US and UK versions of albums (and others): why do they exist?
 

Do record companies really think that shuffling the order of the tracks on an album and switching out a song or two will really appeal more to one market or the other? Or is it all a big scam to get people to buy both the domestic and the import versions of an album?

Your thoughts?

Heh. Good point. I forgot about the Japanese version phenomenon.

Some albums are released later in the opposing country so sometimes B sides and other tracks that were recorded after are added on. It's exactly the same with DVD'S too. The amount of stuff that goes missing extra wise is ridiculous sometimes. In fact that gives me a little pointer. I know that some extras don't have the copyright in different countries or the release label doesn't so maybe that's the same with CD's?

That is true. It is rather annoying too. However, going back to the origanal point of the thread..
The US market seems to have it good. A lot of albums have the "Best Buy" bonus tracks, which since i live in the UK i cannot get. And then we have itunes bonus tracks. Which means i have to buy a digital copy of the album. Now, call me crazy, but i prefer to have a physical copy of the album.
Plus, bonus tracks are sometimes some of the better songs on the album.

Often, tracks are removed or replaced on one version for objectionable content.

It may also be a question of formats. Magical Mystery Tour of the Beatles was always an EP with 6 songs on it in the original release. In the States, Capitol decided that the EP format is unlikely to be a big seller, so they made it into an LP, reordering the tracks on the first side and adding all the Beatles' singles of the time on the second side.

What about an album like Three Imaginary Boys/Boys Don't Cry by the Cure? The two versions are almost the exact same length and I don't think the changes had anything to do with objectionable content.

Does one include a particular single, and the other one not?

Hard to say. Each album has a couple tracks the other doesn't have. And the song order is different but I've never understood the reasoning behind the two different versions of the album.

The record company as usual probably thought that the rearrangement of the song order and inclusion of certain material not in the other would be beneficial to the public reception of the album. Micro-marketing.

As for bonus tracks in Japan, it's probably to deter them from buying imports before the record is released on their home turf. Possible larger discrepancy in release dates?? Alternatively it may be that there are different expectations of the length of an LP there, so that anything falling short of that length will end up with added material.

Nice guess but somewhat wrong, the expectations of length of the LP is correct but it's not because of a standard. It's because albums are/were more expensive in Japan, which is why the bonus tracks are added. It's to furher entice the listener to part with the extra money.