Some of the more popular songs like Sting's Desert Rose etc. seem to be collisions or shadowing where one version of a song is replaced by another (different) version/mix/edit of the same song (e.g. single vs. album version). This certainly seems to be a recurring issue with Apple Music. I wonder though if some editions such as promo versions or radio edits simply weren't released to the general public to begin with.
Some massive dance classics on this list; nice to see versions that bafflingly weren't on streaming. (Come to think of it I have lots of songs that sadly don't match properly on Apple Music - even some I purchased from the iTunes store.)
There's a version of Space Cowboy by Jamiroquai that didn't pop up in any store for years. It's called Stoned Again, which in itself is an alteration and combination of the David Morales Classic Club Mix and the original music video version. For years until it was released on Apple Music the only versions you could get were the original, the Good Vibes Zone Extended Remix or the David Morales Classic Club Mix. I don't know if the shortened 3:23 long music video version's even available as audio only either.
There's an ongoing problem that's somewhat related where the newest release version of a song is the only one you can download. It's related to music rights and royalties, thus storefronts get talked into carrying a version that a different group of people can get money from. It's becoming a real problem because so many of these remasters do things like tape noise removal or leveling compression that severely unbalance the original mixes. Listening to ZZ Top's 2006 Fandango! remaster for example is unsettling because if you're used to the original 1975 release you notice right away the highhats getting reduced or the increased volume of the bass on what were originally live stage recorded songs. But many services do not have the original 1975 recordings or their 1988 digital transfers. If it weren't for preservationists doing manual transfers of well kept but now quickly degrading physical media and spreading them via piracy then all we would have would be these new remasters for a lot of songs.
> or leveling compression that severely unbalance the original mixes. Listening to ZZ Top's 2006 Fandango! remaster
Remasters from ~2003-2013 are terrible because they were mastered in part for listening on shitty iPod earbuds, since that was going to be a large slice of the listening experience for a lot of people.
Later on, as higher-end monitors became more popular, remastering flipped back to being (mostly) good.
This is also why a lot of audiophiles are still confused and keep repeating the “vinyl masters are better” ad nauseam. For that period they were. But before or after that time, a proper digital mastering was already better than vinyl due to the bigger available dynamic range.
a parallel problem I'm seeing is artists re-recording their hits in an attempt to have a second shot at making money after getting screwed by the record companies in the initial release. I can't blame the artists, of course, but my ear is trained to expect a very particular sequence of sounds and their re-recordings just don't cut it for me, despite their attempts to faithfully re-create every part of the original (other people appreciate music differently, thats fine).
> radio edits weren't released to the general public
There's one good version and one bad version of Morrissey's Irish Blood, English Heart and for some reason only the bad version with added sound effects and tame ending is the one I keep finding on YouTube.
Some massive dance classics on this list; nice to see versions that bafflingly weren't on streaming. (Come to think of it I have lots of songs that sadly don't match properly on Apple Music - even some I purchased from the iTunes store.)