Naturally, these things are sold anyway. A number of copies invariably make their way to the secondary market sometimes they are provided outright to dealers, to pay for manufacturing expenses and are sold at escalating, obscene prices. So, simultaneous with a composer desperately mailing out copies of his CD, barely able to give them away, you've got collectors paying hundreds of dollars for a single copy. It is true that there are a handful of quality, desirable scores only available on promotional CDs. However, I strongly urge collectors, before going mad over getting the latest promo CD, to stop and ask yourself if this is something you really want.
Bootlegs are another story.
And when big copyright holders see their material getting pirated, they react by clamping down on that music and refusing to license it. The reality is, bootlegs aren't going to be valuable collectibles, either. We are rapidly approaching an age where digital storage and duplication is so easy, everybody can have access to everything. Bootlegs usually have such delinquent packaging and substandard sound, they are hardly nice items to own and if it's the music you want, pretty soon it will be cheaper to get a CD-R copy from somebody who did buy the bootleg, than to buy a copy yourself. All rights reserved.