The State of Deluxe Albums

Back in the early 2000s, deluxe albums were pretty straightforward. On release day, you had two options: the standard album or the deluxe edition, which usually had 3-5 extra songs for those willing to spend a bit more. If an artist wanted to release another version down the line, it was usually called a "re-release" (think The Fame Monster or Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded), but at least everything was clearly labeled and easy to keep track of.

Fast forward to today, and the concept of a "deluxe album" has become a complete mess. Instead of getting everything upfront, artists will randomly drop a "digital deluxe" weeks or months later, often without a physical release at all. Then comes the era of "variants"—different store exclusives, vinyl colorways, and multiple versions of the same album, each with exclusive bonus tracks spread across them. Some albums have ten different variants, meaning fans either have to shell out absurd amounts of money or resort to YouTube rips just to hear all the extra songs.

At this point, the whole system feels more like a marketing strategy than an actual artistic decision. What happened to just getting the complete experience on day one? Are artists even excited about these bonus tracks, or are they just being saved to sell more copies down the line?

What are your thoughts? Do you miss the old way of doing deluxe albums, or do you like the way things are now?

EDIT: I'm mostly talking about physical releases / collecting, not streaming.