From Financial Times:
Apple is working with the four largest record labels to stimulate digital sales of albums by bundling a new interactive booklet, sleeve notes and other interactive features with music downloads, in a move it hopes will change buying trends on its online iTunes store.
With the newest generation of video game consoles introducing extremely high budgets (and risk) for many publishers, special editions have become an easy way to increase profit margins with your core audience.
For the cost of a few dollars, publishers routinely add $10, $20, even $100 for special editions of video games, and Apple’s latest move looks to take advantage of that mentality.
However, there is a growing consumer backlash as these methods are being looked at as exploitative, and publishers are getting more ridiculous with their special edition incentives ($100 extra for night vision goggles with the latest Call of Duty?).
Does Apple’s move solidify special editions as a market mainstay, or has the peak already arrived thanks to publishers going to the well one too many times
