Bonus Tracks

What’s the deal with Bonus Tracks? It seems more and more albums are featuring these bonus tracks. I don’t understand the concept behind bonus tracks. Am I supposed to feel honored to have one extra, and most likely, mediocre track? Why is it bonus? If it was that good, it would have been on the album anyway. Do the companies think that people are going to buy the album because it has a bonus track?

Ooooh. I wasn’t going to buy this album because I only know the one song that Clear Channel has implanted into my brain. In fact, I now hate said song, but wait! Not only does this album have 1 good song and 14 crappy songs, but it has a BONUS TRACK! I’ve got to buy it now!

Come on, record companies, quit with the bonus track BS. We all know that your artist sucks and the only reason they are on the radio is because you throw around a little money. Okay, a lot of money.

What I do appreciate though is a good hidden track. That is a bonus to me. You didn’t know it was on there, and all of the sudden another song plays. Usually these are pretty crappy too, but at least you didn’t know you were paying for an additional crappy track when you bought the album.

Kanye West’s recently bootlegged album Late Registration features both. The bonus track is just one of the previous songs on the album, save the feature by Jay-Z. It is still good, but the remix with Hova is better. The bonus track is surprisingly good as well. This was not too much of a shock, as this album is going to be one of the best albums of the next year or so. The production on it is stellar. But in general, these bonus tracks are pointless and can be left off. Pressure the artists to release good music and people will buy again. You don’t need gimmicks like this to make people buy the album, all you need is good music.