Princess Diaires 2 OST ... and a rant about limited editions at Target & Co


Dirk

Member
Hey there, Hi there, Ho there,

I just realized that I hadn't posted anything about the Princess Diaries 2 soundtrack on this board ... so I couldn't resist.

First of all: no score - that is a big minus in my book. There surely is enough space on the CD to include at least some of the score ... I would have loved to hear it as I don't see myself going to the theater to watch the movie, even so Julie Andrews is in it.

Which brings me to the second point: the track she performs together with Raven and Anne Hathaway(?). Well, her singing voice is better than I would have expected and she actually gets to not only "talk-sing". In the beginning so her performance is lacking a bit of a flow and there is too much staccato in it - a problem which later in the song disappears. I wonder why they did not rerecord the beginning of the song, after all it is a studio recording and not a live performance. Anyway overall a quite nice song and nice performance - just not memorable at all. Maybe they should have looked for a more memorable tune. With all the frenzy that surrounded the "Julie Andrews is singing again" track it is a bit of a letdown, but not necessarily because of her but the material.

Which allows to change the topic to the rest of the material on the CD. On the upside: all but one song is actually heared in the movie according to the "booklet", so not too much "inspired by" material. Unfortunately the songs are at best up to the usual average quality of Radio Disney material. But then this does connect with the audience of the movie, so no cause for laments here - even so I personally am not hot on the songs with one or two exceptions.


To come to an end one final point of critic: synergy!! In the past one was used to get special editions of Disney soundtracks or CDs at Disney Stores or the Disney theme parks. Seems no longer. Brother Bear already had a special edition with one extra track by Phil Collins that was NOT sold at any Disney Store, and not Princess Diaries follows suit. In this case Target is said to sell or have sold (?) a special edition with one Bonus Track. Annoying - especially for international fans like me. Living in Germany there is no way to get such a special edition usually but through e-bay, where not even all of them show up ... while I do not really care in the case of Princess Diaries 2 (as it is NOT a score track as far as I know) I'm still looking for that Brother Bear special edition with the Bonus Track.

Pushing their most loyal customers (and some normal customers too) from their own Disney Stores and stores in the Disney theme parks to the big chains like Target sure is a bad concept synergy wise and earning wise. I wonders who came up with that. At least we should be happy that there so far have been only one normal and one special edition of the CDs. Lyric Street the country music label of Disney is just pushing the frontier even further. For the new / latest Rascal Flatts CD released Tuesday (28th) they have a normal version and two different limited editions one through Target and one through some other chain, both of them certainly having different Bonus Tracks, forcing fans / collectors to buy most propably at least 2 CDs ... which in the end might help the performance of the album on the sales charts.



Yours
Dirk
 

Gurgitoy2

Active Member
Re:princess Diaires 2 OST ... and a rant about limited editions at Target & C

Well, Dirk, it's also especially frustrating because there is little to NO promotion for these "limited editions". Unless you happen to stumble on them in the store, or read a small comment about it, the average person would never know.

As for the Brother Bear CD, it was Best Buy that had the bonus track. I checked the website, and I only find the 12 track version, so when you look on Ebay or wherever, make sure you find one that has 13 tracks.
 

Dirk

Member
Re:princess Diaires 2 OST ... and a rant about limited editions at Target & C

Thanks for reminding me that it was Best Buy ... I remember now that I checked their website when I first heared it and even called Best Buy but it had already sold out.

About the limited amount of advertising going into these "limited editions": I think they are aiming at the fans here. The information e.g. about Brother Bear was out here right away, I was just kept offline a few days (weeks) and therefore missed out on it. I witnessed the same with Rascal Flatts, while not really advertised it was communicated through some fan websites in advance. The same happened with other bands / singers who had these kind of limited editions. So the fans mostly know it and then can react to it ... which is strange in the case of Disney to follow as a policy because it means turning away your most local fan base. While a fan of a "normal band / singer" may only go to the shop and buy the CD and leave again, turning a general Disney fan away from a Disney Store / Disney theme park shop and to a supermarket chain / electronics chain is especially stupid, as that fan might have seen something else he liked and picked it up when he would have come in just to get the CD.

But who is surprised by Disney ignoring money that wants to get spend? They are just totally out of touch...

:mad:



Oh and about e-bay: interestingly for normal CDs, so by bands or singers, the limited editions usually show up on e-bay right away when they are released and then only very rarely. At least that is my experience. The limited edition Brother Bear has not shown up at all since I am looking for it, unless I missed it.



Yours
Dirk
 

Dirk

Member
only a rant about limited editions at Target & Co

OK ... now I think this time Disney, to be exact their country label Lyric Street really went too far as what limited editions are concerned.

Just read this excerpt from the official website of Rascal Flatts regarding their new CD "Feel's Like Home":

>>
As the album hits the stores, several retail accounts are offering exclusive versions of the CD. Fans who purchase the CD at WalMart stores will get two exclusive tracks (?Don?t Get Hooked On Me? and ?The Man In Love With You?), while at Target stores the CD includes the exclusive track ?Head Over Heels? and at Best Buy stores ?Love Another Day? is the exclusive. Those buying the CD at K-Mart or Circuit City will receive an exclusive Rascal Flatts poster with their purchase. All exclusive versions of Feels Like Today and posters are available for a limited time only?while supplies last.
 

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