In the 1990s, hidden tracks on CDs were de rigueur. The discs had more storage space than the average album run time so artists would use them to bury experimental tracks, like Nirvana did with ‘Endless Nameless’ on Nevermind, or showcase why they should not be allowed to spend years making a follow-up album, like The Stone Roses with ‘The Foz’ on The Second Coming, or offer up a solid argument for young bands having proper adult supervision in the studio, as Ash did on the self-explanatory ‘Sick Party’ on their 1977 album (do not listen to this last one – really).
None of this was unique to the CD era – The Beatles had “concealed” ‘Her Majesty’ at the end of Abbey Road in 1969 – but it is somewhat fitting that Olivia Rodrigo has hidden different tracks on different vinyl editions of her new Guts album.
On her own D2C store, the album is being sold in four different colour variants and her fans, with some subtle hints from Rodrigo herself, found that each different colour edition comes with a different “hidden” track that plays after the official final track.
Just before the album was released, she posted a video on YouTube that parodied a bad infomercial from the 1980s. At one point the track list scrolls on the screen, but the video glitches momentarily and keen-eyed fans spotted there were four extra tracks beyond the 12 already publicised as being on the album.
This built on a video teaser from earlier in the summer on Instagram where a camera on the ceiling of her bedroom appeared to be packed with both written and visual clues about possible song titles. That prompted fans to suspect a deluxe edition of the album was coming that would contain songs not already listed on the pre-order for the “normal” album.
The twist, of course, is that the tracks are spread over different editions of the LP, meaning fans will have to buy all four vinyl variants to get all the bonus tracks.
It’s not quite on the same Escher-esque level as the “ultra” vinyl edition of Jack White’s Lazaretto from 2014 which seemed committed to hiding tracks everywhere on the disc, including the actual label and in dual grooves (as well as ones that play at different speeds). But the Rodrigo release strategy does serve a very particular function: sales.
There are lots of arguments for catering to the super-fans that rub up against accusations that ruthless acts, keen to game their first-week chart position, are simply fleecing fans by making them buy what is essentially the same product multiple times because they are on different coloured vinyl or have a slightly different sleeve. In this case, however, at least she is making extra music available on the different formats.
The real test of exclusivity will, however, only be apparent if she keeps these extra tracks on these special edition LPs and does not bundle them together on an “expanded” edition of the album in a few months or tack them onto the end of the streaming edition.
If you are going to get your fans to buy your album (at least) four times, then you need to make a promise that the music they are hoping is exclusive to each format stays exclusive to each format.
