5 ms·

Don’t people write and listen to entire albums anymore? When I listen to music, I almost always listen to entire albums, not individual songs.

oblio 6y ago
Not really. Most people hated getting and paying for whole albums, out of which most stuff was garbage. Few artists have whole albums worth listening to.
- ecocentrik 6y ago
  We must listen to very different genres of music.
  - oblio 6y ago
    Probably. It's almost like the world is a big place :-)
- NikolaeVarius 6y ago
  I dont know why people listen to artists who can't put out reasonably consistent music. If only 10% of an artists output is not garbage, are they any good at all? Reviews for metal bands will trash albums that only have 1 or 2 good songs.
  - JAlexoid 6y ago
    Because music isn't plain engineering. Some artists have one piece that is great for a wide audience and all of their other stuff is only for select listeners.(aka one hit wonders) If you only listened to people who release consistently good music - you'd listen to 10 artists in total(or something like that).
    - 3131s 6y ago
      No, only vapid pop music follows that one-hit-wonder blueprint. In almost every other genre the expectation is that a great album will be consistently great. Sorry that you know of only ten decent bands, when there are actually tens of thousands of artists that never add filler to their albums.
- lucb1e 6y ago
  Call me young but I didn't really realize until now that having to buy a whole album was a thing. I grew up with Kazaa, Ares, The Pirate Bay, Google Video, Newgrounds, YouTube, Grooveshark and Spotify (in that order). CDs existed but were something my parents used; I didn't like much music in the first place as a teenager and the stuff that I liked I never saw anyone own a CD of. Heck, I don't think I knew anyone that liked metal in the first place at that time. In hindsight, I should have paid artists fairly, that much is clear to me now (I paid ever since Grooveshark). Nevertheless, not having experienced the music album phase, it seems like an odd thing to pay for things you know you don't want and have to switch CDs the whole time to get to what you do want. I can't think of a single album I'd listen A-Z. There are a few rare bands where I like most of their songs (because they're very similar), and some bands where I don't like most songs but I like most from one or two of their albums, but I don't think there exists a single album where I like all songs, nor that I like >=50% of the songs in 50% of the albums of which I like >=1 song.
  - thirdsun 6y ago
    A few brief points: I also grew up during Napster & Co., but it's really not that hard to recognize that albums exist and aren't really tied to a specific medium. You can buy them as digital downloads, on CD or vinyl. As someone who loves albums and regards EPs let alone singles as a lesser, rushed and not particularly worthwhile format, let me assure you that you don't have to pay for things you don't want. The trick is to buy strong albums that avoid filler content and don't need to rely on a single hit. I admit that it takes effort to find the gems in a sea of mediocrity, but in absolute numbers there are more great albums than ever in addition to the ones you might have missed in the past. I'd say anyone claiming that there isn't any fantastic, album-worthy music isn't looking hard enough.
- gagege 6y ago
  I hear this a lot, but I've never understood it. Do most albums have 1 or 2 stinkers? Sure, but I still don't skip tracks. I enjoy music the most when it's in the larger context of an album. I like anticipating my favorite songs and I like the transitions between them, even if it's just silence.
  - oblio 6y ago
    Well, as I've replied to 2 similar comments, people are different. That doesn't mean that they're wrong or right, they're just different.
- driverdan 6y ago
  Why would you listen to someone who puts out garbage albums?
  - oblio 6y ago
    I guess this is one of those cases where the question sounded better in your head :-) You will probably go "duh!" after you read my answer. First of all, I don't listen to albums, I listen to songs. Secondly, greatness is hard to achieve and even harder to maintain. Listening just to songs as part of great albums composed of only great songs would mean that I would not listen to a lot of great songs, because in many cases some of the other songs on an album are bad. I would also probably listen to a lot fewer artists I like, for the same reason. Thirdly, sometimes it's not even about great or not. In many cases my opinion of what constitutes a great song disagrees with what the artist considers a great song. So I might not personally like a song on an album. For example, I hate long guitar solos, I consider them a form of musical bravado which I do not like. Obviously guitarists would disagree with me :-) And lastly, you committed a fallacy, it's called appeal to incredulity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity ("someone must be listening to music <<the wrong way>>, their music must be horrible"). I'm free to listen to whatever I want and there are many ways to happiness. You can't objectively prove that someone's path to happiness is wrong as long as they don't harm someone else. To quote someone I know: "Everybody thinks that all their friends are nice, all the music they listen to is good and all the code they write is good" :-)
    - deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
_jal 6y ago
I do. But I think you'll find most folks who do are older and/or fans of specific genres. A lot of acts in some genres don't release "albums" like you're thinking of anymore.
mcrwfrd 6y ago
Another whole-album-listener here, but I'm the minority among my peers (millennials). I find looking for complete albums where all of the songs are high quality really guides my taste when I'm looking for new music. If an artist's album consists of one amazing song and 11 bad ones, I likely won't listen to that artist again. The artists that have been able to knit 12 songs into a narrative and provide an enjoyable listening experience are the ones I keep coming back to year after year.
ZoomZoomZoom 6y ago
I personally salute you and suggest you educate the music lovers around you on necessity of active discovery and focused attention to the music they listen.
kroltan 6y ago
Same here, I won't even listen any music at all if I'm not sure I'll have time to finish the album. None of my peers do it, though.

oblio 6y ago

Not really. Most people hated getting and paying for whole albums, out of which most stuff was garbage. Few artists have whole albums worth listening to.

ecocentrik 6y ago
We must listen to very different genres of music.
- oblio 6y ago
  Probably. It's almost like the world is a big place :-)
NikolaeVarius 6y ago
I dont know why people listen to artists who can't put out reasonably consistent music. If only 10% of an artists output is not garbage, are they any good at all? Reviews for metal bands will trash albums that only have 1 or 2 good songs.
- JAlexoid 6y ago
  Because music isn't plain engineering. Some artists have one piece that is great for a wide audience and all of their other stuff is only for select listeners.(aka one hit wonders) If you only listened to people who release consistently good music - you'd listen to 10 artists in total(or something like that).
  - 3131s 6y ago
    No, only vapid pop music follows that one-hit-wonder blueprint. In almost every other genre the expectation is that a great album will be consistently great. Sorry that you know of only ten decent bands, when there are actually tens of thousands of artists that never add filler to their albums.
lucb1e 6y ago
Call me young but I didn't really realize until now that having to buy a whole album was a thing. I grew up with Kazaa, Ares, The Pirate Bay, Google Video, Newgrounds, YouTube, Grooveshark and Spotify (in that order). CDs existed but were something my parents used; I didn't like much music in the first place as a teenager and the stuff that I liked I never saw anyone own a CD of. Heck, I don't think I knew anyone that liked metal in the first place at that time. In hindsight, I should have paid artists fairly, that much is clear to me now (I paid ever since Grooveshark). Nevertheless, not having experienced the music album phase, it seems like an odd thing to pay for things you know you don't want and have to switch CDs the whole time to get to what you do want. I can't think of a single album I'd listen A-Z. There are a few rare bands where I like most of their songs (because they're very similar), and some bands where I don't like most songs but I like most from one or two of their albums, but I don't think there exists a single album where I like all songs, nor that I like >=50% of the songs in 50% of the albums of which I like >=1 song.
- thirdsun 6y ago
  A few brief points: I also grew up during Napster & Co., but it's really not that hard to recognize that albums exist and aren't really tied to a specific medium. You can buy them as digital downloads, on CD or vinyl. As someone who loves albums and regards EPs let alone singles as a lesser, rushed and not particularly worthwhile format, let me assure you that you don't have to pay for things you don't want. The trick is to buy strong albums that avoid filler content and don't need to rely on a single hit. I admit that it takes effort to find the gems in a sea of mediocrity, but in absolute numbers there are more great albums than ever in addition to the ones you might have missed in the past. I'd say anyone claiming that there isn't any fantastic, album-worthy music isn't looking hard enough.
gagege 6y ago
I hear this a lot, but I've never understood it. Do most albums have 1 or 2 stinkers? Sure, but I still don't skip tracks. I enjoy music the most when it's in the larger context of an album. I like anticipating my favorite songs and I like the transitions between them, even if it's just silence.
- oblio 6y ago
  Well, as I've replied to 2 similar comments, people are different. That doesn't mean that they're wrong or right, they're just different.
driverdan 6y ago
Why would you listen to someone who puts out garbage albums?
- oblio 6y ago
  I guess this is one of those cases where the question sounded better in your head :-) You will probably go "duh!" after you read my answer. First of all, I don't listen to albums, I listen to songs. Secondly, greatness is hard to achieve and even harder to maintain. Listening just to songs as part of great albums composed of only great songs would mean that I would not listen to a lot of great songs, because in many cases some of the other songs on an album are bad. I would also probably listen to a lot fewer artists I like, for the same reason. Thirdly, sometimes it's not even about great or not. In many cases my opinion of what constitutes a great song disagrees with what the artist considers a great song. So I might not personally like a song on an album. For example, I hate long guitar solos, I consider them a form of musical bravado which I do not like. Obviously guitarists would disagree with me :-) And lastly, you committed a fallacy, it's called appeal to incredulity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity ("someone must be listening to music <<the wrong way>>, their music must be horrible"). I'm free to listen to whatever I want and there are many ways to happiness. You can't objectively prove that someone's path to happiness is wrong as long as they don't harm someone else. To quote someone I know: "Everybody thinks that all their friends are nice, all the music they listen to is good and all the code they write is good" :-)
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]

_jal 6y ago

I do. But I think you'll find most folks who do are older and/or fans of specific genres. A lot of acts in some genres don't release "albums" like you're thinking of anymore.

mcrwfrd 6y ago

Another whole-album-listener here, but I'm the minority among my peers (millennials). I find looking for complete albums where all of the songs are high quality really guides my taste when I'm looking for new music. If an artist's album consists of one amazing song and 11 bad ones, I likely won't listen to that artist again. The artists that have been able to knit 12 songs into a narrative and provide an enjoyable listening experience are the ones I keep coming back to year after year.

ZoomZoomZoom 6y ago

I personally salute you and suggest you educate the music lovers around you on necessity of active discovery and focused attention to the music they listen.

kroltan 6y ago

Same here, I won't even listen any music at all if I'm not sure I'll have time to finish the album. None of my peers do it, though.