What I still don’t know: does the 2nd printing have the slip-case that Sony promised but failed to deliver before?
By Stephen Pate – Sony / Simon and Schuster have a new printing of The Lyrics: Since 1962
In the end, The Lyrics: Since 1962 is an awesome book for Bob Dylan fans and collectors with its art book approach to the lyrics of every Bob Dylan song up to Bootleg No. 10 plus annotations of variations by Christopher Ricks. However, a promise made is a promise to be kept.
“Now a promise made is a debt unpaid, and the trail has its own stern code.” Cremation of Sam McGee, Robert Service
Slip-Case or no slip-case
When The Lyrics: Since 1962
Check out the PDF I made of the page on BobDylan.com that advertised the book – The Lyrics_ Since 1962 now available _ The Official Bob Dylan Site
The Lyrics: Since 1962 “this slip-case edition”
When I got my copy of the book, there wasn’t a slip-case so I wrote Sony. Within hours they removed the picture of the slip-case, changed the text and told Amazon.com they made a mistake. Amazon.com offered some people a 20% discount. Sony did not reply to my email.
If you think I’m making this up, see my story with all the details Case Of The Missing Bob Dylan Slip-Case.
In October, Michael Gray, noted author of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia,
Lo and behold, Sony sent me a press release December 16, 2014 promising the slip-case again for the 2nd printing. There is the same promise Sony failed to deliver in October.
“Almost 1,000 pages and 13 pounds, this slip-case edition is roughly the size of an LP record, and is being published as a limited edition.”
Email announcing 2nd printing with slip case
Wow! This time customers will get a slipcase. Sorry probably not since the link to Amazon.com is for the same part number for The Lyrics: Since 1962 and that SKU does not have the slipcase.
Woodward and Bernstein to the rescue
I was brought up by a journalist father in the era of Watergate. Woodward and Bernstein could sniff out a story and I see myself in their shadow. I wrote the person at Sony who sent the press release, hoping for clarification or a slipcase.
Where is the slipcase
“Are you really shipping with the slip-case this time? And will you honor the advertised promise of a slip-case with the first edition. Read my story for the details Case Of The Missing Bob Dylan Slip-Case
Sony is a big multinational company with an excellent reputation for being honest and great customer service. I expect them to deliver what was promised. What do you think? Is that wrong?”
Do you think Sony will write back? So far there has not been a peep out of them. We need a Deep Throat on this story to find out the truth.
Here’s Sony Marketing email if you want to ask yourself – d2cfeedback@sonymusic.com.
One thing I never thought of until now: what if the North Koreans have all the slipcases? Just sayin’.
There I’ve written that word “slipcase” so many times I almost detest it, that is unless they send us one and we will gladly accept what we were promised.
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Kirk McElhearn
Well, I’d say the first thing to question is the fact that they call this a limited edition; it’s clearly not limited, as they’ve made a second printing, and will presumably make others. It’s not numbered as true limited editions are, but they are certainly disingenuous in calling it limited.
I bought mine from Amazon UK, and it said nothing about a slipcase. In the first info I saw (I think on the Dylan website), it was clear that only the signed, limited $5000 edition had a slipcase.
Markus Prieur
I still believe the edition could be limited to the numbers mentioned in the original announcement, until I see otherwise in an officialstatement that there will be more than 3.500. They would owe us this information. But I think it is also possible that they may not have expected to see so many “early” orders, so they did not print all 3.000 plus 500 in the first print run, thus creating the one month waiting period for the second print run (3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2), a copy of which I have received last Friday.
Stephen Pate
I’m sorry but you are mistaken. The original ad on BobDylan.com and the new press release/email says the edition has a slipcase. They showed the slipcase edition until I pointed it out to them in an email. I screen copied both and they are in the story. It says “Almost 1,000 pages and 13 pounds, this slip-case edition is roughly the size of an LP record, and is being published as a limited edition.”
The story then links to the Amazon.com SKU. The signed edition was never available from Amazon.com and the signed edition had its own press release and destination to buy.
Stephen Pate
“Back in print” that implies a new print run unless they ran out of paper the first time, or ink. 🙂
Stepeanut
No, I’m not mistaken. I do not doubt that the original press release was poorly written, and did not distinguish between the regular and signed editions. And, as I have said, the most recent press release repeated bad information from the former. But Amazon’s product description was clear, and I do not feel cheated in any way. I bought the product that was described.
Press releases are often poorly written, and filled with hyperbole; what they are not is a legal contract. Much as I would love to have a slipcase, we are not owed one.
Stephen Pate
Do you work for Sony because you seem to want to apologize for their bad English? A promise made is a promise to keep. I didn’t write either press release or the BobDylan.com ad. Sony did. In contract law its called the offer. If you make an offer during a business transaction then you must keep it. Offers in writing are easy to prove. It’s like telling someone they get 3 bathrooms in a house and only delivering 1 or 2. Or that the house has 1 acre of land when it only has half an acre in the conveyance.
Stepeanut
No, I don’t work for Sony, and I’m not apologising for their press release; I’ve simply given you my take on it. I also understand basic contract law, so no need for you to pontificate on that subject. If you bought the book through Amazon, as I did, they made an invitation to treat when they advertised the book on their website. You then made the offer when you completed the order process, and Amazon accepted when they took payment from your card. This is a legally binding contract; Sony’s press release is not. If you feel you have a legal case against Sony, feel free to contact a lawyer. Good luck with that.
Bob
I’m so glad I passed on this the first time, even though I was very tempted. The limited edition thing does it for me. It is wrong to charge a very high price and say it is limited to 3500 copies and then simply print more when you see the demand is large. It is a bait and switch. You think you are getting a collectible that is sought after and going up in value, when you are getting an overpriced monstrosity that will only go down in value the more they make.
Stephen Pate
It’s not a press release: it’s an advertisement which forms part of the sale contract. But who cares? Companies lie in their ads and the count on exactly what you are suggesting – hire a lawyer and sue, an impossible task unless people at TO’d enough to form a class action lawsuit, for what? a slipcase. Amazon.com is a much more ethical company than Sony. They offered either a full refund or a 20% discount. There are apparently enough people who want the slip cover they may be able to get one in 2015 for the 20% kickback. As I watch the stories about Sony’s hack, it makes me wonder who really cares? I am not a hacker nor do I condone criminal activity but I’d suggest Sony has built a reputation on taking advantage of people for decades. I’ve owned Sony gear when it was overpriced but had excellent specs, then overpriced and as poorly built as anything else. I know one thing about Sony: they have more lawyers than A&R people. That’s so they can sue anyone who gets in their way. There are a lot of people silently saying “good enough for them.”
Kirk McElhearn
I’ve worked in publishing for a long time. There’s no way they would have only printed part of a limited run; the setup costs for any print run are expensive.
I read that there were 5,000 copies total, and specifically 500 reserved for the UK. Also, as you point out, the books contain that series of numbers showing which print run they are, which wouldn’t be in a limited edition book.
timetogohome
Here’s something about this project that you may find interesting: http://www.bu.edu/bostonia/winter-spring15/in-the-service-of-bob-dylans-genius/
Stephen Pate
Thanks. It’s a great article.