Updating a product after launch is a practice we see quite often in the realm of video games. The so-called day 1 patches, downloadable content (DLC), and the all too common ‘season pass’ are all techniques used to both update the game and the players’ wallets, even after they’ve bought the game.
Source: Awesome Shooter Game Reviews
Imagine our surprise when Kanye West updated his album, Life of Pablo in 2016. He did it several times, uploading what he considered ‘more complete’, ‘final mix’ versions of songs that were already released. That set the precedent.
Now, two years later, Mr. Hotline Bling himself has done the same thing.
Drake’s new album is called Scorpion and released on June 29, hitting platinum that same day.
This would normally be the top story involving the album as Drake takes his victory lap through streaming services and social media. However, fans noticed that there were changes made to some of the songs on the album on streaming services.
Hiphop-n-More reports that the changes were very minimal and subtle. Instead of a new song, Lil Wayne seems to have gotten new vocals on the song, “In My Feelings”. Additionally, the mixing of Jay-Z’s verse on “Talk Up” seems to have been improved, which was something fans had been complaining about. So it sounds like good news so far.
Whether this is a last minute adjustment to polish an album released just a bit too early or if it’s the humble beginnings of a world where even music albums get DLC and expansion packs remains to be seen.
We hope that it’s the former because a world where we buy the newest music album at full price, only to be asked for an additional fee to listen to the rest of it seems mildly dystopian…
Still, it is predicted that the updated version is what will be released when the album gets a physical release on July 13… wait, it’s not even physically out and it already hit platinum?!
Only time will tell whether this is the final and definitive version of Scorpion or if more expansions or editions are coming like a contemporary video game.
Until then, one can hope that this practice does not become normalized to the point that it has in the video game industry.
Source: Yibada
