Worst Buy: A Rant Against Vendor Exclusive Songs

Its become somewhat common for separate vendors to offer products with slight differences from their competitors. Maybe Kmart will have those exclusive blue Doritos and Wal-Mart won't for whatever reason. When it comes to exclusives in things that matter -- like music -- it can be quite irksome.

Imagine my annoyance when trying to find Blaqk Audio's "Mute" -- a Best Buy exclusive -- on any mp3 sites for purchase. There were four versions of Blaqk Audio's album, CexCells, available when it was released. They are as follows:

1. Best Buy version with the bonus track "Mute"

2. Hot Topic version with exclusive album art and a bonus cover of Blur's "Boys & Girls"

3. iTunes version with the bonus track "Black Electric"

4. Chump edition with no bonus tracks. You can find this edition at any vendor other than the aforementioned.

I have no problem with bonus tracks so long as I can acquire them in mp3 form elsewhere. This, however, proved to be quite the dilemma.

I took it upon myself to find the Best Buy bonus track, but couldn't locate it anywhere online. I could download it for free from any torrent site, but seeing as how I spent money on Miley Cyrus' "Party in the U.S.A." (I know, I know), I felt the need to pay for a song that's actually, you know, credible.

So, I shifted gears and decided to buy the iTunes track. I logged onto iTunes only to find I had to buy the full album to receive the bonus track that goes along with it. Excuse me? You mean I'd have to buy an album I already have in order to access one measly song. Such a situation wouldn't matter to a casual fan of the band, but as an avid fan, it is an immense annoyance to have to purchase 3 separate albums in order to collect 3 different bonus songs.

This is the type of thing that pushes people towards piracy. It's the record companies with their skewed schemes that can drive a person to download illegally, even if they wholly admire a band. I understand that this practice is done in order to gain publicity and advertising with a specific vendor, but if the album was released 3 years ago, shouldn't the exclusivity of these songs be over now that the run of the album's release is all but over? Why continue to splinter a band's fanbase by keeping these songs exclusive?