When an artist releases a single after the album it is on, do the earlier pressings of the album miss that particular song?
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Back in the old days (ie the 80s), no, they would release a single to advertise an album and keep releasing singles as long as they could to keep up the album sales. I believe Michael Jackson holds the record for having 4 top 10 singles from one album
I used to have a rule that I didn’t buy an album until it had 3 singles released that I liked.
**For physical copies?** Yes. There is no way to reasonably recall a bunch of already purchased albums. Nor would the record label be particularly interested in doing so.
These become the first pressing that didn’t have Xxx song on it or had the bad drum mixing on track 7. Sometimes these become collectible. Sometimes they are just relegated to the dustbin.
**For electronic copies?** No. It is relatively easy to release an updated download link. Assuming the artist or record label is interested in giving you these new songs for free.
Alternately, they package the new version with more songs as the “extended edition”, “collector’s edition” or “Target Exclusive Christmas Edition” and get the fans to re-buy the whole album.
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