Mastering the tapes costs money (especially from old videotapes that play on a machine that's been obsolete for 30 years). Manufacturing costs money. I suppose they'll advertise too. Making a record is like anything else, you can do it cheaply, but when you do, you get cheap results. Or you can do it up right and get good "deluxe" results.
I bought the Prince
Sign "O" The Times box set and I thought, "$150 sure is a lot of money for 9 discs," but the stuff wrapped around the discs is all expensive. The printing of the hardcover book, the packaging, paying people to stick those discs into the packaging, then box them up (even the cardboard shipping box is printed with a
Sign "O" The Times peace symbol), paying to ship, advertising - it all adds up.
But the fact is, I would have paid the price for the discs if they were in plain paper sleeves stuck in a priority mail envelope. Because I wanted to hear what was on them. I suspect the people who buy this record (if it ever gets made) will feel the same.
It's unfortunate that it's vinyl-only, but the kids think that's the ultimate way to hear things (spoiler alert:
it ain't), so what are you gonna do?