Downloading squeezes the art out of the album
Excellent article about the demise of the album as we know it. It seems to me that it’s the other way around: more like the demise of the album is what is encouraging downloading. People just don’t want to pay $20 for an album that may or may not only have 2 or 3 good songs on it.
I have a feeling the album will be around for many years though. I can see the industry splitting into two camps. One side that is made up of the single oriented disposible pop music. The other side “serious musicians” that continue to put out full length albums.
The quote I like best is from Ray Manzarek, who has mixed feelings about all this:
“We were at an advantage in the ’60s, because we had to deliver only a total of 40 minutes on two sides of an LP. It’s asking too much of an artist and composer to put 75 minutes on a CD. In a way, young artists are enslaved by that length.”
