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Itunes and online music

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TheFathomist:
I was reading an article in Rolling Stone (don't get on me for it, I was at the doctor's office skimming mags) the other day about how CD sales in 2005 overall were down, and how online music sales are exploding. It said that this would lead to a return in the music industry of singles as a way of making money, and a smaller empahsis on full length albums. It also noted that an number of indie artists who had embraced online music distribution were some of the most popular to download. I was wondering everyone's thoughts on this.

As a musician, I think Itunes, Myspace, and their brethren open up worlds of new ways to get music to people. I think it is only a matter of time before we see an artist become famous for web released tunes. The return of the radio star in the form of the web star.

The downside to this is that I also see an explosion of fluff acts. With an increased empahsis on singles, and labels less willing to spend big bucks for an album, I fear for a stream of one-hit/one album wonders, such as the endless Beatle copycats of the 60's or the mass of hair bands in the 80's. The last thing I want is to see albums go out of fashion. They are the basic artistic statement today in music. Anyone can write a decent 3 minute, 4 chord ditty with proper foucs and practice. But to make an 40+ minute musical experience is what seperates the men from the boys, live act be damned. It would be a pity to see albums become raritites because of market trends and restrictions put on by labels.

Aram:
Well, what you said is true, but in reality, this has been coming since the days of Napster. People still buy albums, even though they could easily download them. I don't think that the release of full-length albums will fall that much, since the means to download albums has been available for a few years now, and still bands are producing albums. Quite a few people think that downloading music is wrong.
But on the subject of internet sales, those are a convinience for everyone, but I don't think that just because you can buy something online, everyone else will drop everything and start selling everything online. There are a -lot- of songs that aren't made into singles, and most of them I personally like better. I can't speak for the entire population, but I think that I'm right in saying that.

nescience:
The album has really only been the listeners' standard since the mid '60s or so.  I don't really have a problem with going back to a predominantly singles-oriented listening culture-- I'd actually be interested to see what happens.  Of course, I'm pretty certain that the return to such a culture would violate every music-ethics bone in my body, but hey, I'm a huge cynic.

sjbrot:
I think the appearance of albums at all is an interesting thing. It seems pretty cut and dry now, but looking back at how something like the first full-length Kinks album was handled, the record labels were really just doing it because they could. It's kind of evolved from their to the point where I think albums are an essential form in modern music.

I love singles, and I own plenty of albums that I wish were just EP's. I'm also finding myself buyign more and more singles and EP's. I still think that it would be a shame if the traditional album was killed by digital music and commerce.

TheFathomist:

--- Quote from: Aram ---Well, what you said is true, but in reality, this has been coming since the days of Napster. People still buy albums, even though they could easily download them. I don't think that the release of full-length albums will fall that much, since the means to download albums has been available for a few years now, and still bands are producing albums. Quite a few people think that downloading music is wrong.
But on the subject of internet sales, those are a convinience for everyone, but I don't think that just because you can buy something online, everyone else will drop everything and start selling everything online. There are a -lot- of songs that aren't made into singles, and most of them I personally like better. I can't speak for the entire population, but I think that I'm right in saying that.
--- End quote ---


I agree with you that I don't think albums will disappear, or that all music will be sold online in the not-to-distant-future. I like tons of songs that aren't singles either, but the people who control distribution of those songs don't make nearly much money off them, so they are less willing to spend money to make them. I worry that labels will not give artists the time or freedom to make great music, becasue after all, the album is just going to tank, so why not just crank out a single and slap it on the Net? And if you do buy an album online, how does that affect it? Knowing that your work is likely to simply be shuffled onto someone's Ipod playlist as opposed to being heard as a seperate and unique entity?

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