Is the Ipod killing the 'Album'?

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:45 pm

RWC wrote:...that doesn't mean it's responsible for the apocalypse of modern music.

If it's not the iPod, it's ProTools, Beat Detective, Autotune, digital recording, mp3s, Guitar Hero...this place gets really monotonous sometimes.

GoatKnuckles · Post by **GoatKnuckles** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 2:47 am

No, the majority of the musicians are though.

Mudcloth · Post by **Mudcloth** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:14 am

Here's my take.
I love the concept of singles. Back in the old days, singles were the great equalizer. Anyone could have a "hit". Mom and pop record labels like Stax had a chance. I'd like to see more of that in the future.
Albums are great, too. But how many times have you heard a song on the radio and bought the album, only to find out the rest of the album was crap. For me, that's happened about a hundred times and everytime I say to myself "What a waste of $16.99". A friend of mine bought the new Plant/Kraus record. There were about three tunes that I liked when I borrowed it. The new Steve Earl, same thing. Even the very best songwriters don't write and record great songs everytime.
When I listen to something I want it to give me chickenskin and make me say Fuck Yeah!
Most albums don't make me say that.
That being said, there are some masterpiece albums ought there. And no, I don't think Pet Sounds is one of them[ducks for cover]. Time for a new thread.

A-Barr · Post by **A-Barr** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:21 am

But how many times have you heard a song on the radio and bought the album, only to find out the rest of the album was crap.

How many times have you bought a great album , only to find out that the lamest, most boring song was the one all over the radio? Maybe it's just me, but that's the way I find it goes most of the time.

*Ahem cough blindmelon cough*

themagicmanmdt · Post by **themagicmanmdt** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:27 am

*throws bag of cat litter at mudcloth*

the ipod isn't helping people's attention spans.

short attention spans are making the album experience go away.

Mudcloth · Post by **Mudcloth** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:46 am

A-Barr wrote:
But how many times have you heard a song on the radio and bought the album, only to find out the rest of the album was crap.
How many times have you bought a great album , only to find out that the lamest, most boring song was the one all over the radio?

Less than a hundred times.
I can be a bit of a curmudgeon when it comes to the state of radio and the music "industry" in general. Back in my day...... I was marketed to through the radio, also. I just wasn't as aware of it.
I've been transfering vinyl records onto my laptop over the last couple of years. Lately, I've been a real bitch about cleaning the record and even cleaning the needle in between songs. In the middle of recording a Ry Cooder album I thought to myself "This isn't my favorite tune, for sure." And then I thought why am I transfering it then? Why waste time and hard drive space? I'm not archiving it for posterity.
One day I will have an iPod.
/There will be some albums on it.
// Mostly single songs
///slashies

I'm going to go make a mix tape now.

A-Barr · Post by **A-Barr** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:48 am

Mix tapes rule. Much as I love albums and preserving the artists so-called vision. Mix tapes/cd's rule.

rule.

Jeff White · Post by **Jeff White** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:54 am

I just loaded Zombie Heaven in it's entirety on my 4GB iPod Nano at 320 kbps AAC, which sounds very very good. So my answer is that the iPod isn't even killing the BOX SET over here this morning.

I am an extremely album oriented listener. I love the experience or listening to a big picture artistic statement like an album. I hate FM radio. Always have. However, once I load up my iPod with great albums that I love (I never load it with anything except albums), I find that using the global "Shuffle" function is ridiculously great. And it should be. All of my favorite stuff is in there. Lately the big shuffle function on the Nano has been ruling in the car.

Again, I don't care what anyone puts on their iPod unless I have to be in the car with them for 12 hrs at a time.

Jeff

Mudcloth · Post by **Mudcloth** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:58 am

themagicmanmdt wrote:
short attention spans are making the album experience go away.

People not recording an albums worth of good songs with continuity are making the album experience go away. Oh, snap! [missed your cat litter while ducking for cover over Beach Boy quip]

mertmo · Post by **mertmo** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:25 am

My favorite way to listen to the ipod is albums on shuffle.

Electricide · Post by **Electricide** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:27 am

Mudcloth wrote:
themagicmanmdt wrote:
short attention spans are making the album experience go away.
People not recording an albums worth of good songs with continuity are making the album experience go away. Oh, snap! [missed your cat litter while ducking for cover over Beach Boy quip]

yep. I'll put the whole album on there, and then start deleting out the songs that aren't any good.

syrupcore · Post by **syrupcore** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 9:37 am

hopefully downloading songs will kill lame collections of songs put together in a long playing format to make some extra money. Don't get me wrong - I love me a good LP more than just about anything in the world. I love songs too and don't really feel like it's unartistic to just let a song float by itself - no record needed.

Don't forget, the LP killed the single, not the other way around. I miss 45s. One delicious song.

bipedal · Post by **bipedal** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:23 am

Great question / topic.

I don't think the gadgets themselves threaten "the album". My un-pod (a little 4gb Zen that I like a lot better than my wife's Nano) is filled with albums. That's my preference. My thought/hope is that there will always be people who prefer the album format rather than singles.

Now, the ability to easily/quickly/cheaply buy single songs via iTunes and the like -- something that was much more difficult to do in the past -- probably will have a bigger impact. As a kid, if I liked a song, I "invested" in the artist by buying the album.

Today, if a kid likes a song, he/she may be more likely to buy just that song. How will that "convenience" impact kids' developing listening habits, preferences, and attachments to / "investment in" artists? Dunno.

I think this was noted elsewhere in this thread: I'll bet the future of greatest hits compilations for major artists -- at least those offered without any juicy previously unavailable content -- isn't too bright. Who will buy 'em when they can easily assemble their own greatest hit lists song-by-song?

Cheers,

- Jay

eeldip · Post by **eeldip** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 10:45 am

i started reading this thread then got bored. whats an album?

??????? · Post by **???????** » Thu Nov 29, 2007 3:01 pm

technology never "kills" anything, it just allows people to have what they REALLY want.

If people stop listening to albums, then they never wanted to listen to them in the first place. The iPod just gave them what they wanted, consciously or not, all along. Rolling back technology or lamenting technology because it allows people to have what they want rather than what you think they should have is pretty narrow, no?

Maybe instead of "Kill yr iPod" the mantra should be "make an album that makes people believe in albums again."

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