If you want to read about my evening tonight, read my other post. If you would rather read an interesting news article and leave comments in my comment box, read on.
An article on the Forbes magazine site, posted here, talks about the origins and fate of the album. I just typed an entire blog post beneath this one, so I'll keep this short.
The album format is great in the same way that the novel is great.
There are artists who complain that customers logging on and purchasing a single track off their album is like only buying a corner of a Chagal painting. TAKE YOURSELF LESS SERIOUSLY. Honestly, if you, as a rapper think millions of people buying a single track off of your album instead of the whole thing is going to ruin you financially, then by all means keep droning on like a spoiled 2 year old; I will simply exercise my right to ignore you. If however, you as an artist are truly concerned that people are only viewing a portion of your creative work and are therefore not getting the whole messge, then I have a message for you, MAKE A WHOLE ALBUM THAT DOESN'T SUCK. Do you want to know why people buy an entire Chagal (or a copy of a Chagal...hmm, how is that parallel to music, file sharing perhaps)? I will tell you why, because the Chagal painting is freaking genius: it is pretty, and witty and gay.
The artists that make serious music that I happen to like, I buy their whole albums: Josh Ritter, Cat Power, Ryan Adams, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, The Decemberists, to name a few recent purchase. People I would not be very likely to buy a whole album from: any rapper (with the exception of actual hip-hop), any pop group, any American Idol (it's a matter of principal). When you admit that your whole industry is about making money I have no inclination to feel sorry for you. Is it possible that I will break down and buy a song here or there? Yes. Is it remotely possible that sometime in the future I might feel bad for the poor pop/rap artist and buy an album just to see what their vision is? NO!
In Summary: Albums will continue to live on so long as their are true musicians and artists looking to string songs together into albums in the way that writers string plot lines together to weave a nove. When there are no more of these artists left, it will be a single track free for all to control the thin white cord that for so many of today's population forms the link between the real world and the canned emotions that are just a scroll wheel away, held tightly in that light weight metalic case.
End of Rant.
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1 comment:
Remember the Batman franchise of the 80s and 90s? That thing started of strong and then got ran into the ground because of the push to make more and more money.
So they killed it off; for awhile.
But by the time Batman Returns came around, the movie studios had learned some lessons. 1.) Make it excellent and drop all the cheesy outfits. 2.) Enough time had passed that the demand was strong again.
The music industry could learn some lessons from Batman.
They should sign fewer artists. Put out fewer albums and create more demand.
Plus, they really should stop taking themselves so seriously.
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