BostonHerald.com - Music: Beefed-up CD re-releases have some fans burning

Bruce Springsteen rsquo;s ldquo;We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions rdquo; came out in April as a DualDisc (one side a CD, the other a DVD). In October it appeared again in a new ldquo;American Land Edition, rdquo; that included five additional songs on a CD, and four additional performances on a separate DVD. ldquo;Labels traditionally repackage albums to capitalize on the holiday shopping season or to goose sales of initially underperforming product, rdquo; said Doug Brod, executive editor of Spin magazine.

ldquo;It rsquo;s almost as if die-hards are being penalized for buying a CD fresh out of the box. rdquo;

This holiday season, Neil Young fans have felt that sting, too. His May release, ldquo;Living With War, rdquo; reappeared last week in a more costly, limited-edition version titled ldquo;Living With War - Raw.

rdquo; Along with a DVD, fans get stripped-down versions of the first CD, with louder guitars and without the 100-person choir heard on the original CD. Young says it rsquo;s the better of the two.

John Blout, who plays guitar in the Boston-based band Watts and owns some 2,000 CDs, says this limited-edition gambit has made him rethink his buying practices.

Brod and Dreese agree that record labels need to find a way to make the initial investment by fans an act that is valued, and not simply a one-time opportunity to make a sale. The most obvious means to this end is via the Web. ldquo;One thing labels could do is offer the additional material free - either online or as a bonus disc - to fans after they send in some kind of proof of purchase, rdquo; Brod suggested.

In most cases, the additional material is available for purchase through iTunes or other online stores. And there rsquo;s potential for music to progress to a status similar to software, where upgrades would make extra tracks available for free to confirmed customers.