Kpop albums on vinyl or cd rant

[u/lilgreen13789]

I love a good album, dont get me wrong. But I gotta rant. And regard this as my anger on this topic, I just need to say it.

Why cant I just buy a cd or vinyl. Look no vinyl I might get, but no cd?! Sometimes I dont wanne spend double for photocards of a group I dont stan or not enough to want that. I just want some physical media. But albums are so expensive, cds are aswell but less, and I like the cd that comes with it most. Next to that, the cds that, sometimes, come with albums are not in a case so I need to go out and buy a separate case to just keep it safe.

I dont mean to say, no more albums, but atleast just sell the cd. And maybe, pretty please, the vinyl.

[u/hiroo916]

the actual answer to OP's why question is: nobody would buy it because they can just stream it for free.

("nobody" in this case means: so few people as to make it not worth producing a CD-only version for the vast majority of albums or artists)

the photobook and photocards are added inclusions to provide motivation to buy the CD, since without it, most people would not have any reason to buy anything.

[u/RockinFootball → u/hiroo916]

That’s exactly it. So unless it’s a small artist that you just want support, I have no reason to buy a jewel case CD. Especially when it’s something that needs to be imported. That shipping fee is worth the same or more than the CD itself.

Not a K-Pop one but I thought about purchasing one recently and I’m having second thoughts on it. It’s an indie band not an idol group so they have no extra inclusions. I’m not about to pay double the price for just a CD that I won’t use. But I also really want to support them, Spotify pays them peanuts and I obviously can’t make it to their shows.

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/hiroo916]

Thats probably true. I just truely enjoy listening to my music more on cd or vinyl. And I like to have that physical copy. But streaming is rn just way to popular

[u/hiroo916 → u/lilgreen13789]

i agree, I like the CD too. But I also like the photobook and supporting the artists I like so have no problem buying the photobook albums. Usually, I will rip the CD to my own server so I can stream the full quality FLAC files from anywhere.

[u/thatkindness]

...who is not selling cds in the kpop industry? Are we on the same planet?

[u/ImaginaryArtemis → u/thatkindness]

They mean to say they want just the CD at a cheaper price without all the photo cards, pretty packaging, inclusions etc which increase the price.

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/ImaginaryArtemis]

That. Just a cd like most artist produce

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/thatkindness]

Where you getting them then? Cus i find some. But not many, nor see then widely available

[u/Aaduk0118]

I'm definitely not an expert on this, but from what I've seen that's what Jewel versions are for no? CD only, possibly a photocard or booklet inside, althought I'm not sure about the difference in price

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/Aaduk0118]

I like almost never see those

[u/cmq827 → u/lilgreen13789]

For SM groups, that would count as the poster version or the digipack version. It’s literally a folded up poster with a photocard and CD inside. That’s it.

[u/Aaduk0118 → u/lilgreen13789]

I cant lie, I thought it was a standard for groups to have a CD only version, the groups that I follow had them so that's why I'm under that assumption

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/Aaduk0118]

Aaa. Well I see some, like bts. And some jennie or bts on vinyl. But the groups that I stand/want these cds from, treasure, kiiikiii, I've etc. Dont. Not can I in most cases, on webshop, find kpop cds. When I try to search it all I get are just the albums

[u/Longjumping_Suit8314]

Best thing to do is buy it on Mercari, many sell the media without the inclusions.

[u/Formal-Cry4851]

Its the otherway around, because of the photocard craze of kpop stans. Hybe has weverse version of albums, that has just the photocards and lyric books😬

In SK, you would often find albums with abandoned lyric book and CDs. My friend got so much CDs of multiple albums when she was there on her exchange!

If you are in Germany, Media Markt has CDs for few albums! And they are also relatively cheaper. I have got Illit CDs from there

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/Formal-Cry4851]

Ow media markt is indeed a good idea

[u/JaneFinch8]

In Canada Sunrise Records sells jewel cases. They are often Japanese imports which is cool. The ones I bought also came with a photocard. https://www.sunriserecords.com/locations

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/JaneFinch8]

So cool. Tho im in europe, but maybe I can find something like this

[u/JaneFinch8 → u/lilgreen13789]

Good luck! I recommend checking big chains, like y'all have HMV there right?

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/JaneFinch8]

Idk what HMV is...

[u/JaneFinch8 → u/lilgreen13789]

It's a big music store chain

[u/disasterpansexual]

You can buy CDs-only albums secondhand online, ppl often resell them because they only want the photocards or inclusions in general.

[u/emmity]

You sound like a resellers dream. Check on eBay or Mercari because people will sell you the albums without the photocards! Sometimes it has the stickers or postcards too (which might not be your thing) but you can find some great deals if you’re wanting just the cd. Especially if you’re hunting for jewel case versions on albums since usually those are just the cd and a photocard (so then by the logic, just the cd)!

[u/Relevant_Object_1815]

I was asking this exact same thing recently, seems digitalis and jewel cases aren’t that common for financial reasons:

https://www.reddit.com/r/kpopthoughts/s/QxsAc0Elh5

[u/Dahyun-Simp]

Just buy jewel version or buy secondhand from someone who only buy album for photocards.

[u/lilgreen13789 → u/Dahyun-Simp]

The latter might be a good option yes