Debating The Bonus Track
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
For the last few weeks I’d been having an internal debate - to buy the soundtrack album to The Rolling Stones “Shine A Light” as a cd or download it off iTunes. All of my Stones collection is on cd so it only made sense to me to add to the collection. But then I found out that there was a bonus track attached to the iTunes purchase - “Undercover Of The Night”, one of my all-time favourite Stones tracks. What was I to do? I did some searching and discovered that the song was included on the Japanese cd version of the album, but if I wanted to pick that up it was cost me over $35 bucks plus shipping, $20 more than the iTunes version. Clearly, that was a bit rich for my blood. It seemed like downloading was my only option. But still I struggled. What about the packaging? The liner notes? Those things that have helped me the music fan that I am.
Finally yesterday I made my decision. I downloaded the album from iTunes, including my beloved “Undercover of The Night”. Luckily, the download came with a digital booklet complete with all the liner notes, easily printable should I decide to burn the album to cd. But I have to admit, I still feel strange having done it. It’s not as though I haven’t downloaded from iTunes before, but typically it’s been something only available through there (like the U2 Digital Box set). This was the first time I did it for a new release, and while I’m happy to have the bonus tune the whole experience left me feeling just a little hollow.
Check out the video for “Undercover Of The Night” below for a blast from the past and then use “undercover” for your bonus code.