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In Germany on Monday, a Delirious? CD called 'World Service (Silver Edition)' was released. It's basically a re-release of the World Service album, which was originally released in Germany back in March.

Re-releases are a controversial subject for some people. The US music trade magazine Billboard recently carried a front page story debating the ethics of re-launching albums. The article singled out Switchfoot's 'The Beautiful Letdown' which sold a million units with it's original release. It was then repackaged with new artwork and a bonus DVD, and sold at a 50% increased price. It then went on to sell a further half million units. Understandably that upsets some people. All those people who bought the original CD now have a lesser version of the album. If they want to get the bonus material, they have to buy the CD again, and it now costs 50% more then the original did.

Some would say that re-releases are all about greed. The fact that the original Switchfoot CD sold a million units makes me wonder why the record company thought it necessary to re-release it. The only reason has to be that they wanted to make even more money from the album. That's not unusual, normally re-releases are to 'maximise sales'. But if an album has already been hugely successful, then re-releasing it does seem very 'money grabbing'. On the other hand, if an album doesn't do as well as expected when it's first released, but a band then goes on to get increased publicity, I'd say you could justify re-releasing the album because more people now know about the band and should be given a chance to buy the album. That's what I believe is happening with Delirious' World Service album in Germany.

When World Service first arrived in Germany, the band had a very low profile in the country. Since then, they've gone on to release two singles and appear at a number of festivals and events. Clearly more people in Germany now know about Delirious? than did when the album was first released. Albums that were released several months ago no longer get prominent positions in record stores, or promotion in magazines or on radio. That makes it hard for people to know about the album. So by re-releasing it the CD gets fresh publicity and allows more people to buy it who would normally have missed it.

I suspect that another reason for the World Service re-release is to do with the recent split of J-Star Records from BMG. When World Service was released in March, J-Star Records (the German label Delirious? are signed to) was owned by BMG, a major world-wide record company. A few months back BMG pulled out of its deal with J-Star, leaving J-Star to go it alone as an independent label. So that must causes some complications with the original World Service CD, which carried the BMG logo on the cover. The re-release is just by J-Star so avoids any such complications.

There will always be cynics who say re-releasing a CD is just about ripping off the fans. Indeed there will be some people who bought World Service originally and now feel obliged to pay out again to get the 'Silver Edition' with it's bonus tracks and videos. For those people it is unfortunate and I see their point of view. But I can also see why World Service is being re-released in Germany. There is some logic in the decision, even if it's hard on a few people.