Death of the album?

[BillF]

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/29/album-music-format-streaming-playlists-extinction

[ArtSalt]

They wheel this article out about every six months or so, in one form or another.

Vinyl undergoes a revival every couple of years or so too, but after the student, or someone living in a small apartment starts to build-up a collection, or moves in together with a partner, the limitations of the medium in terms of storage space becomes apparent. So these individuals will ditch records and go back to streaming, downloading, or whatever else they do these days. So there's always going to peaks and then troughs, when only the collectors and audiophiles are buying records.

The CD revival is coming, just you wait.....!

I am interviewing a young person in their mid-twenties later this week, an off topic question I will be asking them to break the ice, will be what music they like and what is their preferred medium.

Edited July 30, 2014 by ArtSalt

[Scott Dolan]

The LP pretty much is extinct as it will ever be. It is a microscopic market for the few who still enjoy the format. But they'll never go away 100%.

[A Lark Ascending]

The article seems to be more about 'The Album' as an organisational vehicle rather than a music carrier.

Digital methods certainly seem to have brought the single back to life, no longer restricted to what is released as a single. As a teenager on a limited budget I would have loved the ability to buy just one track off a record where nothing else interested me.

Can't see bands outside the straight pop field abandoning the opportunities that organising a collection of music in a particular form offers. After all, this predates the album as we know it by centuries.

If anything, it throws open possibilities - no longer confined to two bursts of 20 minutes or1 of 79.

Lots of hope for future Wagners.

[BeBop]

I've been in seven major United States cities and two European ones and one Asian in the past two months. Every one of them was swept up in the vinyl fad/fetishisation. Frankly, I'm surprised it hasn't died out yet, though I've been surprised by the hipster attention span; food trucks, fixed gear bikes and headphones are still holding their ground. Never underestimate...

[Scott Dolan]

Having moved into a minimalist stage in my life, I really have no use for physical media at all. I haven't bought a CD in years, and those are far less tedious to deal with than LP's.

[ArtSalt]

I can understand that aesthetic - the minimalist black box in the corner with 18 months worth of continuous music on it - in fact, my missus would appreciate me more if I was to go that route, but for me, I dig that whole ritual and ceremony of searching the collection for the physical item of package, artwork and then the non physical and yet, ultimate essential quality of the music.

I love to sit my Queen Anne in the music room and dig the physical presence of the artifact - with the music on and glass in hand of course!

Edited July 30, 2014 by ArtSalt

[Scott Dolan]

Hearing you loud and clear, Art. I used to be the exact same way. When and how I kicked that particular part of the habit without ill detox effects, I have no idea.

Now I simply enjoy having my entire 1,000+ album collection at my fingertips on my iPad screen.

But, I can still appreciate that old school ritual even though I don't participate in it anymore.

Somewhat related, I burned a CD for my wife the other day (for her car). As I ejected it from my iMac and snapped it into its case, I suddenly felt ancient as I hadn't performed that act in what felt like decades.

[Steve Reynolds]

I have never downloaded any music

It's just not for me

I love my CDs

[Big Beat Steve]

I have never downloaded any music

It's just not for me

I love my CDs

I can top that one:

I have never downloaded any music.

It's just not for me.

I love my vinyl .

(Yes, and I appreciate my CDs too)

[xybert]

The article seems to be more about 'The Album' as an organisational vehicle rather than a music carrier.

Digital methods certainly seem to have brought the single back to life, no longer restricted to what is released as a single. As a teenager on a limited budget I would have loved the ability to buy just one track off a record where nothing else interested me.

Can't see bands outside the straight pop field abandoning the opportunities that organising a collection of music in a particular form offers. After all, this predates the album as we know it by centuries.

If anything, it throws open possibilities - no longer confined to two bursts of 20 minutes or1 of 79.

Lots of hope for future Wagners.

I was thinking something along these lines too. People publish collections of short stories, novellas, books of massively varying length, multiple volumes etc... there are still practicalities involved, and with music, even in the digital age, at least for the time being, there are still practicalities involved, but yeah, abandoning the 'album' as we know it definitely opens up the possibilities.

Technical and practical limitations are massively tied in with the recentish history of music and how we consume it. Who knows what the future will bring! Next stop, Braxton's orchestra for multiple planets or whatever it is.

For some it will be like this though:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPc6qaEQ600

[Hot Ptah]

They wheel this article out about every six months or so, in one form or another.

Vinyl undergoes a revival every couple of years or so too, but after the student, or someone living in a small apartment starts to build-up a collection, or moves in together with a partner, the limitations of the medium in terms of storage space becomes apparent. So these individuals will ditch records and go back to streaming, downloading, or whatever else they do these days. So there's always going to peaks and then troughs, when only the collectors and audiophiles are buying records.

The CD revival is coming, just you wait.....!

I am interviewing a young person in their mid-twenties later this week, an off topic question I will be asking them to break the ice, will be what music they like and what is their preferred medium.

I will bet you that they will say that they stream or download only, and that they like either hip hop or today's pop country music. That would make them mainstream, if the people in their mid-20s who I know are any indication.

If this person says that they buy CDs, and like jazz, blues or rock, they are not going to fit in with the other mid-20s people in your company, I think.

[Scott Dolan]

I have never downloaded any music

It's just not for me

I love my CDs

To each there own, Master Reynolds.

My thing is that I've downloaded tunes I already owned on CD to do an A->B comparison, and heard absolutely no difference. Well, as long as it was 256kbps or better.

The stuff the iTunes store is currently offering, especially the Mastered For iTunes material, is as good as anything you'll get on CD. And for me, the lack of clutter is pretty refreshing.

[.:.impossible]

Everything is dying.

[Shawn]

The LP pretty much is extinct as it will ever be. It is a microscopic market for the few who still enjoy the format. But they'll never go away 100%.

Jazz is pretty much extinct as it ever will be. It is a microscopic market for the few who still enjoy the style. But it will never go away 100%.

Sorry, if the shoe fits...

In the grand scheme of things LPs might be a "microscopic market" but it's still on a major upswing. In 1993 less than one million LPs were sold...in 2013 that number had increased to over 6 million. No other physical format is increasing, the rest are declining rapidly.

[danasgoodstuff]

Everything is dying.

But dying isn't everything, living is.

[.:.impossible]

Tell that to the album, danas. Tell that to the album.

[JSngry]

They wheel this article out about every six months or so, in one form or another.

Probably because The Aging ______Market forgets everything after five months?

[Scott Dolan]

Jazz is pretty much extinct as it ever will be. It is a microscopic market for the few who still enjoy the style. But it will never go away 100%.

Sorry, if the shoe fits...

Huh?!

What brought this on?

Not only did I not mention anything about Jazz, but I don't even disagree with this statement.

[porcy62]

They wheel this article out about every six months or so, in one form or another.

Probably because The Aging ______Market forgets everything after five months?

[BeBop]

Everything is dying.

I'm almost finished.

[Shawn]

Jazz is pretty much extinct as it ever will be. It is a microscopic market for the few who still enjoy the style. But it will never go away 100%.

Sorry, if the shoe fits...

Huh?!

What brought this on?

Not only did I not mention anything about Jazz, but I don't even disagree with this statement.

Obviously it was a poor attempt at humor on my part.

[Leeway]

The album is like the novel, which has also been said to be dying. Nevertheless, the novel has shown tremendous resilience through the centuries. There is a reservoir of great writing available, and more contemporary works being produced literally daily, and people continue to read them. Whether the novel is downloaded to Kindle or purchased at a bookstore, the art form remains the same.

I think the album is like that too; it is long-form music that tells a larger story. The discussion here has kind of gone into the technology side of things. I think whether DL, streaming, digital servers, whatever the technology, unless for some strange reason it absolutely inhibited album music, they will simply serve as the platform of choice, but the album itself will remain viable because of its inherent attractions.

[GA Russell]

I don't know what the lingo is in Britain, but I think that in the US...

An album is an album. It could be the collection of 78s (thus the original use of the word "album," because it was much like a photo album); it could be a cassette tape; it could be a vinyl 33 1/3 long-playing (thus, LP) record or it could be a compact disk.

It appears to me that the author uses the term "LP" to mean an album, when in the US it is used to refer to vinyl.

I think that some posters here are confused, and that the interest of millenials in vinyl is not relevant to the article.

[Scott Dolan]

That's an excellent point, GA. I certainly stand corrected since I made that mistake. Which is really sad considering I call them albums in every format.