4 ms·

We've seen a steady shift in music over the past 2 decades from full length albums, to single hits, to artificially generated. Surely there's some gained and s

by jmathai 6mo ago

We've seen a steady shift in music over the past 2 decades from full length albums, to single hits, to artificially generated. Surely there's some gained and some lost. But coming from the era of buying an entire album, spending time reading the CD booklets and art, and listening to 10 songs which tell a larger story ---- what's being lost really hits home.

warkdarrior 6mo ago
One can still buy artisan albums created by independent singers/bands. But they tend to get lost in the marketing/influencer noise and thus do not get worldwide success. As a result you have to search harder for them.
- mistrial9 6mo ago
  the main article is about marketing/influencer noise completely replacing the artists, enacted by companies close to the search process
bobthepanda 6mo ago
Artists have actually been moving back to the full album with goodies, even in mainstream pop with Beyoncé, Rosalia, RAYE, Charli XCX to name a few.
- BoingBoomTschak 6mo ago
  Does it really matter since pop albums were/are (almost?) always "collections of singles + fillers"?
  - bobthepanda 6mo ago
    ah, the standard trite, reductive anti-pop cudgel. no, these days, pop albums are more frequently meant to be consumed in their entirety, often with full length visuals for each song that blend into each other in order. * the death of radio has really meant that singles are declining in utility, especially in our social media era where the songs that pop off an album are not necessarily the record-designated singles * the more parasocial development of pop encourages fans to invest more in merch and the concept of the album * like everything else in the economy trending towards more expensive but meaningful experiences, tours are becoming larger productions to experience an album intensely * in the AI era, we are now seeing artists pivot towards doubling down on experiences that AI cannot curate and provide meaning for Rosalia this year is touring with a full orchestra and RAYE with a full big band, because these are intentional choices that the pop music industry has been trending towards for a while. There's always going to be trite drugstore music as long as there are drugstores, but what is charting is not really that at the moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQBS2Ikz6c&list=RDhtQBS2Ikz6c&start_radio=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQBS2Ikz6c&list=RDhtQBS2Ikz...
kjkjadksj 6mo ago
I feel like in those days I really didn’t appreciate albums. Storage was a premium so I would focus on bands greatest hits songs vs discographies. Both in terms of my burned cd collections and early mp3. I didn’t start getting into albums until terabyte hard drives were cheaper. Then I started pirating discographies and listening to the back catalog for the first time.
afavour 6mo ago
I really don't think we have. When I was growing up in the 90s it was the heyday of the pop single but there were still plenty of albums being produced and I think it's the same today.
- tempaccount5050 6mo ago
  No, the game has changed. Back then, the singles were typically accompanied by an album, even if it was just filler. It's better to release singles now due to the way the Spotify and iTunes algos work. Best practice is now to release your songs one at a time rather than a full album (at least if you aren't an established player).
  - skeeter2020 6mo ago
    On one hand this pretty much destroys thematic albums (like classical music, prog rock, Tool or for example, something like Alice in Chains' Dirt), but on the other few could pull it off and those who can are still doing it (ex: the latest Opeth album). So maybe discovering new music is hurt, because itunes and spotify look like crowded ERs, but there's just as much good music out there - regardless of your tastes.
    - charcircuit 6mo ago
      It doesn't kill it as songs can be remixed for the album version.
  - afavour 6mo ago
    Right, there's less unnecessary dressing of an "album" of filler. But I don't think that's a meaningful change. Singles drove the market then and they do now. Albums were still produced then and still are now.
    - tempaccount5050 6mo ago
      Right but the approach is different. Now the idea is as soon as you have a song, you record and release it. You don't wait until you have 45 minutes or 12 tracks or whatever. The album comes out later, but it's just a collection of songs (and that arguably isn't really new either).
peab 6mo ago
charts will become totally meaningless. Event data will be what matters most. That's how artists actually make their revenue these days anyways.
themafia 6mo ago
You're only describing pop music. Thankfully this is a tiny fraction of all music.
- Barrin92 6mo ago
  it's become a much larger section of music. Notice, there are no bands any more. Try finding a metal band with musicians under 40, or a Greenday, Linkin Park or, the itself automated Kpop industry aside, a spontaneous boy or girl group. Solo pop or hip-hop performers with a focus on social media have crowded out collectively made music, likely due to the general social atrophy and technology enabling production from their bedrooms. Anecdotally, I used to be a guitarist and a lot of my friends are musicians and teachers, teenage bands are pretty much nowhere to be seen.
shusaku 6mo ago
This comment is like 20 years out of date haha. People shifted to single hits when the iTunes store was selling songs for 99 cents. Now (and by now I mean for over a decade) we’re in the age of streaming, and you can easily access whole albums with zero friction. It’s the best time ever for the full listen through experience. And artists are responding by releasing long albums. What I do think is lost these days is listening to the save album over and over again.
kristopolous 6mo ago
music has been a product of its form factor for a long time. It's no coincidence that the wax cylinder, 78, 45, 33, cassette, CD, and mp3 dictated changes in how music was packaged (single, lp, ep, album, b sides) and the average length of a popular song. Good thing music as a topic is diverse and people are doing all kinds of things. But yes, commercially distributed mass-consumption music is influenced by its packaging and distribution ... obviously.
kzrdude 6mo ago
There is another new trend now that some artists are doing album concerts, where the set list follows one of their albums. I thought that was cool.. probably as a reaction, on how to bring back the album in a way.

by jmathai 6mo ago

warkdarrior 6mo ago

One can still buy artisan albums created by independent singers/bands. But they tend to get lost in the marketing/influencer noise and thus do not get worldwide success. As a result you have to search harder for them.

mistrial9 6mo ago
the main article is about marketing/influencer noise completely replacing the artists, enacted by companies close to the search process

bobthepanda 6mo ago

Artists have actually been moving back to the full album with goodies, even in mainstream pop with Beyoncé, Rosalia, RAYE, Charli XCX to name a few.

BoingBoomTschak 6mo ago
Does it really matter since pop albums were/are (almost?) always "collections of singles + fillers"?
- bobthepanda 6mo ago
  ah, the standard trite, reductive anti-pop cudgel. no, these days, pop albums are more frequently meant to be consumed in their entirety, often with full length visuals for each song that blend into each other in order. * the death of radio has really meant that singles are declining in utility, especially in our social media era where the songs that pop off an album are not necessarily the record-designated singles * the more parasocial development of pop encourages fans to invest more in merch and the concept of the album * like everything else in the economy trending towards more expensive but meaningful experiences, tours are becoming larger productions to experience an album intensely * in the AI era, we are now seeing artists pivot towards doubling down on experiences that AI cannot curate and provide meaning for Rosalia this year is touring with a full orchestra and RAYE with a full big band, because these are intentional choices that the pop music industry has been trending towards for a while. There's always going to be trite drugstore music as long as there are drugstores, but what is charting is not really that at the moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQBS2Ikz6c&list=RDhtQBS2Ikz6c&start_radio=1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htQBS2Ikz6c&list=RDhtQBS2Ikz...

kjkjadksj 6mo ago

I feel like in those days I really didn’t appreciate albums. Storage was a premium so I would focus on bands greatest hits songs vs discographies. Both in terms of my burned cd collections and early mp3. I didn’t start getting into albums until terabyte hard drives were cheaper. Then I started pirating discographies and listening to the back catalog for the first time.

afavour 6mo ago

I really don't think we have. When I was growing up in the 90s it was the heyday of the pop single but there were still plenty of albums being produced and I think it's the same today.

tempaccount5050 6mo ago
No, the game has changed. Back then, the singles were typically accompanied by an album, even if it was just filler. It's better to release singles now due to the way the Spotify and iTunes algos work. Best practice is now to release your songs one at a time rather than a full album (at least if you aren't an established player).
- skeeter2020 6mo ago
  On one hand this pretty much destroys thematic albums (like classical music, prog rock, Tool or for example, something like Alice in Chains' Dirt), but on the other few could pull it off and those who can are still doing it (ex: the latest Opeth album). So maybe discovering new music is hurt, because itunes and spotify look like crowded ERs, but there's just as much good music out there - regardless of your tastes.
  - charcircuit 6mo ago
    It doesn't kill it as songs can be remixed for the album version.
- afavour 6mo ago
  Right, there's less unnecessary dressing of an "album" of filler. But I don't think that's a meaningful change. Singles drove the market then and they do now. Albums were still produced then and still are now.
  - tempaccount5050 6mo ago
    Right but the approach is different. Now the idea is as soon as you have a song, you record and release it. You don't wait until you have 45 minutes or 12 tracks or whatever. The album comes out later, but it's just a collection of songs (and that arguably isn't really new either).

peab 6mo ago

charts will become totally meaningless. Event data will be what matters most. That's how artists actually make their revenue these days anyways.

themafia 6mo ago

You're only describing pop music. Thankfully this is a tiny fraction of all music.

Barrin92 6mo ago
it's become a much larger section of music. Notice, there are no bands any more. Try finding a metal band with musicians under 40, or a Greenday, Linkin Park or, the itself automated Kpop industry aside, a spontaneous boy or girl group. Solo pop or hip-hop performers with a focus on social media have crowded out collectively made music, likely due to the general social atrophy and technology enabling production from their bedrooms. Anecdotally, I used to be a guitarist and a lot of my friends are musicians and teachers, teenage bands are pretty much nowhere to be seen.

shusaku 6mo ago

This comment is like 20 years out of date haha. People shifted to single hits when the iTunes store was selling songs for 99 cents. Now (and by now I mean for over a decade) we’re in the age of streaming, and you can easily access whole albums with zero friction. It’s the best time ever for the full listen through experience. And artists are responding by releasing long albums. What I do think is lost these days is listening to the save album over and over again.

kristopolous 6mo ago

music has been a product of its form factor for a long time. It's no coincidence that the wax cylinder, 78, 45, 33, cassette, CD, and mp3 dictated changes in how music was packaged (single, lp, ep, album, b sides) and the average length of a popular song. Good thing music as a topic is diverse and people are doing all kinds of things. But yes, commercially distributed mass-consumption music is influenced by its packaging and distribution ... obviously.

kzrdude 6mo ago

There is another new trend now that some artists are doing album concerts, where the set list follows one of their albums. I thought that was cool.. probably as a reaction, on how to bring back the album in a way.