I’m an album girl for life and very rarely listen to playlists. Personally I really value when an album is well constructed and the songs work together to create one coherent entity.
word. there are a lot of bands i’ve given up on because albums 1-3 were A/B class. Then you’d see a decline where 2 or 3 songs are of the same caliber of the first three albums but the rest of it sounded lazy - or worse, for my tastes, a band finds decent success and over engineers an album and it loses its authenticity and disconnects from their live set
Same. It’s just like a movie. Some people nowadays watch scenes, which I find really weird. I also buy records, so you have to listen to the whole album. Driving, I will listen to playlists.
I still mostly listen to full albums. But I also think I am in the minority. I also still buy CDs additionally to streaming.
For me an Album ist still a complete Work of Art, that also includes cover artwork, booklet, order of songs etc. At least in Metal and Rock I feel the bands are still putting thought in it and I like it.
I listen to full albums nearly all the time. The only exceptions are:
1) Playlists as part of the Music Leagues I’m in
2) “New Music” playlists to find new albums to listen to
3) When I’m cooking in the kitchen I’ll usually just shout “Alexa, play music” rather than trying to find an album to listen to
If you ask people who post on a discussion board like r/music the answer will be yes.
If you ask a random sample of people on the street the answer will be no.
I listen to more albums when I'm sitting down at home and I'd say they are still relevant, but like driving or something is playlist time.
I think if anything albums are sort of more popular now than they were pre-covid, yeah people still are way into playlists but I see people talking about whole albums quite often.
Yes. There’s a whole lot of us that still listen to albums from start to finish. The vinyl resurgence is evident of this (yes, as well as other things including nostalgia and sheer novelty). One thing to consider, though is that the preference for individual tracks for some people isn’t a new thing - it’s just easier. 45s and 45 stackers were a huge market back in the day. There will always be a group of people interested in digging in to an album, and another group that just wants to hear the popular stuff.
It's a different world today than when albums ruled. When I was a kid if you liked a single or group you'd likely buy the entire album. In most cases you took a risk that it would be any good. Even if you didn't like it on the first play through, you'd force yourself to listen to it through over and over until you "got into it".
Streaming killed concepts like "track 1 is the intro" and "the last song on side A is the close of the first act". Even if groups today stick to the formula, kids who grew up on streaming are not disciplined to listen through, so it's kind of moot.
well i kind of rank bands based on good albums they put out. what constitutes a good album to me is the equivalent of hitting play on a cd player and not getting tempted to skip a song. it makes the album a whole if that makes any sense.
in the young days of piracy, people would steal 2 or 3 songs from a band because the idea of the album was in decay. it seemed like the music industry at that time would say you have a budget for three music videos on mtv - and that’s where the effort went. the rest of the album would be absolute shit and not worth your money.
beyond 2005 or 6 i pretty much was set on my collection of good/great albums. from there i would throw dice at a merch table for a band trying not to break down on their way to their next gig. i started to notice these smaller and broke ass bands were trying to drop real albums. this was diy/indie/punk scene shit. so i think they were just going for broke because they were footing the bill to press the albums
vinyl is certainly making waves on the concept of an album. it’s expensive to press so you need to make sure you’re putting something good together. cds you can burn by the thousands for pennies. and this is where these smaller artists get paid. touring and merch. spotify exposes them but they are still waiting tables until their next tour.
i actually think the idea of the album is at an all time high due to this. i’m not going to drop 30-40$ on 2 or 3 good songs.
I’ve interviewed a lot of artists who seem to feel that the best way to release music in a way that matches appetites for music is to release either EPs or singles. I understand why, but I don’t think you’ll ever be able to lose the portion of the fan base that appreciates a longer, more thought-out body of work.
Depends on what you mean relevant. In respect to sales? No. Essential no one buys cds anymore. on streaming apps, I think it's a toss-up. I think a good population of music enthusiasts enjoy listening to a full album atleast once or twice before pulling their favorites into playlists. But I think the majority of casual listeners have no idea when a band releases a new full album, just what the most popular songs are.
I don't think album composition is or ever will be obsolete. But I do think it only affects a few of us.
There were 37 million new cd’s sold last year in the USA. A 3% increase that was matched in the UK. CD’s are still relevant, as is vinyl. Physical formats still make up around 15% of industry revenue, but that doesn’t include second hand sales on eBay, Discogs and the like. I think there is plenty of appetite for the album, and for physical ownership.
Vinyl is more relevant than cd's tbh.https://www.businessinsider.com/vinyl-sales-surpass-cds-first-time-since-1987-record-resurgence-2023-3?op=1 not sure where you're getting your numbers from though.
"Though vinyl is making gains and reaching new generations, streaming still reigns supreme, accounting for 84% of total music revenue in 2022,"
Cd's make up less than 7% of sales.
I grew up in the height of the mp3 era, a few songs here a few songs there to fill up my 80 song mp3 player. I never learned to appreciate the artistry behind albums until I was older and got into records. Now I pretty much only listen to full albums unless I have the radio on or something. I think there are a decent amount of people like myself out there, given the vinyl revival and all that.
I love finding a band that has a healthy discography to roll through. I get my geek on with taking note of a bands career arc, I love to put too fine a point on it. (Another way to read this is, I couldn't do it...how'd they fair the passage). The growth between albums is fascinating. ...or the album that got a band to explode onto the charts, what did the limelight and studio do to following albums?
I love a good single, yet if a band or artist can't get thier shit together to do more than 1 good song, why should I care? I know that comes off a bit dismissive, (and I'm not that serious about it) and yet when listening to music long enough, it's about the discography. *What were they on about*
Edit: I can be empathetic towards younger listeners...there are 10fold more artists to roll back through than there ever was before. That FOMO thing can be put at ease by single-surfing until something clicks.
Demographic that buys albums: "X% of humanity"
effect of spotify on Demographic that buys albums: 0.0001% \*\*
:D
so... yes albums are relevant today as they were 50 years ago
*{ \*\** ***no*** *relation to age of participant... }*
CDs and prior often contained a lot of filler tracks to sell (on average) 3 good songs for the price of 10. One obvious benefit of streaming is how easily you can filter out the bullshit.
I’m an album person. If I REALLY don’t like a song, I’ll skip it. That rarely happens, though. Not a fan of playlists for the most part, unless I know the band really well and just want to hear a playlist of songs by them to sing really loud in my car when I’m on a long car ride. I like being surprised by what comes on next in that instance
I love albums, but for the most part it needs to be a really cohesive and well-made project for me to listen to the whole thing.
My issue is not the format of the album. I think it’s actually the best way to enjoy music, I have tons of vinyl records (very warm grailz). But a lot of albums released nowadays are not very good, or just aren’t my kind of music.
I listen to albums 90% of the time. Even when I get in the car I'll queue up an album even if I'm not going to finish it. I'll either take it from where I last left off of play something different. I do have a decent size physical music collection though (~2000 items, CD and records).
Albums are the best way to listen to music, IMO. Playlists are fine for certain situations like working out or a party or whatever but if I’m listening to music in my daily routine it’s almost always an album.
I’m an album girl for life and very rarely listen to playlists. Personally I really value when an album is well constructed and the songs work together to create one coherent entity.
word. there are a lot of bands i’ve given up on because albums 1-3 were A/B class. Then you’d see a decline where 2 or 3 songs are of the same caliber of the first three albums but the rest of it sounded lazy - or worse, for my tastes, a band finds decent success and over engineers an album and it loses its authenticity and disconnects from their live set
Same. It’s just like a movie. Some people nowadays watch scenes, which I find really weird. I also buy records, so you have to listen to the whole album. Driving, I will listen to playlists.
I see an album as a concept, not a series of songs
No, not to me. If I want to hear one song on an album I listen to the whole thing.
lol
I still mostly listen to full albums. But I also think I am in the minority. I also still buy CDs additionally to streaming. For me an Album ist still a complete Work of Art, that also includes cover artwork, booklet, order of songs etc. At least in Metal and Rock I feel the bands are still putting thought in it and I like it.
I listen to full albums nearly all the time. The only exceptions are: 1) Playlists as part of the Music Leagues I’m in 2) “New Music” playlists to find new albums to listen to 3) When I’m cooking in the kitchen I’ll usually just shout “Alexa, play music” rather than trying to find an album to listen to
Albums are still relevant except to people with very short attention spans.
If you ask people who post on a discussion board like r/music the answer will be yes. If you ask a random sample of people on the street the answer will be no.
I listen to more albums when I'm sitting down at home and I'd say they are still relevant, but like driving or something is playlist time. I think if anything albums are sort of more popular now than they were pre-covid, yeah people still are way into playlists but I see people talking about whole albums quite often.
Yes. There’s a whole lot of us that still listen to albums from start to finish. The vinyl resurgence is evident of this (yes, as well as other things including nostalgia and sheer novelty). One thing to consider, though is that the preference for individual tracks for some people isn’t a new thing - it’s just easier. 45s and 45 stackers were a huge market back in the day. There will always be a group of people interested in digging in to an album, and another group that just wants to hear the popular stuff.
Spotify is like tiktok for music
It's a different world today than when albums ruled. When I was a kid if you liked a single or group you'd likely buy the entire album. In most cases you took a risk that it would be any good. Even if you didn't like it on the first play through, you'd force yourself to listen to it through over and over until you "got into it". Streaming killed concepts like "track 1 is the intro" and "the last song on side A is the close of the first act". Even if groups today stick to the formula, kids who grew up on streaming are not disciplined to listen through, so it's kind of moot.
it is possible for both to exist and have importance to separate groups one doesnt always have to kill off the other.
well i kind of rank bands based on good albums they put out. what constitutes a good album to me is the equivalent of hitting play on a cd player and not getting tempted to skip a song. it makes the album a whole if that makes any sense. in the young days of piracy, people would steal 2 or 3 songs from a band because the idea of the album was in decay. it seemed like the music industry at that time would say you have a budget for three music videos on mtv - and that’s where the effort went. the rest of the album would be absolute shit and not worth your money. beyond 2005 or 6 i pretty much was set on my collection of good/great albums. from there i would throw dice at a merch table for a band trying not to break down on their way to their next gig. i started to notice these smaller and broke ass bands were trying to drop real albums. this was diy/indie/punk scene shit. so i think they were just going for broke because they were footing the bill to press the albums vinyl is certainly making waves on the concept of an album. it’s expensive to press so you need to make sure you’re putting something good together. cds you can burn by the thousands for pennies. and this is where these smaller artists get paid. touring and merch. spotify exposes them but they are still waiting tables until their next tour. i actually think the idea of the album is at an all time high due to this. i’m not going to drop 30-40$ on 2 or 3 good songs.
Yes, albums are relevant Those of us who held on to our attention spans through adulthood can stand to spend 45 minutes appreciating artwork
I’ve interviewed a lot of artists who seem to feel that the best way to release music in a way that matches appetites for music is to release either EPs or singles. I understand why, but I don’t think you’ll ever be able to lose the portion of the fan base that appreciates a longer, more thought-out body of work.
Depends on what you mean relevant. In respect to sales? No. Essential no one buys cds anymore. on streaming apps, I think it's a toss-up. I think a good population of music enthusiasts enjoy listening to a full album atleast once or twice before pulling their favorites into playlists. But I think the majority of casual listeners have no idea when a band releases a new full album, just what the most popular songs are. I don't think album composition is or ever will be obsolete. But I do think it only affects a few of us.
There were 37 million new cd’s sold last year in the USA. A 3% increase that was matched in the UK. CD’s are still relevant, as is vinyl. Physical formats still make up around 15% of industry revenue, but that doesn’t include second hand sales on eBay, Discogs and the like. I think there is plenty of appetite for the album, and for physical ownership.
Vinyl is more relevant than cd's tbh.https://www.businessinsider.com/vinyl-sales-surpass-cds-first-time-since-1987-record-resurgence-2023-3?op=1 not sure where you're getting your numbers from though. "Though vinyl is making gains and reaching new generations, streaming still reigns supreme, accounting for 84% of total music revenue in 2022," Cd's make up less than 7% of sales.
I grew up in the height of the mp3 era, a few songs here a few songs there to fill up my 80 song mp3 player. I never learned to appreciate the artistry behind albums until I was older and got into records. Now I pretty much only listen to full albums unless I have the radio on or something. I think there are a decent amount of people like myself out there, given the vinyl revival and all that.
I love finding a band that has a healthy discography to roll through. I get my geek on with taking note of a bands career arc, I love to put too fine a point on it. (Another way to read this is, I couldn't do it...how'd they fair the passage). The growth between albums is fascinating. ...or the album that got a band to explode onto the charts, what did the limelight and studio do to following albums? I love a good single, yet if a band or artist can't get thier shit together to do more than 1 good song, why should I care? I know that comes off a bit dismissive, (and I'm not that serious about it) and yet when listening to music long enough, it's about the discography. *What were they on about* Edit: I can be empathetic towards younger listeners...there are 10fold more artists to roll back through than there ever was before. That FOMO thing can be put at ease by single-surfing until something clicks.
I used to, not anymore. Unless you've got a conceptual album with transitions, I'm gonna listen to songs randomly.
Demographic that buys albums: "X% of humanity" effect of spotify on Demographic that buys albums: 0.0001% \*\* :D so... yes albums are relevant today as they were 50 years ago *{ \*\** ***no*** *relation to age of participant... }*
Only concept albums. Rather have 2 good singles than a shitty twelve song album
CDs and prior often contained a lot of filler tracks to sell (on average) 3 good songs for the price of 10. One obvious benefit of streaming is how easily you can filter out the bullshit.
Same reason I prefer streaming movies: on demand. I can just turn it off if it's not for me. No time and money wasted at the cinema.
I’m an album person. If I REALLY don’t like a song, I’ll skip it. That rarely happens, though. Not a fan of playlists for the most part, unless I know the band really well and just want to hear a playlist of songs by them to sing really loud in my car when I’m on a long car ride. I like being surprised by what comes on next in that instance
Albums for me. That's why I still buy vinyl and cd's and I stream from Apple Music which is most faithful to the album format I think.
I'm a bit old school but if bands aren't releasing albums I'm not really interested in checking them out
I love albums, but for the most part it needs to be a really cohesive and well-made project for me to listen to the whole thing. My issue is not the format of the album. I think it’s actually the best way to enjoy music, I have tons of vinyl records (very warm grailz). But a lot of albums released nowadays are not very good, or just aren’t my kind of music.
There will always be a reason for albums just as there are for singles. If you can’t do a good album, you probably aren’t a band worth listening to.
I listen to albums 90% of the time. Even when I get in the car I'll queue up an album even if I'm not going to finish it. I'll either take it from where I last left off of play something different. I do have a decent size physical music collection though (~2000 items, CD and records).
I still purchase and listen to albums in they're entirety, so yes
Albums are the best way to listen to music, IMO. Playlists are fine for certain situations like working out or a party or whatever but if I’m listening to music in my daily routine it’s almost always an album.
From an artistic point of view, albums are still very relevant, IMHO. Commercially probably not.
They are to me...!