Lucas-owned Lucasfilm never bothered to release the original soundtracks after the SE. I’d say it’s a step in the right direction given that they’re putting both versions out there for people to purchase.
Not anymore. There is no digital download of the SE soundtrack anymore on iTunes or Amazon. Only the original soundtracks are available in mp3 now. Was thinking about buying the ROTJ album when I noticed this.
EDIT: the Ultimate edition compilation has also been pulled, but that’s more likely a copyright thing as that was distributed by Sony.
They were all put out by Sony. Sony had the rights to the music until Jan 1 of this year. So everything Sony did has either been pulled or is now out of print.
Honestly I think the best thing that we can hope that the pulling of the SE soundtracks means is that Disney has plans to make their own comprehensive complete scores for all the films. I really don’t think we can read anything at all into this about their plans for the OOT, most don’t really associate the soundtracks with any particular version of the film.