Fans suffering from "Unreleased Syndrome"

[Strangelove 1,546]

I didn't know what to name the thread but recently online on YouTube and IG I have noticed what I call 'Unreleased Syndrome'. It is similar to the placebo effect or other behaviors that examine people reacting to false information. 

 

My first example would be Architecture. When it leaked the reception from fans online was very positive and had people looking forward to the album. Now that it is released in its final format, fans say they like the unreleased version better. 

 

Another example is the Venice Bitch demo she released. I have noticed the same attitude toward the demo version being better than final. A lot of times I read on YouTube and here "this should've replaced the released version." When Black Beauty was released I remember many fans expressing their disappointment with the released version. 

 

So now at this point, I think a lot of the sentiment toward unreleased music being "better" is because of what I'm calling Unreleased Syndrome. Essentially because fans see that a song is unreleased, they become under the impression any variant of the song afterward is inferior. In reality the released version is better or would've been actually more liked among fans if she kept it unreleased in favor of the released version. 

 

A contemporary example is this prank. Basically the prank had low quality shoes masked as high end, designer shoes. Because people assigned a certain quality to the items they can be heard calling the shoes "high quality" when in reality they were from Payless. Below is the video.

 

 

The funny thing about this experiment is that the opposite placements would have had the same effect. If people walked into a designer store masked as a off-brand store, they would probably not notice the higher quality of the designer garments. Similarly fans can dismiss (mistake) the high quality released music for lower quality music as they can hear the unreleased versions. 

 

I would be interested for there to be some kind of study where 100 Lana fans listened to two versions of a song (unreleased then released) and picked which one they liked better versus 100 Lana non-fans. I honestly believe the non-fan group would choose the released versions each time, or it would be 50/50, because they are unbiased.

 

I think there are so many factors as to why this happens. I think the driving factor is the human instinct to go "What if...?" in many situations when it is unreasonable. I think there is something else called Impression Bias where people are less likely to identify a positive choice when surrounded by other negative choices. But maybe some users here can better explain some of the elements at play. This is not exclusive to Lana fans... I think it very common in a lot of media whether it be film, video games or other musicians. 

 

Have you ever suffered from Unreleased Syndrome? What do you think on this phenomenon? 

 

Wikipedia article detailing Soviet nostalgia linked below. I was reminded of Surf Noir's comment about recency bias. It's worth a read in the context of this conversation. 

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostalgia_for_the_Soviet_Union

[SoftwareUpgrade 19,230]

I suffer from LeakBritishBoys-iatus

 

[Strangelove 1,546]

1 minute ago, SoftwareUpgrade said:

I suffer from LeakBritishBoys-iatus

 

Is British Boys an unreleased songs? Or is it supposed to sound like LanaBoards? Haha, I am confused. 

[Mer 52,190]

I think part of it, too, is nostalgia. We get leaks that are usually from an era, or many, prior--and since Lana's sound has changed tremendously through the eras--it takes people back to that time in her career and that time in their life. I think "Melancholia" benefitted from the nostalgia of the UV era immensely, bc it is quite a rough and slightly awkward song. 

 

That said, I agree that false "scarcity" or this idea of "exclusivity" around leaks is what drives the fascination. Look at "Riverside". I'm sure if UFB gets released in 7 years, no one will really bat an eye then either. And if "Candy Necklace" had been the outtake instead, we'd all be begging for that song. 

[SoftwareUpgrade 19,230]

3 minutes ago, Dior said:

Is British Boys an unreleased songs? Or is it supposed to sound like LanaBoards? Haha, I am confused. 

 

It is an unreleased Poppy song, Bubblebath era (2014/15/16)! Every now and then, we get drip fed snippets, but it's one of the more wanted ones from that era- that, and Fountain Of Youth

[Glitter Boy 16,220]

I'm just going to say that the Best American Record demo lyrics are superior by far. I'm a sucker for unreleased music but I rarely prefer it over released stuff, unless a demo is better to me (like BAR).

[Let the Light In 15,175]

You did it all for fame >>>

[Surf Noir 189,266]

it may have to do with people wanting to appear a bit contrarian, or perhaps there's a bit of recency-bias, something that is new and not as familiar to them may seem more appealing or better, but after a while they may feel differently once the dust has settled

 

it depends on how different the demo is compared to the released version, it would make sense why fans may have very different opinions about lust for life, let me love you like a woman, and their demos, lust for life was mellow, spacey, atmospheric, with thought-provoking and introspective lyrics, and became more of a conventional 2010s pop song with a feature, pink champagne was rock-inspired, 6 minutes long, reminiscent of classic rock songs from the 80s, and perfectly fit the sound and feel of the ultraviolence era, and it was changed into a sparse, acoustic, mellow ballad, one could understand why some people may prefer the demos, some would even consider them objectively better

 

it would make the most sense to say that the album versions are objectively the best, because they are the finished product, which are also properly mixed and mastered, but it also comes down to personal preference, for example, i prefer the demo version of million dollar man as opposed to the album version, because i think the album version is a little over-produced, the demo is raw in a way that almost sounds more natural and polished compared to the album version because i personally feel like the song works better as something more simple, sometimes less is more, but some demos can be really lacking, such as without you (demo 2), that song really shines with more production and a more polished sound

[blackenedrussianpoetry 1,837]

Huh. Never was much of a fan of TNBAR lfl version truly I think she made it better with NFR and the only thing that made the demo/lust version stood out would only be the outro which she removed… to me- that’s only it

the rest of it- norman’s tnbar stood out a lot to me at least

[Mer 52,190]

2 minutes ago, Glitter Boy said:

I'm just going to say that the Best American Record demo lyrics are superior by far.

 

Architecture and Pink Champagne are two that I can objectively say have better lyrics than their released counterparts. 

[joeboe30 155]

i know for thunder the production was actually reworked which completely changed the song for me. i like the roughness of the demo even if it wasn't meant to be heard yet. also nothing can convince me that pink champagne isn't miles ahead lmlylaw

[Strangelove 1,546]

4 minutes ago, Mer said:

I think part of it, too, is nostalgia. We get leaks that are usually from an era, or many, prior--and since Lana's sound has changed tremendously through the eras--it takes people back to that time in her career and that time in their life. I think "Melancholia" benefitted from the nostalgia of the UV era immensely, bc it is quite a rough and slightly awkward song. 

 

That said, I agree that false "scarcity" or this idea of "exclusivity" around leaks is what drives the fascination. Look at "Riverside". I'm sure if UFB gets released in 7 years, no one will really bat an eye then either. And if "Candy Necklace" had been the outtake instead, we'd all be begging for that song. 

I am very convinced if she released a song like Say Yes To Heaven or Your Girl, fan favorites, on Ultraviolence it would've replaced a track like Pretty When You Cry or Sad Girl. Then either those two unreleased songs would've been fan favorites. Imagine snippets of Pretty When You Cry leaking, fans would be begging for the full. The psychology is so weird, brains are fantastically incorrect so often. 

3 minutes ago, joeboe30 said:

i know for thunder the production was actually reworked which completely changed the song for me. i like the roughness of the demo even if it wasn't meant to be heard yet. also nothing can convince me that pink champagne isn't miles ahead lmlylaw

Pink Champagne is troubling for me because I truly believe if it was the other way around fans would've been upset the Let Me Love You Like A Woman version wasn't released. Also that's a part I missed. The rawness of the songs has some appeal, but at the very same time I have seen more cooked songs that are different versions get more fan love than the raw versions. Honeymoon is what I am talking about.  

[Surf Noir 189,266]

1 minute ago, Dior said:

I am very convinced if she released a song like Say Yes To Heaven or Your Girl, fan favorites, on Ultraviolence it would've replaced a track like Pretty When You Cry or Sad Girl. Then either those two unreleased songs would've been fan favorites. Imagine snippets of Pretty When You Cry leaking, fans would be begging for the full. The psychology is so weird, brains are fantastically incorrect so often. 

 

i've been saying for a while now that if guns and roses were a leaked track it would be a fan-favorite  

[Strangelove 1,546]

Just now, Surf Noir said:

 

i've been saying for a while now that if guns and roses were a leaked track it would be a fan-favorite  

It's troubling because there no denying this psychological phenomenon. It doesn't make any sense. It's wild to think a lot of fan favorites even so are in fact edited songs or not real at all. So in a way it's an extension of Unreleased Syndrome. Because once the "real" track leaks, fans will say the previously leaked version was worse. What is this called... Is anyone majoring in Pyschology?

[Veinsineon 70,666]

Once I told someone my grandma was dying and she wanted to hear BAR before she’d gone… I was like 15 

 

I think it’s just a product of the generation that grew up on the internet and our desensitization to things

[lanaismamom 11,181]

there no Syndrome or issue in it

she just did the song worse, not the fact that is was released😭 the fact that she changed immaculate lyrics in best americsn record (that has never called architecture, thsts a fan title) and killed the mood, also she took away that iconic intro... if only she wouldve released og version id stan the same

what else lol, thats it, the rest of songs she reworked very and very much and i didn't see people praised demo more than released

So i dont see the thing that u described here 

[Strangelove 1,546]

Just now, Veinsineon said:

Once I told someone my grandma was dying and she wanted to hear BAR before she’d gone… I was like 15 

Oh my god Veinsineon this is so morbid haha. I remember when I was younger I tried to convince my mom to let me see Lana at Urban Outfitters... Was that the store? Anyway I pleaded with her I would run away if she didn't let me go. I had $50 and a dream... 

[BartenderDeco 19,402]

i’m suffering from unreleased withdrawal

someone leak paradise pls

[lanaismamom 11,181]

yosemite is a great example when the song got released but I love it the same as i loves it when i didn't heard it

uv era idk there every song is iconic Unreleased or not, almost every song is a strong contender for the release and wouldnt be spoiled 

[Surf Noir 189,266]

37 minutes ago, Dior said:

It's troubling because there no denying this psychological phenomenon. It doesn't make any sense. It's wild to think a lot of fan favorites even so are in fact edited songs or not real at all. So in a way it's an extension of Unreleased Syndrome. Because once the "real" track leaks, fans will say the previously leaked version was worse. What is this called... Is anyone majoring in Pyschology?

 

i mentioned it in my earlier post, but it could be recency-bias, whatever is new will be more exciting for our minds, also, regarding demos with different sounds leaking, it's sort've like a "the grass is greener on the other side" kind of phenomenon, when a demo of a song leaks and it's noticeably different, it makes us think of what could've been, but at the same time, i think some people can just listen to a demo/earlier iteration of a song and maybe just prefer it, especially when it's very, very different, like pink champagne, or lust for life (demo 1) i don't think that means there's some psychological effect there, it's been over 3 years since the first lust for life demo leaked and i still prefer it over the album version (i still like the album version though)