When I’m trying to trim a 75-song playlist down to, say 20 songs to fit onto a CD, I dump the rejects into into a backup playlist – something like “listname – discards” – just in case I want to pull something back. That doesn’t mean I really think those tracks are discards – every cut is painful. The editors at iTMS are smarter than that.
Rather than throw away what won’t fit, they put the extra tracks into playlists called “Next Steps” and “Deep Cuts.” Then they also give you the option of buying all the tape on the cutting room floor, with “Complete Set.” The really brilliant part is that as you flip between tabs, you’re hard-pressed to figure out which list is the best, so the temptation to buy the Complete Set is high. At .99 cents/track, who wouldn’t find ways to sell you the scraps?
Resist the completist attitude. Resist. Resist.