The Essential Britney Spears CD

My *guess* as to why it has been pulled has to do with her recently announced new studio album being released December 3.

First single "Work B**ch" is a pretty hot record produced by will.i.am; look for it to chart swiftly.

Oftentimes, pop artists don't want a "greatest hits" type album competing with their new product.

(Pure speculation on my part.)

Andy

Thanks for starting this thread, Underground Dub. Since I'm an hour from the nearest Target store (yeah, I live in the "sticks", lol), and just happened to be headed out on a road trip a couple days after you started it, I kept musicmanatl's posts in mind, as I was previously unaware that this new 2-CD set had been withdrawn and become somewhat of a rarity. I went past a Target in MA on Monday, so I stopped in to try and find one - sure enough, they had two left on the "new releases" rack, and possibly more in the main section under BS's name, but I didn't bother looking any further. And like Santi Paradoa said above, the price was $13 + tax, so I bought one (certainly had no intention of spending $30+ on eBay!). This is actually the first time I've ever bought ANYTHING by Ms. Spears, but because it's so in-depth (I agree it's a "great overview"), I decided it was worth investing in, and is likely all the Britney I'll ever need in my vast music collection, lol. Definitely a U.S. CD, though...

AndrewChouffi wrote: My *guess* as to why it has been pulled has to do with her recently announced new studio album being released December 3. First single "Work B**ch" is a pretty hot record produced by will.i.am; look for it to chart swiftly. Oftentimes, pop artists don't want a "greatest hits" type album competing with their new product. (Pure speculation on my part.) Andy

At this time, I don't have any insight as to why this CD is so limited and/or has been withdrawn, but it will be interesting to see where this goes. I can certainly think of several CDs that have been withdrawn here in the U.S. over the years, be it due to licensing issues or the wrong versions of songs being included (some hits collections by Little River Band and Jennifer Warnes immediately come to mind, as I have both). But in the case of Ms. Spears, I don't believe it has anything to do w/ the fact that it's a hits collection, even if she does currently have a new studio album slated for release in early December. If The Essential... was her FIRST-EVER hits collection, then I'd agree w/ your reasoning that she might be worried about it competing w/ that upcoming new album, and would thus be a bad move on the label's part. (Yes, I've heard that from other artists in the past.) However, you have to remember, this is at least her FOURTH compilation here in the U.S., as we've been previously blessed(?) w/ 2004's Greatest Hits: My Prerogative, 2009's The Singles Collection, and of course last year's entry of hers in Sony/BMG's Playlist: The Very Best of... series. So this new collection would very likely have a pretty short chart life (even if it does eventually become widely available) - something else must be going on here, IMO...

80smusicfreak wrote: At this time, I don't have any insight as to why this CD is so limited and/or has been withdrawn, but it will be interesting to see where this goes.

Nearly a year has now passed, but it appears that next Tuesday (July 29), Sony/BMG will be re-launching the 2-CD set, The Essential BS (haha), here in the U.S. To this day, the original 2013 pressings have remained scarce. As discussed above, the title was withdrawn only 1-2 weeks after its initial release late last summer (and even then, apparently limited to only Target stores). In fact, people are STILL regularly paying $40-$60(!) for sealed copies on eBay - but it seems that is about to change...

So, my question is this: Will these be new 2014 pressings, and if so, do they differ from the old 2013 pressings in any way??? (Perhaps a new catalog no., a different matrix no. on the discs themselves, a new track listing, or maybe even different mixes/versions of one or more songs???) Or are these simply the original 2013 pressings that Sony/BMG has likely warehoused over the last 10-11 months??? (At this time, I suspect the latter.) Still have my 2013 pressing from last September, but don't really feel like buying another to find out. :-) Hmmm, shades of the 2-CD set, Ultimate Prince, from back in 2006 (although I admit I'm not as concerned this time around). Underground Dub: You helped w/ Prince in '06, and were also the one who happened to launch this thread last year, so I'm primarily looking in your direction, lol...

Oh, and according to fans who posted late last year on several on-line forums that I read, the consensus was that The Essential BS was withdrawn due to licensing issues over the track "Scream & Shout" (her duet w/ will.i.am), which is owned by Interscope/Universal - but I couldn't find any official confirmation of that...