[Yann]

For those of you who are familiar with streaming, how do you see the future of albums?
I know that they're presented on "album pages", but is it sufficient to perpetuate the album format? Are they still considered as "discography in the making" or are they already just newly added songs soon burried in the common pot of the artist?
Will anyone even care for discographies/work/milestones rather than just songs/playlists?
We know today that albums are more than a collection of songs: the "colour" of the session is important, the producer, the tracklist, the message, the story being told, the artwork, etc. But it's all very fragile in a streaming world, simply because albums can be split in songs, as opposed to a book or a movie!
This is why, much more than a book or a movie, an album was a material thing (including files in a computer, at a push). Its physicality is what kept songs (and therefore work) inside healthy and artistic fences! Can album pages play that role? What do you think?

[DommeDamian]

I like your point of view. I think there will always be an audience for albums (I am apart of it honestly), but the vast majority of newer generations will probably see an album as a mixture of songs that they can come back to somewhere in future and songs that needs to get in their playlist asap. But we also gotta point out that many of this generation do care, hence we get lots of reaction channels on YT reacting to when a full record by a pop artist has come out rather than just a song/single. And in their respective comments, they talk about how hype they are about a new album is amazing yada yada yada.
Though there's a chance that record labels will just start to see albums as nothing more than marketing. That's also why we see a lot of pop, R&B and even rap artists fill their albums up 25-45 songs - and mostly is forgettable trash but their audience probably will eat it up anyways.
But as we know from us who still seek out albums to listen to, we find out that there is still a lot of musicians who cares a lot about the LP.

Also, this might just be my theory but just like there has been a great big vinyl revival for the past half-decade, there will be a CD revival as well (for artists to boost sales and earn more money when streaming numbers doesn't pay as many bills etc). If my theory becomes reality then nobody's gonna buy singles, only albums - sometimes EPs maybe.

A messy reply I know, forgive me.
I found this insightful quote from Scaruffi regarding something like this:
"It is not even clear why there should be albums at all anymore. In the age of the download, why should artists release music in units of roughly 45 minutes? Just because in the 1970s that was the format that made sense for the technology available at the time (the 33 RPM long-playing record)? It will eventually become meaningless to rate an "album" because the "album" in most cases is just an artificial marketing tool. Very few "albums" are designed to be such (and they are usually called "concept albums"). The main reason to still group songs together is that they are recorded at the same studios during the same period by the same group of musicians. That too is likely to change in the age of digital recording."
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[Hayden]

I hope this doesn't become solely the opinion of 'ageing' listeners, for there's always something new around the bend, but I think streaming does dilute the value of an album. Which is a shame, because streaming is the most accessible music has ever been. I mean... I think most users here remember the 2005-2014 range on music on the internet. The only things you found for 'free streaming' were mixtapes, which was kinda a big deal. I'd usually download a free mixtape a week, often times more. Now? I mean... I can find practically anything, at no major expense, at a push of 3-4 buttons. This is very convenient. It is also very sad. There's no dig to enjoy.

So, mixed. I love the fact albums that were once very difficult to find are now extraordinarily easy (I believe I have listened to more music during the age of streaming than ever before, by quite a margin), but I'd still rather wade along the shore in high-tide than endure a tidal wave.

[Yann]

[theblueboy]

It looks like albums have lost a bit of their status to playlists in the streaming era ( given the streaming revenue of albums is much inferior to sales in previous eras). I also agree with Hayden’s comments about how accessibility has diminished the value of albums.

Though I do think albums are here to stay. We are seeing longer and shorter albums (Mr West and Ms Swift perhaps most notably). But it seems like fans and artists still like collections of songs by the same artist and it still makes sense to deem these collections albums, even if the notion of an album may be shifting a bit.

The one major artist who seems to be drifting away from albums (at least that I can think of) is Frank Ocean- 10 singles without an album is quite a lot.

In general though I see the album surviving. I agree with DommeDamian that enough people still care about albums. I reckon as long as fans care deeply about artists they will continue to want to get to know them through collections of recorded songs, even with the temptation of playlists on hand.

[craola]

Does a painter really need to paint a whole series for an art show? Probably not, but they do it anyways.

The album will survive just fine. Talk to nearly any musician, and they have an album they’re working on or that they want to record. It’s too exciting as the person(s) creating the art. I’ve come across the odd duck or two that were all about recording their one song, but it’s really not a common attitude. Besides, if you’re going to play live shows, you need an hour or more of material to play.

And yes, from a marketing perspective, you’re better off touring an album than the miscellaneous stream of your last ten singles. Way more exciting for your audience.

I think it’s fair to give the young folks some credit too. They get it. We generally don’t go to the movie theater for the short films. We go for 120+ minutes of story and entertainment.
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[Yann]

[gregthealien]

I think the album will survive...
What i wonder about is how it may over time change it. My questions are:

Is there an incentive for making albums longer with more tracks to get more streams from the accumulation of each individual track?
Is there an incentive towards "background vibey music" due to how accessible it is and how people will likely play it while doing other activities?
are perpetually updated/patched albums a thing we will see more of in the future?
Is the ease of access going to further eliminate genre lines as artists are influenced by a bigger palate of music styles?

any thoughts?

[Yann]

[theblueboy]