It was one of the most anticipated collaborations of the year: Charli xcx teaming up with film-maker David Cronenberg for No One Lasts Forever, the closing track on her new album Music, Fashion, Film, which debuted at No 1 in the UK.
But for fans who pre-ordered what was advertised as the “full-length” album on vinyl, an unwelcome surprise awaits. The song doesn’t contain the spoken-word contribution from Cronenberg – an astonishing reflection on art, death and eternity – that is included on streaming platforms such as Spotify and Apple Music.
The collaboration, praised by Variety as “the heart of what the album is really about”, apparently missed the vinyl deadline. “It was at a point where we had to deliver the vinyl audio [and] we didn’t get David in time,” Charli told the Tape Notes podcast, adding: “There’s actually a different version of the song on the vinyl, which we haven’t really spoken about yet.”
Animesh Khare, a 27-year-old fan from Paris, was among those disappointed by the decision. “Learning that the vinyl version isn’t the complete record definitely makes me hesitate to purchase it,” he says. “Artists and labels owe it to fans to communicate these differences upfront so people can make informed decisions before dropping money on physical media. It’s just a matter of respect and transparency.”
Charli xcx isn’t the only offender. Fans who pre-ordered Olivia Rodrigo’s third album You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love documented unexpected edits across half a dozen tracks on the album’s vinyl editions, including missing bridges, outros and other musical passages. Meanwhile, fans discovered vinyl copies of Raye’s second album didn’t contain its final mix: This Album May Contain Hope, the title promised, but maybe not the finished songs. In response, Raye said: “I really apologise … the digital versions of some of these songs, some are quite different. And you just need to embrace that because I tried my best.”
It’s the year’s worst pop trend: fans paying the highest price to pre-order what is ostensibly the most desirable, collectible or elaborate edition of an album are instead receiving incomplete or unpolished versions of the music.
In Raye’s case, the singer tried to offer a positive spin, joking to Zane Lowe that the almost-finished vinyl could become a collectible. But cash-strapped fans aren’t seeing the funny side. “It’s fair to assume when you’re buying a record that it’s the final recording,” wrote one person on Reddit, in a comment typical of dozens posted to the site. “I ride for Charli, I love her as an artist, but a bait-and-switch isn’t cool.”
Elsewhere, the first pressing of the Weeknd’s Hurry Up Tomorrow contained only 11 of the 22 tracks on the digital version, and also featured shorter or earlier mixes, different transitions and missing guest contributions; it was followed by a “complete edition” double-vinyl release. The first vinyl pressings of Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter were missing five songs that were released in the digital version, causing dismay among fans – she did not respond to requests for comment at the time – while other albums, such as Nicki Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 and Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter VI, are pressed to vinyl in much shorter editions than their digital versions, possibly to avoid costly double or triple vinyl editions.
Another reason is that vinyl plants need to receive audio masters and artwork at least six weeks before a planned release date, with elaborate packaging or multiple variants requiring extra. “The more complicated the package, the more time it’ll take to manufacture,” explains Ben Savage, manager of Birkenhead-based retailer and indie label Skeleton Records, “especially if there are box sets involved”. Spotify, by contrast, needs just five business days to process digital files.
In the case of Rodrigo, her June chart-topper was released in at least a dozen different vinyl configurations, including signed copies, picture discs, editions with lenticular artwork, alternative covers, retailer exclusives, pop-up book editions and a veritable rainbow of coloured pressings.
But all feature shorter versions of songs such as Honeybee, Maggots for Brains and The Cure – the last of which, for example, loses its romantic violin outro. The cuts are so widespread that fans at first assumed their copies had been mispressed. Rodrigo’s label and publicists did not respond to requests for an explanation, but the singer let slip that album closer Cigarette Smoke was written only a week before she had to “turn everything in for the vinyl”.
It’s a revealing turn of phrase: the physical campaign may no longer be simply packaging a completed album. The manufacturing timetable may be intruding into the creative process itself: one deadline to get some version of the album on to wax, and another to finesse the final mix for the streaming release. If that’s the case, should artists make it clearer that to fans that they might receive a vinyl copy that is different to a digital release?
One Rodrigo fan said they were told by the singer’s online store that the vinyl “was received as intended” and denied a refund. And unlike accidental mispressings, which sometimes become valuable because only a handful escape the factory, these early editions are intentionally manufactured in large quantities – often tens of thousands. They may still appeal to collectors, but are unlikely to command the kinds of prices associated with genuine misprints.
The combination of variant saturation and fan Fomo has been a boon for labels, helping drive UK vinyl sales to 7.6m LPs last year, according to the BPI – a 13.3% year-on-year increase and an 18th consecutive year of growth. But Savage warns that the industry may be pushing its luck. “It’s ripping off fans,” he says. “We fear it may lead to buyer exhaustion and cause the bubble to collapse.”
