Seattle Times
This week a new Hendrix bootleg appears, but it won’t be sold at collector swap meets, or out of the trunk of a car: Instead it is available exclusively from Amazon.com. “The Jimi Hendrix Fan Pack” is the 12th “official” bootleg issued by Experience Hendrix, the Seattle-based company that runs his estate.The fan pack is more than just a CD: It is instead an elaborate oversized cardboard box, complete with a T-shirt, music, and memorabilia reproductions. The CD version will be priced at $62.99; an even more deluxe edition runs $92.99, but includes a vinyl version of the album. Those list prices seem high? Consider that the set is yet another example of new paradigm in a music industry decimated by illegal downloading. Even such Hall of Fame artists as Jimi Hendrix have seen sales hurt by file sharing, and one response has been to add special features to the physical music product. Even at those price points, some deluxe sets have been hit sellers, with fans citing the elaborate designs and liner notes as a return to the golden age of album packaging. “With the Pearl Jam set [a reissue of ‘Ten’], we sold a ton and continue to sell them,” notes Matt Vaughan, owner of Seattle’s Easy Street Records. Vaughan is disappointed, however, that Experience Hendrix is making the Jimi set an Amazon exclusive, as these increasingly common deals are hurting the few remaining indie record stores around.