Artists Protesting Single-Song Downloads 811
prostoalex writes "The 99 cent downloads are stirring some discussion in the music community. Linkin Park, Radiohead, Madonna, Jewel and Green Day are protesting music stores' policy of single-song downloads and introduce some stipulations, requiring their work to be sold as albums. "The fear among artists is that the work of art they put together, the album, will become a thing of the past," says attorney Fred Goldring, whose firm represents Will Smith and Alanis Morissette."
fools (Score:5, Interesting)
Simple answer to that then (Score:1, Interesting)
economics of it are better (Score:4, Interesting)
Go that way really fast, if something gets in your way, turn.
Usurper_ii
Re:Typical...... (Score:5, Interesting)
They have some of the most loyal fans out there. If Hail to the Thief had been on the iTunes Music Store, I would have bought it there. It's not, so I ended up going to best buy to pick it up.
Do like the artists of old did... (Score:2, Interesting)
Would you rather spend $ 40.00 go to watch talented artists like Rush or Dream Theatre, or the talentless Karaoke artists like Eminem or Will Smith ?
Proabably if your old enough to remember what good music is all about.
I agree (Score:2, Interesting)
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), Letter to Josiah Quincy, Sept. 11, 1773.
I say let 'em do what they want. (Score:5, Interesting)
If, however she's in it for the money, then she's a business, and as a business she has customers to satisfy. If she can't or won't supply what her customers want they'll move elsewhere.
The only way this could matter is if a few top names are able to control the entire industry with regards to single song downloads. That is, Madonna knows she'll lose customers if she doesn't allow single downloads so, out of spite, she somehow is able to end single downloads altogether.
Maybe the artists are right!! (Score:2, Interesting)
Most of my favourite bands aren't really "single makers". With the likes of Pink Floyd and Radiohead the albums themselves are much more than the sum of their parts. Taking out individual singles doesn't fit in with their style of music making.
I don't agree with the commercial arguments but artistically I think they're right. So shoot me.
Name Some Albums Where All Music Is Good (Score:4, Interesting)
By the way, what albums of yours fit this description? What are some "perfect" albums that are good from start to finish? I'm always looking for good stuff, especially hard rock and heavy metal!
Work of Art - Albums as a (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:fools (Score:5, Interesting)
Single track downloads should be free for singles (with some compensation for the infrastructure costs -- joining a mail list, filling out a product form, watching a Pepsi Flash commercial, etc.) and you should be able to purchase albums-only as payable downloads in my opinion. The musicians have a right to be afraid of this, I think.
Albums are already a thing of the past! (Score:5, Interesting)
The music industry has worked hard to kill songs that tell stories...song that make you think. With no songs that tell a story, the songwriting paradign that comes to us from the dawn of time, through the Celtic Bards and Troubadors, and into our time, there is no need for albums...for albums are for stories that are longer than one song.
And with the death of the album, the record companies are maybe hoping to reduce recording costs by just having their "made" artists (N'Sync, Spears, Idol stars, etc.) go in and record a new song whenever their demographics department thinks that a new song by that artist will be successful.
And if you want a really cynical view of ths music industry, hunt down a book called _Little Heros_ by Norman Spinrad, borderline cyberpunk, and some good Erisian in-jokes.
ttyl
Farrell
Artists Apparently Against Anti-Trust Laws (Score:3, Interesting)
This is one of the area's that Microsoft was getting in trouble for with bundling the browser with the OS since in order to get the "desireable" product (cough...windows) you HAD to buy (bundled) the Browser.
So, apparently the artists are in favor of Big Money/Anti-competative/Corporate rip-offs...As long as it is in the name of art.
You know, I think strip mining is an important artistic commentary on our world today..I think I will try to bring it back in the name of Art.
At least Madonna and Alanis Morissette will be on my side.
They Have Had 40 Years to Make Us Want Albums (Score:5, Interesting)
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles
- The Beatles, The Beatles (the white album
- The Final Cut, Pink Floyd
- Pornography, The Cure
I am sure others exist, and I am sure people can bring up lists of their own favorites. My point is more that out of the hundreds and hundreds of CDs and LPs I own, I only consider 4 to be artistically harmed by pulling them apart. That's just sad.Here is something even sadder.
I have ripped all of mine and my wife's CDs onto a server in my house. That is 22 GB of music.
I then went through and rated all of the songs I liked. Of the 22 GB of music, I consider only 7 GB worth listening to in the quirkiest of moods. That is 15 GB I consider complete worthless crap.
Now, it is true you can dismiss some of the crap as "what the hell was I thinking back then" or "what relative thought I listened to this shit" or "why does my wife like heavy metal". That accounts for 2-3 GB.
Under a charitable view of things, this suggests that 12 out of every 19 songs released is considered crap by an artist's own fans! And they want to keep forcing me to pay for this shit?
No more buying albums for me. No thanks. I will preview each new song on the Apple Music Store. If it is any good, I will buy it. If I like the band, I will preview it several times. This will also prevent me from buying crap like REM's Up.
Re:Work of Art - Albums as a (Score:3, Interesting)
Nonetheless, it is certainly true that the average album is a collection of songs, rather than a coherent whole - while there may be planning and thought that goes into designing the album (we need a ballad, a couple of rockin' tunes, some dance-y stuff, and an experimental piece...) it's not like the entire album is sculpted towards any theme other than "sell the album", in general - and in many cases, it's more "fill the album with sixty-seventy minutes of music, so the fans don't feel cheated.
But, well, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Re:Typical...... (Score:2, Interesting)
Singles are carefully chosen, and their release carefully timed, to cause an increase in sales of the corresponding album.
Work of art? (Score:3, Interesting)
These people make me sick, glad I didn't goto that mess of a radiohead show here in NY a few weeks ago.
Can you imagine a painter sitting in a gallery and whenever someone came in and looked at his painting from a different angle than he wanted; he'd come running over crying like a bitch and force you to stand, 85.5degrees from center, clamp open your eyelids so you can't not look at any of it and keep you there for 1:15?
I'm done buying any music from the RIAA sponsored pukes. Before I was iffy, but now I'm certain I can find better, free as in expression, and cheap as in price bands to listen to.
Re:Work of Art (Score:5, Interesting)
Those vibes add up in the forms of choruses, verses, and catchy melodies. You could call it a "hit" if you want, but that's not every musician's goal. It's not as simple as having a nice album to put on your wall. I don't think that's it.
It shouldn't matter if the listener hears the song on the radio, or from a passing car, or in some other temporary, incomplete setting. One vibe, one chorus, one chord, one sound should be enough to get the message across.
I find it hard to believe that any artist would find that it takes an entire album for a listener to derive something positive and beneficial, or just cool and funky, or upbeat and exciting, or slow and introspective. It should only take 5 seconds of music from a passing car to share a good vibe through music.
I am not sure that insisting that people buy the whole album is all it's cracked up to be. It's probably best to make sure that anyone who wants the album can buy it just as easily as they can the single (i.e. have a link next to the single that says "buy album" or something similar).
The thought that music that you make will be heard by millions of people around the world should be enough to realize that one song is all that you really need to take that first step on the path towards expressing yourself. Certainly, people buying your work hardly qualifies as something that stands in your way!
I would rather have millions and millions of people listen to part of one song than hundreds of thousands of people listen to a whole album. Better yet, there shouldn't be any reason to not have both, unless you are just in it for the money, or the fame, or the luxuries, etc...
It's an imperfect world - as an artist, I prefer to concentrate on the good parts - knowing that music you create is going to be heard by lots and lots of people you will probably never meet is REALLY COOL - it's better to step back and just let it happen (in my opinion). The minute you get eccentric and strange you lose a certain connection, and the music becomes less meaningful than it has the potential to be.
Re:Typical...... (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Typical...... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Of Course (Score:4, Interesting)
If you look around the bulletin boards and ask around you will see that many people who used to download are now using the iTMS because it meets their needs.
Many people want to pay but simply didn't like the payment options available.
Does that justify stealing? No. But it's not dumb. And it's not stealing "just because they could." If it were, these people would just have continued to steal.
There is a market. The artists just need to find it! Apple's iTMS is a good start.
Re:Typical...... (Score:4, Interesting)
Look, yah, they probably get paid less, but if they're such artists then they should realize that people will still buy the cd for the art. Why should, for arts sake, it be any different if I downloaded the entire album vs. song by song? Or is it the whole 'you-get-the-cd-art' argument? Regardless, this specific issues doesn't really seem about art but obviously more about money.
And frankly, I hold people's art and opinions and thoughts all together. If someone made a totally political song and then went out and did the opposite, I'd think that's pretty lame. I'm not gonna necessairly write Radiohead off as a suck band now, but this statement will definitely call into question how I veiw them and their art.
I think the single song download has to stay alive - it's a way to keep artists in check. If an artist is really a kick ass artist, then everything they put out should be interesting. But if they're so-so, then why put up with the crap you don't like? This, if anything, should help the artist since labels want them to pump out as much crap as possible so they can sell as much and profit as much. The individual tune will let the 'consumer'/fan/whatever hold the power to actually say what they will and will not buy.
It's common knowledge the record industry is one step short of a crime syndicate (others may disagree). If artists are bitching about not making enough money, then disband and reband under a different name with an indie or some other label that will give you a bigger cut - bands do it all the time. There are plenty of people who still love the art and still make money and still have integrity. When the likes of Madonna and Linkin Park start whining about cash, then that's when my 'fuck-off' light goes on... *shrugs*
Re:Of Course (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:Work of Art - Albums as a (Score:3, Interesting)
Mr. Lif's I Phantom [allmusic.com] and Prince Paul's Prince Among Thieves [allmusic.com] : Both concept albums (the latter being an opera), which can be sampled as single songs, but can't be enjoyed as a full album. I Phantom has recurring characters and storylines throughout and the final two songs are about the apocalypse which ultimately destroys everyone that was described earlier in the album.
Beck's Sea Change [allmusic.com] is Beck's break-up album, and the album moves through different views and feelings he has until the final song, where he realizes what he did and how he got to where he is ("I never thought I'd live / Till the ugly truth / Showed me what it did").
Air's City Reading [allmusic.com] is a group of three westerns read by their author, Alessandro Baricco, over backing music by Air. Again, no single song really does it justice.
Then there's just tons of albums that are very good where every song is amazing, but these are all concept albums where it doesn't make sense to have only one song. Bottom line: You don't need to make a concept album. Make an album with good songs and no filler and we will buy the entire album.
Comment removed (Score:3, Interesting)
Albums Are Dead, It's The Download Age. (Score:2, Interesting)
Now we are in the download age. Pick a track. Singles by definition.
It will no longer make economic sense to commit to the investment it takes to produce a 10 song album. (they used to be twelve)
Now the smart money producers will take a project in for two or three cuts based on the one song they think is a hit. Just like in the old days. No need for an album because albums are not what is selling.
I think this will produce better stuff to listen to. And more product too. This is good for artists and songwriters. There will be more diversity and opportunity.Because of technology advances recording is itself becoming almost trivial and affordable to the masses. Of course the greedy-scaly hand of the RIAA oligopoly must be released from the throat of our culture for all to truly benefit.
Re:I say let 'em do what they want. (Score:4, Interesting)
Those that are real artists put out quality stuff becuase they want to, so they make more money by default. Plus, consumers like to support these types of artists more.
the problem is, we started accepting pop-culture garbage which was created for the only purpose of selling. How many popular bands do you hear on the radio that actually started in a garage, playing for proms and birthdays? Not too many.
Most of the crap out there is reprocessed garbage, and they know it. I think that's why they don't people buying one song at a time.
The shift from feeding the customers garbage to actually listening to what the customer wants and providing it is a huge step; one that they dont' want to take.
Re:Name Some Albums Where All Music Is Good (Score:5, Interesting)
Led Zeppelin - I, II, IV
The Doors - The Doors, L.A. Woman
The White Stripes - White Blood Cells, Elephant
Beatles - Sgt. Peppers, Revolver, The White Album, Abbey Road
Pearl Jam - Ten, VS
Boston - Boston
Vanilla Ice - Mind Blowin (yes, really!)
Metallica - the black album
Or is it simply.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Typical...... (Score:3, Interesting)
Solution (Score:2, Interesting)
2. Monitor sales of each track for a few weeks.
After this initial period:
3. 'Popular' tracks (over some threshold # of sales/week) would retain the 99 cent price.
4. Less popular tracks could be downloaded at 25 cents each (or whatever) by any user purchasing one of the more popular tracks.
5. Users choosing to download an entire album would get an additional discount, and free downloads of whatever cover art or text the artists wanted to make available.
Some variant of this system would ensure that the whole-album format would survive. What won't survive are the ridiculously high profit margins.
Re:Albums are already a thing of the past! (Score:3, Interesting)
Coincidentally, 3 out of 5 CD's in my car right now are concept albums.
Dream Theater - Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory
Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Queensryche - Operation: Mindcrime
Out of over 300 CD's the only other concepts I think I have are Spock's Beard - Snow and Pink Floyd - The Wall. You could possibly also count Dream Theater - 6 Degrees of Inner Turbulence. Its a 2CD set with one of the CD's being a large concept song.
I'm sure there are a few more that aren't really concepts but seem to have a general reoccurring theme. Rush - Vapor Trails seems to have a general theme about dealing with loss (Neil Peart's only daughter died in car accident, then his wife died of cancer less than 1 year later) and pulling yourself back up onto your feet. Dream Theater - Falling Into Infinity seems to have a recurring theme (though not in every song)about them being fed up with being controlled by the record companies.
Then of course, I guess you could also say Kid Rock's CD's have a recurring them of talking about himself, and seeing if he can remember to say his own name in every song.
Re:fools (Score:5, Interesting)
Albums seen as a whole (Score:3, Interesting)
People that only listen to the radio for their music might never even hear another song except for the single off of an album and I think that would be hard for me to do. I like listening to albums all the way through from Track 1 to Track End, not on shuffle or repeat.
There are themes among other things that are woven into the songs, and the arrangement of them is picked for a reason (although for some bands it is probably just marketing).
It has been said before, but needs saying again. (Score:1, Interesting)
There is a simple formula that a concerned consumer can apply to remove the seat of power that this segment of the industry enjoys. It will require discipline and dedication on the part of the consumer, but it is guaranteed to work. I have provided the tactics and their intended targets (in italics).
Perhaps some of you are thinking "how can I live without my [insert favorite TV program here]..." or other such broadcast. It isn't that difficult, I have cancelled my subscription to cable. I thought I was going to miss the shows, but in actuality I don't miss what I don't know I'm missing! In any case, I have provided some suggestions to help my fellow slashdotters to continue existing.
I can think of many more as I'm sure you can. I encourage you to think of many more. The point isn't really about "sticking it to them", although that is a nice by-product, it is about reclaiming your industry independence. You can break the dependence on entertainment media that the industry has spent so much time, money, thought, and effort into cultivating within the consumer markets. Once you have achieved independence, you can no longer be threatened by the current tactics of the MPAA, RIAA, and other industry groups. It worked in 1776 didn't it?
Re:fools (Score:5, Interesting)
Britney is (well, more appropriately, WAS) a massive marketing/publicity generating celebrity, who makes money off of being famous. Britney's music has almost nothing to do with artistry as far as music goes... she's a performer and she makes money off of performing. Her songs were not composed by her with a pad and paper and guitar in her bedroom, they were written by a hot songwriter, produced by a hot producer, music performed by experienced studio musicians, and sung by a hot recording artist / celebrity image. It's all MARKETING. Music for the people. There is some traces of artistry there on individual levels, but generally the whole thing is for making money and it's music by committee. Don't forget, the record execs have their meeting where they decide whether the album is good enough to release and if not, they send you back to the studio.
The point? For Britney, success is money and publicity. 99 cent singles contribute to this and don't detract from any secondary goals. Why would they sell singles for all these years if they hurt the companies and these kind of artists, their biggest money makers?
Now, Radiohead, on the other hand...
Radiohead is the type of band that makes an album, writes songs for the sake of writing music and expressing feelings. For a band like Radiohead, the album is a unit of expression. Radio airplay and singles don't really mean much... they're nice for promotion, but they don't mean as much on their own as does the whole album. Also, since Radiohead doesn't compose individual songs for the sake of promotion and celebrity, they won't make too much money going that route.
It's not entirely black and white like that - yea, Radiohead might write a song that might be radio friendly, and Britney might write a song on her own about some terrible thing she felt that will never make it to radio... but the point is, Radiohead wants to sell their albums as units of works of art. They don't mind singles as long as the albums are for sale. And Britney doesn't care about albums, because if she didn't have to sing 9 "other" songs on a 12 song album, she'd rather not.
Enter the possibility that the record companies may no longer wish to sell albums because 99 cent singles are making all the money. This is plausible for no other reason other than if 99 cent electronic singles are a huge hit, as we have been trying to get them to do that for SIX YEARS now, then they would obviously pour all their resources into that, albums be damned. Radiohead is then phased out and Britney is completely in. (or the next Britney, anyway)
Re:Typical...... (Score:5, Interesting)
Nothing new under the sun, my friend. How do you think Metallica built a cult following back in the day? Through the bootleg scene... they positively encouraged fans to tape live shows and trade the tapes. Hell, I was there.
Now Metallica are coasting along on past glories... from the Black Album onwards, everything they've done has been complete rubbish. James Hetfield tells the old-skool fans to fuck off, and Lars Ulrich, that petulant little runt, whines that bootleggers are stealing the bread from his mouth. That's what he does, he doesn't complain or rant, or even bitch, he just whines.
On principle, I'm gonna download me some Metallica. I won't listen to it, but I'll just keep it there on my HD, so I can smirk whenever I read them and their whining every time this topic comes up. Figure I'll do my best to get copies to anyone who wants 'em, if anyone does.
There's only one peach with the hole in the middle (Score:2, Interesting)
I discovered my love of music at a fairly young age. I don't know if my family was any more musical than any other typical family of non-musicians living in the Detroit area in the late 60s/early 70s, but many of my earliest memories are of songs we'd hear on the radio while on weekend trips, shopping excursions and camping outings. I have vague memories of being in love with songs like "Tears Of A Clown" and "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Silly Love Songs", though at that early date (around 5-7 years old) I couldn't have told you who performed them or even have done much more than hum the chorus for you. I can remember the very first single I ever purchased, though. I liked a song by Joe Tex called I Gotcha [tinyurl.com], which research shows was a hit in 1972, which means I was about 5 years old, and that sounds about right. I can't remember whether Mom gave me money to buy it or whether she just asked me to pick out a 45 while we were at the store. In any even, I know for sure that it was the first non-"kids record" I ever owned myself. I have vague memories of playing my older sister's records, but nothing really specific from that early on.
My first "real" album purchase didn't happen until years later: Parliament's Mothership Connection [popmatters.com]. Even after I bought my first albums, though, for years my musical purchases overwhelmingly came in the form of 45 RPM, 7-inch singles. American singles of the time were very distinctive looking. Unlike European singles, which replicated the small center holes of 12-inch albums, U.S. singles sported a large center hole. This meant that you usually needed some sort of adapter to play them on a standard turntable. The little plastic adapters were somewhat fragile and impractical, but they sure are a wonderfully iconic element of a bygone age, aren't they?
The prevalence of singles among my early purchases was largely practical. I got a small allowance, which if I remember started out at 25 cents a week, then escalated through 50 cents a week, a dollar a week, and finally $5 a week by the time I entered middle school. When I first started buying singles regularly, they went for about 99 cents to $1.25 apiece. That got you a (usually edited) single mix and a b-side, some of which were purest filler and some of which were fascinating. It would probably seem alien to a music buyer younger than, oh 25 or so, but up until the mid 1980s or so record stores would stock hundreds or even thousands of 7-inch singles, with the top sellers proudly displayed on the walls. Singles were a huge part of the music business, and a lot of record stores devoted just as much space to singles as they did to albums.
My music buying took off in earnest when I turned 12 and got my first paper route. I discovered many artists via 45s during this period, many of which I would come to love and by many many albums by in subsequent years. Some early 45's I bought were by Kraftwerk, XTC, the Police, the B-52s, Devo, Gary Numan, and Yellow Magic Orchestra. I mention this not to try to buld up any cred points, but to point out that the easy, cheap availability of music by these artists made it possible for me to try new things musically without a lot of risk. Albums were a formidable $5-$7 apiece, and $7 bought a lot of M&Ms and Hot Wheels. A kid with a paper route just didn't have a lot of dosh to blow on any full-length album that wasn't a sure thing. For a while, the record industry was fine with this. They'd made a mint on bands like the Beach Boys in the 1960s, who were practically hit single machines, releasing multimillion selling single after single, which would eventually get compiled onto albums almost as an afterthought. Of course, as bands like the Beatles (and eventually the Beach Boys themselves) gained more artistic control they began to deliver albums that stood as coherent statements, but for a long
Re:Name Some Albums Where All Music Is Good (Score:3, Interesting)
1) The artist is a known quantity (Seal, Radiohead, Enigma, Faith No More, Paul Oakenfold)
2) Heard two songs from said CD and liked it.
If I want singles, I go grab the 'best of'. Too bad I don't listen to the radio much anymore, but it's pretty rare for a radio station to play more than two songs off a CD.
Re:Well???? (Score:4, Interesting)
2) I was comparing apples with oranges. The 12 cents was calculated on the dollar. A writer does not typically calculate on the dollar, but on the amounts that the publishing house receives. Therefore subtracting from the article the amount that the seller and middle person receives you get about 20% to 30% royality rate for the artist.
When I saw those stats the artist is not that badly off!
I will NOT buy a CD album anymore (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Work of Art (Score:3, Interesting)
I also believe that a true artist creates works that can and should be enjoyed as a subset. One does not have to listen to the entire performance of Swan Lake to be moved by oft played love theme. One can enjoy a photograph of a Kandinsky painting, even though it is difficult to appreciate the colors and textures.
Which is to say that the current protest is still about money. Look at the artists. They are all reasonable good. I own stuff from most of them. However, most of these artist are either at the end of their career, with no new blockbusters, or looking toward a time when they have no more block busters. How will they make money. Well, traditionally, they would put out over priced boxed sets, which the retail chains can sell, and do cross promotions for comeback tours and the like. The die hard fan will buy the boxed set just out of loyalty, and the casual fan might buy the boxed set because they never bought the original albums.
But what happens now? All but the most die hard fan is not going to buy the boxed set because they already have created the box set themselves. The low level fan is totally lost because they have already downloaded the 12 songs they like for $12, and certainly are not going to spend $20 to just to get the 3 more songs they hate. This is bad for the artist and label. They did not sell the albums up front. They cannot sell the compilations now. It screws up the business model.
The best example I have seen of this is on Apple with the song American Pie. Don McLean knows on which side his bread is buttered, and therefore does not sell this song alone. You can buy any other song on the album as single, but not this one. It makes good business sense to do this, but don't insult our intelligence by claiming artistic integrity.
Re:Work of Art (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Well???? ( A quick lesson in publishing) (Score:3, Interesting)
I write as well and finally I found a publisher I like....
I was annoyed by the musicians whining constantly about this, that or the other thing. They should live the life of a writer sometime and see how it is! Poor mostly!
Re:fools (Score:2, Interesting)
I listen to music from good artists in my opinion (well...who doesnt) and I find the use of singles downloads is great to see if I like the album. Usually I will hear a few songs, maybe listen to something from another album if I am not familiar with teh group and then purchase the disk. I do this with p2p because its free, if I had access to the apple music store I would gladly pay 99cents a track to sample an album but ONLY IF I could subtract the 99cents (or maybe 2 songs worth) from the price of the cd. There is no reason to pay for the tracks twice which is why I use p2p
KID A had filler, and so did Amnesiac (Score:5, Interesting)
Once you combine the best of one with the best of the other, you get the album that I would want to buy. If they can't understand that, then I can't be bothered spending money on "Hail to the theif"- due to "artistic difference between me and the band."
Re:fools (Score:3, Interesting)
True but this doesn't count the fact that even though you may lose sales on the album itself you probably would not have gotten those sales in the first place! Those people who are just buying a track or two were probably not going to buy the entire album but since the tracks are available as singles they bought them.
Overall choice is a good thing. If you make good songs then people will probably buy all the tracks on an album. Those people who only want 1 or 2 tracks on an album probably would not have bought the entire album so you can count those sales as extra gravy on top of your usual album sales. Sure you will lose a few whole album sales to singles but I'm willing to bet that a decent artist will make more money than they will lose.
It's already dead. (Score:5, Interesting)
That is.. until you put the thing into your computer. Whereupon the Digital Restrictions Management loads it's little mickey mouse player (mickey mouse both for its power and the DRM associations) to play the CD for you..
So what I want to know is, how come we don't hear about Madonna, Linkin Park, etc., bitching about how DRM players are "killing the art" of the album?
Re:Concept albums (Score:3, Interesting)
It would be nice if a intelligent shuffle routine could be devised-- so , for instance, the 5 parts of a violin concerto could be heard, as a unit-- without disrupting the listener's ability to hear just one movement, if he so chooses.
I didn't even read the article but... (Score:3, Interesting)
I've seen big-ticket artists' albums go for up to $35 in stores, for a measly 15-song CD and I think these rich-ass bastards like it that way. Someone must have told them that if only 5 of the songs on the release are any good, they stand to lose that $30 worth of "filler" tracks they recorded as an after-thought over a weekend to get the album released on time.
I mean, Radiohead is one of my favorite bands, but they release 3 albums a year!
Why?
What happened anyways? 50 Years ago being a musician wasn't the height of society, and now they get more respect, privelage, and money than any other profession!
I seriously think this whole digital music revolution is nothing more than the long overdue wake-up call for everyone in the music industry who thought this was going to last forever.
Re:Name Some Albums Where All Music Is Good (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:fools (Score:5, Interesting)
That wouldn't be surprising at all. If you go rent (or own) David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" aside from the always-welcome hot lesbian action, the DVD has no chapter stops, you can only play it straight through (or FF a lot). Lynch explained he did it that way so you'd be forced to experience the entire storyline the way he set it out in order to figure out the puzzle/nightmare.
If DVD audio really takes off, I'd be willing to bet you'll see either new (or re-issued) "concept albums" that will only have one "track" and force the listener to sit through the whole thing.
Re:fools (Score:3, Interesting)
Interestingly enough, have you ever thought about just why they're called "albums"?
When the "recording industry" first started, individual songs were sold on 45's. People would buy books (similar to picture albums) in which they would store their records. Some enterprising blues artist came up with the idea of making songs which went together as a greater work, meant to fill such an album.
The recording industry _has_ survived the trade of single songs.
This is like reading a story saying that the recording industry doesn't want to return to a vinyl format (or cassette tape, or whatever), because they think it'll be bad for sales. The recording industry has not only survived the sale of single songs, it started that way, whether those in charge have any idea or not.
The way I see this developing, is this: single-spitting "pop artists" will earn their $0.99 per track, because that's what they produce best.
Those who can produce albums which really, REALLY make sense as albums will still sell what they produce best -- albums.
Re:fools (Score:3, Interesting)
This also raises the possibility that artists can start generating money in a couple days (time it takes to conceive and record a single track) instead of a couple months (for a full album, much of which may be filler).
I agree that it creates something of a competitive problem, but looking at the good points, it could be beneficial for artists and consumers alike: they can start generating income faster, and we can pick-and-choose the music that we want.
Easy solution (Score:3, Interesting)
1. Stop making 1 or 2 creative songs and then stuffing the rest of the album with filler noise.
2. Try their hand at "rock operas": Each song on the album is part of a story and theme centric. Getting just one song wouldn't make alot of sense since it is just one part of the album.
Of course, this will be effective in weeding out the real talent from the zero talent and that would send alot of "stars" back to flipping burgers...