Earlier this year, Apple Music published a viral — and controversial — list of its 100 best albums, as curated by a survey of editors from across the spectrum of music critics and journalists. While its contents drew some criticism from fans online, it certainly garnered plenty of attention — but was it enough attention to justify a $450 hardcover book?
That’s what Apple is banking on, with its announcement today that it’ll be publishing the book with luxury lifestyle brand Assouline. Part of the list price is due to its limited availability; only 1,500 copies will be published, with their individual edition numbers etched on the covers. The interiors will also be hand-numbered, while the pages are said to bear gilded edges. Each of the 100 essays will be accompanied by full-page album illustrations, and the whole thing will feature a foreword from Zane Lowe, the Creative Director of Apple Music 1 radio.
The announcement has unsurprisingly sparked wide-ranging reactions from commenters on Twitter (never calling it “X,” be serious), as music fans criticized the cover price and roasted the list itself all over again. “Apple is releasing a $450 Apple Music coffee table book (a la the $300 Designed by Apple book I still regret not buying) and the price isn’t what is making me laugh,” summed up one commenter. “It’s that it’s for Apple’s truly unhinged 100 Albums of All Time list. It’s not a good list! I cannot imagine making such a beautiful book for such a terrible list!”
Another wrote bluntly, “Anyone who spends $450 on that limited run Apple Music book celebrating its 100 best albums deserves to be smacked over the head with it.”
Still, despite the controversy over the list and book’s price, there were plenty of positive reactions — and pledges to drop the equivalent of a car note to secure the potential collector’s item. You can find more information about the book and pre-order it here.