How long until artists stop releasing albums entirely?

Freakaholic

not just an addiction
Im in the process of reading a great article on Rick Rubin, and it occurred to me that it cannot be long until artists give up on the notion of the album entirely. Or at least of an album released all at once. Obviously iTunes, and song-by-song downloading are the main culprits, but the seeds have been there a long time. Pop music has long been about two or three hits on an album, and the rest is filler.

In this article, Rick Rubin discusses his process for producing albums:

As they write, they come over and play the songs for me. For some reason, most people will write 10 songs and think, That's enough for a record, I'm done. When they play the songs for me, invariably the last two songs they've written are the best. I'll then say, 'You have two songs, go back and write eight more.'

and:

"And you wonder why people don't buy CDs anymore," Rubin says. "One song is great and the other is. . . . "

This long, drawn-out process could easily lead many artists to simply releasing songs as they are made and recorded. Dont have enough money for 2 weeks of studio time? Record that one song, and release only it. Isnt our pop-music standard based on the 7" anyway? Early Motown artists had only their 7" releases, the albums coming later in "Greatest Hits" formats.

Finally, a subscription service for labels, artists, or even genres would be the final nail in the coffin for the album. Why would anyone go through all the trouble to create a whole album's worth of material to be released at once when they could get each song as it is released....

I say this could begin to happen as early as next year. No later than 2010.
 
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Gavin

booty bass intellectual
Albums will always have a niche market for people that like those sorts of things. And you can have singles comps for as long as recorded media with limited playlengths exist. CDs won't be completely extinct by 2010.

My big desire is for acts I like to give up producing albums and focus on making really excellent tracks. Like LCD Soundsystem; the albums haven't been as good as the early singles in my opinion, and I read an interview with James Murphy where he said he spent as much time on "Yeah" as on the first album. I almost never listen to the albums straight through, but I love the singles, especially the early ones. I guess that's the dance/rock split though.

The problem is that's it's hard for ANYONE to make money off of selling recordings, regardless of genre or how big your label is, and only getting more difficult.

And I'm not sure I buy the "people don't buy CDs because the albums aren't good enough" line. I think that people simply don't care enough in most cases to listen to one artist for over an hour, and now there's nothing forcing them. They can channel-surf endlessly, put their entire collections on shuffle, comb for novelty and surface excitement instead of any kind of deep exploration of a narrow aesthetic.
 

sodiumnightlife

Sweet Virginia
I think the mass appeal of the LP was a phenonemom though...it seems odd to me people are predicting the end of the record industry when its so young. The record industry as we know it is what, 60, 70 years old? That's hardly anything. It's probably just the end of the growth spurt, before the whole thing levels out.

In reference to albums I think the niche thing is right - there will always be people dedicated to listening to music, and those people will always want to listen to and buy albums.
 

noel emits

a wonderful wooden reason
It also makes artistic sense for a lot of musicians to put together collections of songs that are related in some way or were recorded over a period of time. Hence, albums.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
It also makes artistic sense for a lot of musicians to put together collections of songs that are related in some way or were recorded over a period of time. Hence, albums.

It's also a challenge; you can see in grime how, say, Tinchy makes the distinction between putting together tracks for a mixtape and an album, something that to some people would be indistinguishable, making a coherent album is a challenge for an 'artist' and is always gonna be something that some people wish to do, if only to challenge themselves. I can't see that going away.
 

Alfons

Way of the future
In drum & bass the new trend (well last 2-3 years anyway) is to release albums as a series of 12" or as a couple of 2x12". You buy the tunes that you want and leave the rest, a bit similar to buying mp3's of an album in a way. I remember a few years back when people would release albums that were like 8 pices of vinyl, stuff like that wouldn't sell shit today.

Now that I think about it though, proper albums are pretty rare in dnb (and other dance music) maybe it makes 100% sense to split them up.
 

Freakaholic

not just an addiction
I, too, dont see the album as completely disappearing ever. Its an artistic medium that people will always want to use.

But as a product to push sales, and a music industry tool, i can see it dying soon. Especially in pop music.

The creation of the LP changed rock music forever, and in that process changed how we think about the artform, and about the product. But the mp3 seems to be just as motivational in changing the perception of the art, and how it is created. In this respect, i think i can see the album being reduced to a mere "niche" thing and no longer the standard.

Perhaps, then, i should change the tone of this thread to how long until it ceases to be a standard, and instead is seen as something artists also do, like a DVD release, or a greatest hits album, or a 7" single (which has already moved from standard to niche).
 

Gavin

booty bass intellectual
I, too, dont see the album as completely disappearing ever. Its an artistic medium that people will always want to use.

But as a product to push sales, and a music industry tool, i can see it dying soon. Especially in pop music.

The creation of the LP changed rock music forever, and in that process changed how we think about the artform, and about the product. But the mp3 seems to be just as motivational in changing the perception of the art, and how it is created. In this respect, i think i can see the album being reduced to a mere "niche" thing and no longer the standard.

Perhaps, then, i should change the tone of this thread to how long until it ceases to be a standard, and instead is seen as something artists also do, like a DVD release, or a greatest hits album, or a 7" single (which has already moved from standard to niche).

Every change in the recorded medium has brought changes to musical form. The difference now is that mp3s have no limit (cue gold tanks) on length, other than your hard drive space, and no physical artifact keeps them wedded to other similar tracks (by the same artist/label/genre). I think in the future they'll have iTunes plugins that will blend your shuffled mp3 collection into a continuous mix -- they'll call it iDiplo.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
Perhaps, then, i should change the tone of this thread to how long until it ceases to be a standard, and instead is seen as something artists also do, like a DVD release, or a greatest hits album, or a 7" single (which has already moved from standard to niche).

I think that's kind've already happened, I use grime again as an example because it seems to be the first mass post-computer generation music, and there they all self-release videos, DVDs, T-shirts, mixtapes and albums, mp3s seem to be pretty much a marketing tool to keep your name around, no?

I wonder about whether an interactive element will ever take off as actual, they're trying it in visual art and to me it's just gimmicks..
 

petergunn

plywood violin
Im in the process of reading a great article on Rick Rubin,

that article was really good... the idea of him producing the Gossip is kinda exciting... i am not a huge Gossip fan or a huge Rick Rubin fan, but those Johnny Cash records are pretty solid and he def has some great ears... rather have them applied to some bands more interesting than the Dixie Chicks...
 

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
The indie band Ash have now gone down this route apparently. They've said that their current
album will be their last, and that they'll only be releasing singles for download from now on.

Fair enuff, they're a pretty crappy indie rock band, but its still a sign of the times. I think the idea behind it is probably an attempt to emulate classic 'singles bands' like the Jam or the Smiths, but with a modern twist.

Me, I like albums. I hardly ever buy singles and would never dream of buying anything off I-tunes, it just seems like poor value for money doesn't it?
 

Gavin

booty bass intellectual
I would buy a kickass 12" over an album where I'd want to skip half the tracks. If I had money.
 

Freakaholic

not just an addiction
Ive never bought an mp3 either. Im terrible at backing things up, and have lost 2 harddrives of music, some downloaded, some ripped. Also, i like the idea of my music to be tangible.

But, i wonder if anyone would pay for this:

"You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come anywhere you'd like. In this new world, there will be a virtual library that will be accessible from your car, from your cellphone, from your computer, from your television. Anywhere. The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home. You'll say, 'Today I want to listen to ... Simon and Garfunkel,' and there they are. The service can have demos, bootlegs, concerts, whatever context the artist wants to put out."

Of course, it would all be one label's music. But to have access to everything of that label's at all times would be neat. I imagine that the bonuses: demos, prereleases, live versions, and probably even some songs, would only be available to "premium subscribers" for an extra $9.95 a month.....
 

Gavin

booty bass intellectual
Come on, there's no way the major labels could survive on $20 a month. They'll never do it unless they are already on death's door and everyone's about to get fired anyway.
 
I don't really listen to music in "single" form to be honest. Even though I've got everything I have in mp3s, it still works out that I pick an album to listen to, even on my mp3 player. I'll make the odd comp of stuff if the albums they come from are shit but they always have a name and are always album length.

I do think A&R has gone right off the rails at the labels, though. Some of the shit that's slipping onto albums now, fuck's sake. I think the internet has made everyone just lose their heads to the extent that their quality control etc is actually contributing to the decline of the industry.
That 50 Cent album for me is a prime example, it's half-assed at best, half the beats and flows are just waste. Not saying 50's anywhere near the best but the 1st album was a much more cohesive album, this just feels like a load of random songs.
 

mms

sometimes
I don't really listen to music in "single" form to be honest. Even though I've got everything I have in mp3s, it still works out that I pick an album to listen to, even on my mp3 player. I'll make the odd comp of stuff if the albums they come from are shit but they always have a name and are always album length.

I do think A&R has gone right off the rails at the labels, though. Some of the shit that's slipping onto albums now, fuck's sake. I think the internet has made everyone just lose their heads to the extent that their quality control etc is actually contributing to the decline of the industry.
That 50 Cent album for me is a prime example, it's half-assed at best, half the beats and flows are just waste. Not saying 50's anywhere near the best but the 1st album was a much more cohesive album, this just feels like a load of random songs.
i think the immediate impact of artist marketability has deadened the quality control and created little hype bubbles around unremarkable acts with the fallout being lots of not very memorable or actually exciting or different music, just the words DIFFERENT NEW EXCITING attached to them unquestioned by industry and consumers. Of course there are plenty of times when this isn't true though.
Music esp the whole hype around digital is getting into a very dangerous situation as none of the options really work or make any money for anyone at the moment, but that's perhaps the problem with the internet model of commerce and the whole 2.0 internet idea.
 
Yeah, I get where you're coming from there. During that six month myspace fad it seemed like anyone with 5k's worth of "friends" warranted a feature, I remember reading magazine and newspaper articles about these completely mediocre bands and the like simply because Lily Allen & Arctic Monkeys were making money and had connections to it.

A lot of people just don't understand the state of things right now; I personally have no idea where any of it's going. We're in the studio next month I think and I can't see how we'll make any money off the album but fuck it; profits aren't everything.
 

Gavin

booty bass intellectual
Anybody check this blog out: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/index.php

Dude has some HIGHLY questionable taste (the fucking EAGLES?), but he's a baby boomer for whom music peaked in 1969. Seems like he's one of the few people in the industry able to make heads or tails of the 'net, and he makes a good point now and again.

Any other good music industry blogs/sites out there?
 
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