Question on limited editions

Should limited edition albums be treated as separate releases from their non-limited edition counterpart? The limited album I am working on has no visual difference (same barcode, catelog number, medium, etc) with its non-limited edition album, except for a unique serial number printed right above the barcode at the back.

In this case, there is one difference, being the serial number (a bit lame though, isn’t it, not even an extra track or more luxurious packaging?). So there would be different scans of the artwork, and because of that a separate release. Please do mention that there is a serial number in the annotation though. And it would be a bit much to add a new release for every single copy of that limited edition.

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I generally add the limited edition as a separate release.

However, for releases that have a limited serial number, only one of that series needs to be put into MB.

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@CyberSkull @mfmeulenbelt Thanks for the replies. And yes, it is really lame that they have limited edition without much difference other than the serial number… Things labels do these days :unamused:

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I wonder if the limited edition you are talking about has got the same packaging as the “regular” release? If not, there is a reason to separate them, since most limited editions are often printed in digipack while the regular often has jewel case…

For those kind of releases, where everything is the same except for the packaging, I usually create two releases because the packaging is the detail that separate them.

You know what is really going to make things hard is when artists release a CD (In this case Radioheads latest album “A Moon Shaped Pool”) where they released 2 bonus tracks which are only on the vinyl edition. But think how it would be more difficult if the 2 bonus tracks were digital releases only.

It’s actually very easy for editions with a different number of tracks - there’s no doubt they’re a different release, since they literally can’t be added as the same one if they have a different tracklist :slight_smile:

I don’t want to sound pretentious but we already have lots of those in MB. :slight_smile:
But if you mean that it sucks for us CD enthusiasts that they do this, I completely agree. :wink:

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FYI, here are the packaging and back covers for the regular and limited edition:

https://gd4.alicdn.com/bao/uploaded/i4/10890160/TB2BOT4fpXXXXbHXpXXXXXXXXXX_!!10890160.jpg (limited)

https://gd2.alicdn.com/bao/uploaded/i2/1128607243/TB2mfRCcXXXXXXmXXXXXXXXXXXX_!!1128607243.jpg (regular)

As you can see, the packaging and the back covers are completely the same except for the serial number. The front covers are identical as well.

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