George Strait - "50 Number Ones"

[dawhite76]

To cram "50 Number Ones" - plus one - onto two CDs, many of the songs included in this compilation were severely edited. I was surprised to see the streaming version of this album contains the same edits. While this makes the streamed album consistent with the physical product, this would have been an opportunity for MCA to correct what I consider to be one of the greatest musical ripoffs ever sold. Since the album's packaging does not indicate the songs are edited, I imagine most people thought they were purchasing the songs at the lengths they were familiar with from the radio and from Strait's studio and other compilation albums. When this album recently re-entered the Top 10 of Country Albums, it made me wonder if people streaming this album even realize they are not hearing the full songs! Why does this album continue to succeed? Strait and, more importantly, his fans deserve better.

[recordyear]

Apr 29, 2021 20:10:38 GMT -5 dawhite76 said:

it made me wonder if people streaming this album even realize they are not hearing the full songs! Why does this album continue to succeed? 

Now this is a somewhat complicated thing. Streaming equivalent of album sales of Greatest Hits albums will be counted to the GH album that has the most pure sales in the week, which means one may not listen to the hits from that particular GH album, but it would count for streams for that GH album. And I don't think Billboard/Nielsen cares about versions of songs in GH album (as in counting the streams separately unless artists want to, like Taylor Swift and the Taylor's Version).

[Deleted]

This is a pretty big stain on George Straits legacy. I’m shocked he allowed them to butcher his songs so they fit on 2 cds instead of just making it a 3 cd case.

[dawhite76]

Agreed. This compilation really tarnished my perception of Strait. I assume he was onboard with or at the very least aware of this album's release since he recorded a new song to be released as a single from it. I can't imagine he or someone in his camp didn't know that many of the songs were cut to fit them onto two CDs and how misleading it was not to mention this on the album's artwork. Strait should have had the clout to insist this be sold as the three CD collection it deserved to be. A third CD could not have been that costly to manufacture. With the exception of "I Hate Everything," music production costs were also minimal as all the songs were previously recorded. (Heck - it probably cost more to edit the songs than it would have to manufacture a third CD!) So, MCA and Strait knew this was going to make a lot of $$$ since it did not cost a lot of $$$.

[.indulgecountry]

I own this album and have never noticed it was edited and now I feel dumb for not noticing, but that would probably explain in part why I always noticed it was a bit quieter than the rest of the music in my computer's music library. Two of the songs also had issues with skipping and I guess that's probably why since it was apparently made on the cheap. All this time I never knew.

[bboat11]

I've always considered all the edits on this album to be equivalent to when songs get shortened to a "single version" for their release to radio, lol. Like I get that they are not single versions, but it's the same practice just done posthumously to the song's life, lol. It's not done in a way that takes away the spirit of the song itself, and in most cases is not even noticeable unless it's a superfan who's listening (in which case they probably already owned the original songs anyway). A casual listener isn't going to notice or care, lol.

Besides, the offending songs are labeled as "(Edit)" on literally every streaming and purchasing service, and I distinctly remember them automatically having "Edit" in the title even back in the day when I first imported the album to iTunes. In today's day and age, there is no valid scenario in which a casual listener could purchase or stream this album and justifiably feel like they have been duped.

[tim]

May 5, 2021 5:22:08 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I've always considered all the edits on this album to be equivalent to when songs get shortened to a "single version" for their release to radio, lol. Like I get that they are not single versions, but it's the same practice just done posthumously to the song's life, lol. It's not done in a way that takes away the spirit of the song itself, and in most cases is not even noticeable unless it's a superfan who's listening (in which case they probably already owned the original songs anyway). A casual listener isn't going to notice or care, lol.

Besides, the offending songs are labeled as "(Edit)" on literally every streaming and purchasing service, and I distinctly remember them automatically having "Edit" in the title even back in the day when I first imported the album to iTunes. In today's day and age, there is no valid scenario in which a casual listener could purchase or stream this album and justifiably feel like they have been duped.

I agree and wanted to add that when this was initially released I very much remember them not hiding the fact that some of these songs were edited. That said, it still doesn't come as a surprise that many are just learning this for the first time lol.

[Deleted]

May 5, 2021 15:34:13 GMT -5 tim said:

May 5, 2021 5:22:08 GMT -5 bboat11 said:

I've always considered all the edits on this album to be equivalent to when songs get shortened to a "single version" for their release to radio, lol. Like I get that they are not single versions, but it's the same practice just done posthumously to the song's life, lol. It's not done in a way that takes away the spirit of the song itself, and in most cases is not even noticeable unless it's a superfan who's listening (in which case they probably already owned the original songs anyway). A casual listener isn't going to notice or care, lol.

Besides, the offending songs are labeled as "(Edit)" on literally every streaming and purchasing service, and I distinctly remember them automatically having "Edit" in the title even back in the day when I first imported the album to iTunes. In today's day and age, there is no valid scenario in which a casual listener could purchase or stream this album and justifiably feel like they have been duped.

I agree and wanted to add that when this was initially released I very much remember them not hiding the fact that some of these songs were edited. That said, it still doesn't come as a surprise that many are just learning this for the first time lol.

To me it’s not about being duped....It’s George allowing someone to take his art and change it for the sole purpose of saving a dollar. George should have not allowed that to happen.

[dajross6]

Seriously, how much do you think George has to do with this? Is it really hurting people that 20 seconds is cutoff some songs in order to fit on a physical CD when you can stream the full length versions of songs on their respective albums? Saying this is tarnishing his legacy (for a decision his label is obviously making) is incredible hyperbole, but people will always think what they want to think I suppose.

[Deleted]

Jun 4, 2021 10:55:39 GMT -5 dajross6 said:

Seriously, how much do you think George has to do with this? Is it really hurting people that 20 seconds is cutoff some songs in order to fit on a physical CD when you can stream the full length versions of songs on their respective albums? Saying this is tarnishing his legacy (for a decision his label is obviously making) is incredible hyperbole, but people will always think what they want to think I suppose.

When this album came out streaming wasn’t a thing yet, and there is no way MCA would butcher his songs like this without getting the ok from him. When this album came out George was still one of the top artists in the genre.

If they took the movie Titanic and edited 30 minutes of the movie that you saw in theaters for the DVD release in order to save room on the disc instead of just adding an extra disc wouldn’t you think negatively on that?

[dajross6]

Again, I'm not sure they would sure they would ask George if it was okay to cut time off songs. The label has authority on what to do with the catalogue...even if George didn't like it there wasn't much he could do about it. I'm sure George has as much say as the songwriters of the songs do on decisions like this.

[Deleted]

Jun 7, 2021 17:13:48 GMT -5 dajross6 said:

Again, I'm not sure they would sure they would ask George if it was okay to cut time off songs. The label has authority on what to do with the catalogue...even if George didn't like it there wasn't much he could do about it. I'm sure George has as much say as the songwriters of the songs do on decisions like this.

No record company or any business for that matter is gonna do something so drastic without the ok from the person responsible for their livelihood. Think about it....Why would they do something that could negatively effect their relationship with him. They wouldn’t....So he was ok with it happening for whatever reason.

[.indulgecountry]

By the time this project was released, I guarantee that George Strait had just about as much say and freedom of control in his career as an artist signed to a major record label could possibly have.

[dawhite76]

It's unfortunate how oblivious consumers can be when it comes to recording integrity. After B.J. Thomas passed away, his "Hooked On A Feeling" sold enough that it charted on Country Digital Sales. Problem? The charted song was the clearly labelled as "re-recorded" when the original version is also readily available. "50" is the same problem - the digital version labels the songs as edited which the physical albums did not. Yet, people keep listening to and buying it.

[bboat11]

2004-2021 is a looooooong time to stay bothered about something so trivial.

[dawhite76]

From Kenny Rogers to Taylor Swift, artists have been re-recording songs for decades to try to profit from past successes after they left a record label. If a consumer chooses to listen to or purchase these re-recordings, it is caveat emptor as the record packaging or online description will state the song is re-recorded. Other artists/labels have shortened songs for compilations. Amy Grant released a “Greatest Hits” collection in 2004 which included an edited version of her # 2 Pop and # 2 AC hit, “Every Heartbeat.” The song was faded early simply to fit all the tracks on an 80 minute CD. Unlike “50,” Grant’s CD packaging clearly showed that song (and only that song) was an “Edit” version.

With “50,” someone who purchased the CD had no indication the songs were not the original and complete recordings they thought they were purchasing. It doesn’t matter how fanatic one may be for Strait - you cannot overlook that was and still is a ripoff. At least the digital and streaming versions of the “50” tracks now label the songs as edited. Why someone would opt to buy or stream these versions when the true versions are readily available astounds me. It is not as if this is the only compilation Strait and MCA have ever released! As I indicated with B.J. Thomas' "Hooked On A Feeling," it is disappointing when any music consumer doesn't care enough that s/he is listening to or purchasing the right record and accepts just any version of a song that they find.

[dajross6]

Jun 29, 2021 21:51:16 GMT -5 dawhite76 said:

As I indicated with B.J. Thomas' "Hooked On A Feeling," it is disappointing when any music consumer doesn't care enough that s/he is listening to or purchasing the right record and accepts just any version of a song that they find.

It's great that you care about the extra 30 seconds on a few songs aren't on the CD, and I'm sorry you're disappointed in other people for not feeling the same way. When the compilation came out 17 years ago, CDs were still very popular so it made sense to cram everything together. I'm not entirely sure, but digital-wise there might be more hoops to jump through if the album doesn't match with licensing/labeling or something (I'm not an expert, I'm guessing). In the streaming age, this makes zero difference as people can find the full song if they want to. Do you get as upset when countdown shows cut off songs? It bothers me more then because that lives forever, where I can stream the full song whenever I want.

I think it's a weird thing to get upset about, but I do appreciate your passion.

[Cody Wants Out...]

I come in here thinking this got bumped to promote the good news that George Strait has his own radio station on Sirius XM (Ace in the Hole Radio). Instead, I read something about there being too many edits to his biggest hits?

Lots of country songs (and songs in other genres) have edits for single/radio releases, this is literally nothing new; it's been going on for years and it'll continue going to the best of my knowledge. :kii: