Steven Wilson Steven Wilson - The Harmony Codex (2023)

[Simon M]

I was truly confused in the morning too, when I was able to place the order and then I got the mail from BS. I must say I got the refund just a few minutes after the mail.
This would have been easily avoided had they wrote a comment on their site advising not to order unless the raffle mail had been received.
Anyway, first world problems, at least I'm not any poorer than in the morning

Well, I'm still pretty confused by what you've posted. I've just tried ordering one, I've got the order confirmation email and it says it has been processed on my account page but I've not had a follow up email that you mention about a refund or a 'lottery' email, should I expect one?

This really makes no sense to me at all. If they are picking 60 people from the 1500 'on the list' then I assume that list means there were 1500 people who had signed up to be notified when it was back in stock? If that is the case then why even put it up for sale again on the main site? They could have just emailed the 60 people that they have randomly picked and no one else needed to know about it. What an odd way of doing things...

If they had 1500 on the list (and that's just Burning Shed) then surely it would be worth pressing a few thousand more, there is clearly demand...

 

[César]

Yikes! I also placed an order for this using the link posted above (only possible after logging in to my BS account). The payment processed with no issues. Just got an order confirmation email (with an order ID), but no cancellation email (at least not yet). @César, did you get a confirmation email before your cancellation email?

Yes, I got the confirmation ( exhilarating moment!) and a few hours later the cancellation. Hope you'll be luckier than me

 

[César]

Well, I'm still pretty confused by what you've posted. I've just tried ordering one, I've got the order confirmation email and it says it has been processed on my account page but I've not had a follow up email that you mention about a refund or a 'lottery' email, should I expect one?

This really makes no sense to me at all. If they are picking 60 people from the 1500 'on the list' then I assume that list means there were 1500 people who had signed up to be notified when it was back in stock? If that is the case then why even put it up for sale again on the main site? They could have just emailed the 60 people that they have randomly picked and no one else needed to know about it. What an odd way of doing things...

If they had 1500 on the list (and that's just Burning Shed) then surely it would be worth pressing a few thousand more, there is clearly demand...

Well, to be fair, it was a bit hidden in their site. I saw a pic in SHF from a guy who purchased it and made a search using the description (THC deluxe). Any other search using the proper album title or artist name gave no results.
I believe they emailed the 60 fortunate winners and provided the link, but failed to hide it to the rest of potential buyers.

 

[JulesRules]

Is it a deal breaker?

I'm wondering if it's even legal.

Hiding the link is all fine and dandy, but there should be some clear text on the order page what you're signing up for.

 

[yawitz]

Yikes! I also placed an order for this using the link posted above (only possible after logging in to my BS account). The payment processed with no issues. Just got an order confirmation email (with an order ID), but no cancellation email (at least not yet). @César, did you get a confirmation email before your cancellation email?

Well, I finally got the cancellation message this morning. Very disappointed.

I'd really love to hear from someone on the supplier's end (either the label, or Steven) why they handled this release the way they did. Given the unfulfilled demand, I can't understand why they made it so hard to acquire this version of the album. I'm OK if they wanted some aspect of the packaging to be limited (treating it as an art object), but making the audio content so hard to get seems a bit fan-hostile.

Why not include all of the additional content--the alternate version of the CD, and the instrumental version--on the standalone Blu-ray? Or why not release the full content in a more compact package? Seems like leaving money on the table to me, while simultaneously pissing off the fans...

 

[stoopid]

Well, I finally got the cancellation message this morning. Very disappointed.

I'd really love to hear from someone on the supplier's end (either the label, or Steven) why they handled this release the way they did. Given the unfulfilled demand, I can't understand why they made it so hard to acquire this version of the album. I'm OK if they wanted some aspect of the packaging to be limited (treating it as an art object), but making the audio content so hard to get seems a bit fan-hostile.

Why not include all of the additional content--the alternate version of the CD, and the instrumental version--on the standalone Blu-ray? Or why not release the full content in a more compact package? Seems like leaving money on the table to me, while simultaneously pissing off the fans...

In SW's defense -- they did make the bonus material available as a $10 digital download for a day or three around the time of launch.

I've seen a few head scratching decisions lately regarding how bands/labels are releasing physical media. There is a bit of fan-hostile / money grabbing taking place, likely trying to squeeze every last red cent from the few who want (and often demand) physical copies. I'm resigned to settle for no copy or digital only copies for things now, and only bother with physical when offered at a reasonable price.

 

[thebarnman]

I'm wondering if it's even legal.

Hiding the link is all fine and dandy, but there should be some clear text on the order page what you're signing up for.

Nothing is clear from a company who's initials is BS.

 

[yawitz]

In SW's defense -- they did make the bonus material available as a $10 digital download for a day or three around the time of launch.
...

I did not know that (and if I did, would still have waited for a wider release that never came, due to very high postage costs to the US). Now that I do know, it sounds like it's still out of reach. (Why?)

 

[JulesRules]

In SW's defense -- they did make the bonus material available as a $10 digital download for a day or three around the time of launch.

Not really. Only two tracks from Harmonic Distortion were part of the deluxe download - the Roland Orzabal mix of "What Life Brings" (which is what I was really after) and the Mikael Åkerfeldt version of "Time is Running Out". The rest of the bonus material in the deluxe download was the audio play of the short story that inspired the album (for additional value with a scrambled order of parts).

Recently, the Manic Street Preachers version of "Economies of Scale" was released as a standalone single that you can buy as a regular download. But that still leaves six alternate versions of album tracks, five "Codex Themes" and the whole instrumental mix of the album exclusive to the box set.

 

[stoopid]

Not really. Only two tracks from Harmonic Distortion were part of the deluxe download - the Roland Orzabal mix of "What Life Brings" (which is what I was really after) and the Mikael Åkerfeldt version of "Time is Running Out". The rest of the bonus material in the deluxe download was the audio play of the short story that inspired the album (for additional value with a scrambled order of parts).

Recently, the Manic Street Preachers version of "Economies of Scale" was released as a standalone single that you can buy as a regular download. But that still leaves six alternate versions of album tracks, five "Codex Themes" and the whole instrumental mix of the album exclusive to the box set.

IIRC it was more than two tracks. I don't know if it was everything from the deluxe, I don't think they would do that and 'burn' the deluxe set buyers either, but I was under the assumption it was the bulk of the unique material. I wasn't interested and didn't buy it, even at $10. Someone who did would need to confirm or perhaps it's buried pages back in this thread.

 

[stoopid]

(Why?)

I don't know, I was just providing some additional details. The hot take might be -- they're providing actual value to the people spending the bit extra for the deluxe? I wouldn't knock them for doing that, if you spend more you would expect more return on that 'investment'/money spent. If they kept printing deluxe sets indefinitely, it would lose that value (supply will eventually outpace demand). Last I checked there were still Future Bites deluxe sets available, maybe gun shy about facing that reality again.

 

[yawitz]

I don't know, I was just providing some additional details. The hot take might be -- they're providing actual value to the people spending the bit extra for the deluxe? I wouldn't knock them for doing that, if you spend more you would expect more return on that 'investment'/money spent. If they kept printing deluxe sets indefinitely, it would lose that value (supply will eventually outpace demand). Last I checked there were still Future Bites deluxe sets available, maybe gun shy about facing that reality again.

I'm fully on board with making some content unique to a deluxe set (and providing corresponding value for buyers). I'm just baffled by the decision to make purchasing that set so difficult. (I'm ready to spend more, if only they'd take my money!)

I'm not on board with the artificial scarcity created for what is fundamentally a music product (not a museum art piece). Printing more sets to satisfy demand doesn't reduce it's value for anyone other than investors/flippers (and it's not clear why the artist or label would care about that). The stunt around "The Future Bites" Ultra-Deluxe edition was an interesting experiment (in a very meta way), and certainly got people's attention, but I didn't expect the point it made to be carried over to later releases.

As per my original question, I'd love to hear from the source why they've taken this extreme limited edition approach for the current release.

 

[JulesRules]

IIRC it was more than two tracks. I don't know if it was everything from the deluxe, I don't think they would do that and 'burn' the deluxe set buyers either, but I was under the assumption it was the bulk of the unique material. I wasn't interested and didn't buy it, even at $10. Someone who did would need to confirm or perhaps it's buried pages back in this thread.

Well, I did. And I already told you what was part of it

https://www.discogs.com/release/28444609-Steven-Wilson-The-Harmony-Codex

 

[madship]

I think this is a Wilson release with legs.

This album took over my listening for the several weeks after release. I listened to it multiple times during that period and daily until December. While it's not in that extremely rare place where I need to listen to it all the time, it still packs a punch.

After work I went down to the listening room after finishing the day's chores, with the thought of listening without distractions. Opened up the discs instead of the rips and pick The Hanmony Codex, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This album just draws me in. I am completely involved in each track as it plays. There are songs that I enjoy more than others, but they are all necessary.

I never find myself wanting to listen to an individual track on THC, but I don't shy from sitting down to listen to the whole album.

A Wilson winner, up there with Hand. Cannot. Erase. Like Hand. I'll be returning to it for years.

 

[thebarnman]

wanting to listen to an individual track on THC

I prefer to listen without cannabis.

 

[madship]

I prefer to listen without cannabis.

Ahh, the unfortunate issue of living in world dominated by acronyms. Inevitably, they converge.

 

[MidiMagic]

Another reason I hate the monopoly powers of patents and copyrights.

 

[JulesRules]

Ahh, the unfortunate issue of living in world dominated by acronyms. Inevitably, they converge.

From the guy who also used "Linton Samuel Dawson" as a pseudonym as well as a track title, I feel like that is probably intentional...