People subscribe to playlists on Spotify, but I've always believed an album, DJ set, or playlist was a finite, completed, whole work. How does a musical purist adjust to the idea of a living playlist?
With stubborn rebellion? I still listen to entire albums. Never listen to singular tracks - at least, very rarely. The idea of a "playlist" confounds me to some extent.
I wonder if, because of this shift in listening habits among the average listene, artists approach how they create and market music from a song-first, album second perspective. I think it also depends on several factors: audience, genre, labels, etc.
I still very much listen to albums. I LOVE Rdio for this. I do agree with you Kevin, that genre, audience and labels play a factor, but in general the consumption of music has drastically changed. There was this great article that talks about how music playback technology has fundamentally changed how we listen to music. Listening to a record (vinyl) was an endeavor. You couldn't just throw it on and let it play all day. Today music is everywhere, all the time. And this is where my struggle really kicks in. I both pine for the days of the album, relishing the singular piece and the investment of creativity that was put into it. Yet, music is more a commodity now, one that is continually consumed and always in the background.
Declaring playlist bankruptcy – lost in a land of infinite choice
Kevin Suttle added Jordan Moore.
I believe an album is an opportunity for the artist to curate their own story, an exhibition of their work where often an isolated artefact loses some of it's meaning outside of the intended context.
Digital dilutes artistic expression somewhat - an album sleeve was the extension of the story, a complimentary appendix that went beyond the album and gave you a sense of true ownership in that you could hold and feel the work in your hands.
Digital just isn't there yet in terms of creating that feeling of satisfaction. In my opinion a collection/playlist further reduces this artistic expression by divorcing a track from it's intended context and removing it from the album narrative.
