Bootlegs of the bootleg

Asian bootleg of the Beatles “Bootleg Recordings 1963”

You saw that one coming, didn’t you? Here are the first Asian hard copies of the Beatles’ “Bootleg Recordings 1963”. Of course, not every Beatles fan everywhere in the world is able to download songs off the internet. In Asia, a lot of them don’t even own computers. Heck, even in Europe and the USA, many collectors will not purchase records that are not available on physical discs.

Thanks to Dirk Bock, who first posted the photos of these underground releases. Of course, we shouldn’t call these bootlegs, but I thought that was a good title for the story. Technically, these are not bootlegs but pirate records, bordering on counterfeits.

Dictionary:

Counterfeit: Mimics a real record, trying to pass it on as the real deal. Purchased by the general public or fans who can’t afford the real record. The artists lose money.

Pirate record: Puts together official tracks on a disc and does not attempt to mimic an official record. Purchased by the general public and sells in large quantities. The artists lose money.

Bootleg: Contains only material that the artist has not given an official release. Purchased by only die-hard fans who needs to have every scrap of material from the artist. The artists do not lose any money, because they have chosen not to release it for money themselves.

Traditionally, the record industry doesn’t distinguish between these different types of underground releases, typically branding all three categories as “pirate records”.

Isn’t it funny that this release, which the record company was originally just going to “sneak out”, ended up doing so well on the iTunes charts worldwide, even at the inflated price tag they put on it? With a little help from this blog.