> Perhaps they value the publicity (and resulting discussion of their work as "serious art") more than the extra money a regular release could have brought. ..

> Perhaps they value the publicity (and resulting discussion of their work as "serious art") more than the extra money a regular release could have brought. ... which is exactly what the previous posters said: The album isn't good enough to sell great and would likely hurt them in the long run and so a gimmick release will at least have positive publicity and wouldn't ruin the brand. If it was good enough, that publicity would outshine the gimmick release and would also bring in more money short-term.