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Monday, June 2, 2008

Adventures in Getting Scammed by Interscope Records


It just so happens that I recently celebrated a birthday. It was good, thank you for asking. Anyway, I was given the soundtrack to Across the Universe, a movie which is much loved here at the Musically Inclined. Upon first glance all appeared to be well, I conquered the shrink wrap in record time, only to remark how odd it was that "Hold Me Tight" wasn't included. Okay, 1 song. I was still stoked but all of a sudden the euphoria settled and my wits returned. Also absent from the 16 track disc were "I Want You (She's so Heavy)," "Dear Prudence," "Girl," and "All You Need is Love," which is nothing short of ridiculous given it's the tag line of the movie.

At that point I figured something was rotten. Amazon.com confirmed by suspicions, not to mention a good dozen angry product comments on the site. Here's the deal. Interscope Records released said soundtrack in September of last year when the movie came out. You've got to know that anyone who wants the soundtrack has got to love the movie pretty well and there's a good chance there's a healthy dose of fanaticism thrown in the mix too. Less than a month later, Interscope released the Deluxe Edition-- 2 discs, 29 tracks, and for only $2 more. Unhappiness ensued. Opened cds can't be returned. Either you can spend another $14 for a cd that has 16 songs you already have, or you can suck it up and try to use Garageband to record off Youtube clips.

We got burned, folks. I don't mind that there's a 31 song edition available exclusively from Best Buy and iTunes...it's just 2 songs extra to download from iTunes,if you feel so compelled, but using a ploy like that crosses the line from sneaky marketing antics to dishonesty at the expense of people who found something in this rash of mind-numbing, Will Ferrell- infested, soul-killing movies that was worth owning. Interscope has earned itself a spot on The Musically Inclined S*#% List. Keep your eyes peeled, kids. This shan't happen to TMI again.

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