Mattris

Other ways include borrowing the soundtrack from a friend or fellow JWFan member... or perhaps, making a trade for another soundtrack.
 
Those who don't want to - or cannot - pirate, pay more, borrow, or trade should just do without the soundtrack for now and be sure to get it if there is a 'next time'.
 
To facilitate a possible repressing of the limited release, these individuals could appeal to the record label and encourage other fans of the soundtrack to do so. This has worked before with a few Williams titles. ('Back back popular demand...')
 
 
I understand the principle and agree with you. I personally don't want any John Williams release - or any soundtrack, for that matter - to be limited. But we have to face reality: these types of releases have  to be made limited for this business model to exist at all. Perhaps things will change in the (near) future.
 
The fact is, these releases were produced and advertised as 'limited'. This increased demand, primarily due to 'fear of missing out'... and they sold out relatively quickly.
 
This should indicate to LLL - and the companies that own the rights to the recorded scores - that a demand for these expanded scores does exist... and that a subsequent re-release (repressing, download, streaming) would be a viable endeavor.

Spending more on a physical soundtrack than the original (record label's) price doesn't make one "a chump". It just means that the person chose to purchase the soundtrack because, to them, it was worth the investment.
 
Not all secondary market sellers are 'scumbag scalpers'. Some are just people who choose to sell an item they no longer want. And who are you to dictate their pricing of rare/out-of-print/niche items? People are free to buy at the offered price... or pass.
 
In the secondary market, an item's value is what people are willing to pay - not what it was originally priced. The value can be lower or higher.
 
 
Or could it be that the majority here are "entitled", expecting these for-sale presentations of creative works to be one's "right to enjoy"?
 
Sorry, but owning soundtracks - expanded or otherwise - is not a 'right'. Wanting them to be more readily available is fine but, as others have pointed out, many factors affect the current state of things.
 
If future - or current - Williams fans express interest, it's likely that the Jurassic Park and Harry Potter Collections will be re-printed and/or made available for download/streaming. If there is money to be made, it will likely happen sooner than later.
 
 
A product selling out is not akin to 'people were prevented from buying it'.
 
One's desire to own something they would "like to enjoy" is irrelevant to the larger principle here. People "miss out" on purchasable things - 'limited' or not - for a variety of reasons. Other opportunities usually come along. Such is life.
 
 
No one is forcing anyone to 'pirate or pay 10 times the amount' for a soundtrack. Those would be choices, assuming those options are available.

It's not, though.
 
I like that LLL's Jurassic Park and Harry Potter Soundtrack Collections were limited because they sold out quickly, indicating to all invested/related companies that these scores should be made available for sale again... preferably, on a wider scale: Amazon, downloads, streaming, etc.

I love the discussion in this topic.
 
It simply boils down to the fact that being a film score fan is and will always be a niche section of the music world/collector's world. 
 
I've missed out on some serious releases simply because I was away from this forum for some time.  I don't regret it that much, but it does suck that there will be future John Williams fans wondering why they can't have complete scores to some of his most popular works.
 
It'd be nice if there was a way the labels could set up a pre-order system for releases that go out of print...and once the label gets enough money to make a profit, they print a new batch....but again that's naive and almost impossible, because they probably wouldn't be able to get enough people to pre-order it since most people that miss out on these things are stragglers and fans that simply don't exist yet.  Again, niche fan base.
 
Take the score, Minority Report....let's say it's out of print, and LLL decides to print another 3,000 copies, but only if 3,000 people pre-order it.  How long do you think that would take?  I'm guessing too long for it to even be an option worth considering.  And that's a premier Spielberg/Williams release.
 
So I dunno, digital seems to be the only way to help out those future fans.

Yeah, that's true. And we're definitely moving in that direction, anyway.... 
 
Music, books, games, TV, movies, everything is digital these days. Hell, even money and official documents. It's only a matter of time. I'd still want physical copies, though, I'm old-fashioned that way. Although in a few decades, I have a feeling nothing will be physical anymore, and everything digital. Not sure whether that's gonna be a better place. 
 
 

You do realise these editions are limited? Are you calling the LLL representatives or those who approve of their work assholes? We're all adults to discuss a topic here, no need for any name calling. 
 
That said, I explained the general appeal of limited editions, not just of soundtrack albums but of any product, but especially of music, books, movies, watches, jewelry, cars, etc. (a sense of exclusivity). Also, like I said, if LLL sells 5000 copies of the HP boxset when it's limited, it's not like they'd be selling 50,000 if it wasn't limited. In fact, it's even possible that when it's not limited, fewer people will buy it, because everybody thinks they can buy it anytime and its value just isn't as high. Some people buy it right away because it's a limited special edition, and it's... well, special! 

Seriously, not at all sure why many are so inordinately concerned about future fans. It's not like JW fans of 30 years ago were so concerned about us... and saved us the OS albums of, say, Jaws 2, Temple of Doom, and The Eiger Sanction in pristine conditions!
 
And anyway, if you're actually so concerned about future fans (and not just paying lip service, which I almost suspect), you should consider selling your specialty editions in 10, 20, 30 years on the secondhand market at fair prices. I'm sure the future fans will appreciate you for that...
 
 
It's just a question of odds. 
 
Not talking about specific cases, but generally, more people will be motivated into buying a product that's limited in availability... 

Of course it's not optimal.
But I think, just ask the lable to make everything available unlimited is practically not an option.
I guess, the OSTs officially never were limited. And even there today you are searching to get the OSTs of the old movies. If the big record companies don't get it managed to print the OSTs forever for all the fans to come, how should the speciallity labels be able to compensate that?
 
By the way, I could imagine because of the limitation the expansions sell even better than they would do, if they were unlimited. Someone said it before. Some might think, they are not too interested and so if they become interested one day, they could buy it at any time. so they don't buy it. But if it is limited, they think, if I get interested when it is already sold out I am doomed, so I buy it now.
This might not apply to Harry Potter or Jurassic Park. But in general, I could imagine, that this is the case.

For myself, getting expansions over the decades has been a delight, and part of the fun of being a soundtrack fan.  The delayed gratification made me appreciate both album arrangements and the newly released material when it came out.  I wouldn't change that for the world, because when there's a cue you want, but don't have, it shapes your estimation of all of it, for better or worse.  A new fan who gets everything all in one shot is denied the thrill of the yearning and the satisfaction of the new release.  I'd imagine someone whose first exposure to these scores is the complete score will regard little incidental cues very differently than those of us who hungered for them for decades.
 
A weird psychology, I know, but I enjoyed growing up in the OST era, and now living through the expansion era.

Why is everybody so worried about those poor future JWFans? They will enter this fandom with fully digitilized complete soundtracks in brillant sound quality. 
I started in the early 80s with LPs, I bought the TESB score five times. Six, if I count in the Gerhardt recording. There was not much available. You had to go through a lot of record stores to find what you were looking for.
Why should I feel pitty for those upcoming fans because don't have all those brillant physical releases available at once in unrestricted amount?

I feel like the most popular scores (Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Jurassic Park) will most certainly be re-released in the future, one way or another. Maybe in a slightly different, improved form, kind of like how Jaws and E.T. keep getting released over and over again, even to this day... In that sense, they're not really limited. 
 
But I'm not so sure about the less popular scores like Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, and Always. I think the interest in those scores will be so little, they won't bother with those anymore. Those fans who wish to own these scores complete, say, 20 years from now will likely be looking to download them online or somehow get them secondhand... 

This question was a lot tougher for me. 
 
On the one hand, of course I want every fan who wants to get the scores they want to have the ability to go and get those scores and enjoy them to the fullest like so many of us have been fortunate enough to do.  This keeps the music alive, preserved and keeps these labels who have dedicated their working lives to these things in business and doing the work that we have enjoyed the fruits of so far.
 
On the other hand, I started collecting this stuff when I was 14 (now about to turn 39) that is a lot of time saving and scrounging and collecting. Of course I still want people to have access but I can't lie there's a certain feeling I get when I look at the cd shelves in my office and think... You know I'm probably one of only 5000 to 10000 people on the planet with this kind of collection. Picking up these beautiful packages of music and knowing I can't just go to Walmart or Amazon to get them... there's something to that... I know that the days of the CD are numbered and these physical releases are probably only going to last so long but for now I'm enjoying the heck out of the music and the game of collecting. 
 
After all is said and done, I think the idea of limited physical releases and unlimited digital releases that has been mentioned here is a good idea (assuming the business side of things would ever work out!) It allows both camps to co-exist and in the end it's about getting the people who love this music a chance to hear it and feel like part of this family. So if I have to lose part of that pride when something in the Varese club comes out digital that I've treasured as physical for so long that others get to share in it... so be it and we're better for it. 
 
[Edit: and I just noticed it only took me almost 20 years to hit 500 posts.... that's pathetic lol ]

Logically, digital release is the ONLY possible way to release music in an unlimited  way. EVERY physical release is limited naturally. 
And if I just have the choice between a limited physical release and an unlimited digital I would always prefer the limited physical. 
 

Maybe I will, but if I do, it's because I actually came around, and not because 99% of the masses think so. That's how the biggest problems of the world always starts... blindly following the masses... 
 
That said, I don't have that strong an opinion on this topic anyway (like, "I need them to be limited!"). I think I'd just as be content if these editions weren't limited at all - I'd get them, either way, of course, most of us would. I just wanted to kick off an interesting discussion is all.

This is why having those releases available digitally, also with a digital booklet, might be a great solution!
 
Limited physical releases but unlimited digital ones would be a great compromise.

What? You think we have a God-given right to own something like music, books, cars etc.? Nobody does. It's just a question of supply and demand. Basic economics. 
 
If a limited edition of a car is sold out, would I claim I have the right to own it and go stealing it somewhere? It's an extreme example, but it proves the same point. 

Everybody has a right to own this...? So you had to act illegally...? 
 
O-kay.  Not sure I agree with this at all. 
 
 
 

The only asshole is the person who feels the need to call people who has a different opinion names. 
 
Anyway, limited edition (or special edition, or collector's edition etc.) is a standard business practice these days, a marketing incentive to entice a small core group of fans. I don't strictly object to it (and no, I have never resold anything JW related in my life!), although yeah, there are a few cases in the past where I myself missed out on something because something was limited. One business practice I object to way more is "double dipping" or "milking," where a company will release the same product multiple times, with only the slightest changes or improvements. 

Apparently USB isn't as clean an interconnect as you'd think, especially if the cable runs longer or thinner, and bits can become lost along the way. And it doesn't transmit a steady stream like optical cables do, rather it sends data in "packets", which can make it prone to errors, and some soundcards aren't as good as others. Very interesting.
 
I'll have to switch computers and see if my other one sounds better. If not, it might be the cheapie USB cable itself that came with the DAC.

Then we still have these possibilities:
- An expanded Hook is coming out on CD, but not this year
- An expanded Hook is coming out this year, but not on CD
- Hook is coming out on CD this year, but it's not expanded
- An expanded Hook is coming out on CD this year, but no one told Mike
 
Take your pick!

Bit of a red flag that Mike used transfers from 2011 to assemble this Mondo remaster. I would've thought, if any new expansion of Hook was in the works, that new high-resolution transfers would be commissioned (considering multiple reels were missing/lost in 2011, and it's unclear if the rest were even first-generation masters).
 
So... this news is pretty deflating to me.
 
The comment about Star Wars doesn't inspire confidence either. It feels like we've heard that sentiment ever since the license reverted to Disney, but it's been radio silence ever since. Every time I (naively) get my hopes up that an anniversary or a new film or the completion of a trilogy might trigger it... nothing happens.
 
We're stuck between rolling lockdowns in Australia and soundtrack expansions are one of the few things to look forward to. I'm eternally grateful to Mike and all the labels for their work behind the scenes, but it's so frustrating how these highly-coveted scores seem to be endlessly stuck in no-man's-land.

I openly admit I’m grasping at straws here, but note that (ever the tight-lipped diplomat), he doesn’t say he hasn’t been working on one, just that one is unlikely to be released this year.
 
I know how desperate this makes me sound, but I’m among my people here, right? You feel me.
 
[mopes quietly in dark room]
 
Mark

I had more fun reading this thread than watching most comedy movies. 

FIrst post here so be nice.
I  LOVE John Williams music--and have for decades (back to 1977 and the first star wars movie).
However, upon listening to this soundtrack (ok, I heard it first while watching the movie), the track  
Rise of Skywalker sounds to me like a song from a totally different movie. 
I starting singing the words "forever and a life time" to the horns---which I know is not from star wars! (I think frozen???) 
starting at :58...yes, I am probably crazy, but I know that theme from a non-star wars movie.
I know that composers reuse themes (ET is in Harry Potter, and James Horner Krull and Star Trek II), so could it be one of his previous themes that I am hearing?
Otherwise, I, too, am missing the battle scene music (like March of the resistance or Scherzo for X-wings).