expensive to get constantly bought in big amounts with the malicious amount of extra cost for international shipping.
Top priority: Vinyl
Second priority: Buy CD if it’s a must have release, preferably with a DVD.
If neither is available: Stream, or maybe buy in person next time I’m over there.
For any DVD or Blu-Ray packages, I prioritize the ones with live footage. I don’t care much for the MV versions so I may skip it unless it has other items such as a photobook or poster.
Next priority, the package that has the most tracks or instrumentals. These are usually on the regular or lesser editions. They rarely sell out that fast so I deprioritize them compared to the other editions. Depending on the artist, I may pick up the package with a live recording if for some reason it isn’t already part of the blu-ray/live edition
So if for reason Edition A contain a blu-ray with live footage, Edition B contains the MV + live recordings and regular edition contains instrumentals, I would pick up all three.
I generally just stream, but if for some reason the tracks aren’t available on streaming:
I go for the version with the most tracks (although I haven’t seen that much recently)
If there’s a DVD, I pick the one with live footage
But mostly I only buy brand new CDs when it’s a live-only release or there are instores, in which case i usually have to buy the limited edition copy.
For everything else i’ll just wait for it to pop up on mercari.
Is something like that still a thing? I thought it pretty much died out and nowaydays DVDs contain most of the time either live footage or behind the scenes stuff.
I mostly just stream, I don’t buy CDs that often (to which I then rarely listen to, because I, well, stream ). I would buy more, but I don’t order anything from Japan or USA anymore (too many bad experiences, probably just bad luck, but nevertheless). I’ll always prefer the ones with DVD or Blu-Ray even though I don’t have a device at the moment to play them 
I would love to buy other merch, but there is not much offer in Europe.
When I was more into collecting CDs, it really just depended on the artist. For some, I tried to collect everything.
Vinyl is a bit different. Here it usually comes down to the cover art or the color/version of the vinyl itself. I just preordered the 50th anni edition of A Night at the Opera by Queen, just because the vinyl is clear, even though I already have it in black
For bigger artists, it can be quite difficult to collect all the vinyl variants, since some are unique and sell out in the blink of an eye. Others are only released for special events, like Record Store Day.
damn of course taylor swift of all people would show this amount of greed.
Swift is not the only one - it is quite common these days to release many versions of the same album, that includes vinyl variants.
it is so funny how pop artist who really are the last people who need that normalise this bullshit practice now where the Japanese slowly move away from it.
Yeah, true. Definitely not just pop artists. Coheed does this a bunch, even with their graphic novel special edition variants. Some people in that fandom dropped a few thousand dollars USD on their Backerkit campaign a couple years ago, just so they could own every single variant.
Vinyl is the only medium I’ll make an effort to buy anymore.
I learned that, in the end extra tracks are usually always better for me than a DVD edition since I might just watch it once. Unless it has a PV that I really adore.
But it depends on the release for me. Usually I’ll stick to the variant I think looks the best. If it’s something I really like, I might double dip into extra variants. If there aren’t too many different versions and if they aren’t all too expensive, then I might try and get them all. But I’ve only done this for a handful of releases.
One of them being GosT’s Behemoth. I freaking love this album. I got the splatter, the blue reissue, the red reissue, and test press. I completed my set with a glow-in-the-dark variant soon after I took this picture.
I feel like big music labels nowadays are essentially taking the mobile game approach to the vinyl market. While the whales that invest the maximum amount of money into variant collection aren’t the standard representation of people who buy records, they must be plentiful enough to make the absurdity profitable.
