8.25.2009 | 3:25 pm

Critical Backlash: The “Death” Of The Album

Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey


Critics’ and journalists’ “Death of the Album” axe has been grinding for a minute now, but since Pitchfork’s Rob Mitchum added his voice to the increasingly whiny — and wrong — chorus of unresearched, anecdotal opinion-as-trend-pushing today (aside: this is why blogs have ruined journalism) with a review of likely P4k best of the decade candidate Kid A, let’s discuss this real quick.

Is The Single An Album-Killer?: iTunes and digital downloading have, yes, made it extremely easy to cherry-pick individual tracks from albums; to create mish-mash playlists; and with the iPod’s “Shuffle” feature, to ignore album sequencing at will. Thus: The death of the album!!! Uh, based on what? In practical terms, listening habits have evolved — not altered. The playlist has replaced the cassette mixtape. iTunes and services like Pandora have replaced FM radio, which, if you’ve forgotten, always played singles — not albums. In the 1990s, a thriving CD singles market made top sellers of tracks from Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Madonna and more. In 1997 — before Napster — 67 million CD singles were sold, a number that kicks the shit out of modern digital sales. Singles! Newsflash: This didn’t stop people from buying Mariah Carey albums. Or, you know, Radiohead albums. And remember “Hey Jude?” That was a single.

Are People Buying Less Albums In Relation To Singles?: Maybe, but this is because people are buying less albums, period, because, frankly: what’s the point when music’s free? Go on any music discussion board or bittorrent site and you’ll see album downloads — not tracks. More importantly: Are the singles they’re buying hip-hop, pop and R&B hits from albums with only a few worthwhile tracks anyway, as opposed to supposedly “art” albums by bands like Radiohead? And so this is actually efficient, easy and great? Obviously. When “My Girls” starts cannibalizing Merriweather Post Pavillion sales, let me know.

Are Bands Still Making Albums?: Hello.

Do People Still Listen To Them?: If they’re any good!

Are People “Stripping” Rock Albums “For Parts” Now And “Marginalizing Them?”: I’ll answer your question with more questions. Do you own the Smiths’ Singles or the Bruce Springsteen’s greatest hits? Do you like some songs more than others? Do you really like Funeral but sometimes you just wanna hear “Tunnels?” Do you still listen to Funeral straight through most of the time anyway? Enough already.

Isn’t Tying The Album To The Rock Era Inaccurate Anyway Because It Really Came Of Age In The Late ’50s And Early ’60s Thanks To Frank Sinatra’s Early Concept/Theme Records And Album-Length Broadway Musical Soundtracks Like South Pacific Which Topped The Charts Deep Into The ’60s But Nobody Talks About Because They’re Inconvenient To The Narrative (Seriously, Look At The Billboard Year-End Charts): Yeah.

And Isn’t It Weirdly Hypocritical For A Web Site That’s Major Editorial Focus Has Been On Album Reviews For The Last Decade Call An Album From 2000 The Last Of Its Kind, Given That Said Web Site’s Best New Music Feature Has Spurred And Promoted Album Sales And Thus The Album As An Artistic Format: Totes. Especially given the best of the decade albums list they’re about to post.

So, Uh, What The Hell’s Going On Here?: You tell me. I’m going to go listen to some albums. On my iPod.

Previously: Critical Backlash: Vivian Girls, Meet 1993

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  • Guido

    Love it, Dave. you nailed this one.

  • k

    Dave,

    Your piece is an excellent example of the kind of writing the internet NEEDs right now: nuanced, engaged, and accurate.

    Just as MP3s and p2p programs/bittorrent did not “kill” the album, blogging does not have to mean the “death” of good writing.

    A++

    - k

  • David Greenwald

    Thank you, sir!

  • Jacob

    This is great. And I appreciate how you chart historical trends with actual facts. (And certainly my parents’ generation still buys albums and not just for reasons of technological illiteracy.)

  • http://nevermindmainsteam.blogspot.com Jim

    Said with wise words to point out, once again, how often Pitchfork’s head it up its own ass.

  • Ed

    Thanks for deflating the hubris a little.

  • http://progress.tumblr.com Matt

    EXCELLENT.
    i still wanna write for you

  • Jim

    Alright, but honestly, you care way too much about what Pitchfork posts. I get the feeling you refresh Pitchfork’s feed every 10 minutes, just waiting for something you can complain about. Totes.

  • http://www.popheadwound.blogspot.com James

    Right on brother! (David, not the last post)

  • David Greenwald

    Posts out of over 240 in 2009 mentioning Pitchfork: 16. And that’s counting 2 on the Pitchfork Music Festival.

    This is not a post about Pitchfork. It’s a post about a trend.

  • Briss

    You have represented the situation from a distinctly consumerist point of view but you are ignoring the further reaching implications of the dissection of an album into single downloadable songs.

    The broader question is: when people are able to download albums for free, how can artists survive and keep creating? Bands WILL stop making albums before too long. In my own region, that’s the trend. The cost of making an album was prohibitive at the best of times and now there is little-to-no prospect of recouping money through sales. Enter “the Single Song Marketplace”. Suddenly here is an ostensible life-line for struggling musicians. Why make a whole album when the framework is there to record singles and get the same returns?

    You write of people buying fewer albums in relation to singles:

    “…this is because people are buying less albums, period, because, frankly: what’s the point when music’s free?”

    Of course this is true, but the single digital download market is exploiting this very grave situation at the ultimate expense of the album.

    The difference between the industry now and in ’96 when CD single sales were booming is that back then there wasn’t a suffocating monster (free downloads) working in parallel with the CD single to bring down the album. In the mid nineties, CD album sales actually grew in tandem with CD single sales so i don’t know if this is a very helpful comparison to draw with today’s situation.

    I agree with you that people will continue to listen to albums but the problem doesn’t lie with some theoretical lack of public interest in the form. The real changes are happening less at the consumer level where you’ve focused your argument, and more at the creative and production levels where the new economy is hamstringing artists’ ability to produce and develop. Yes, the huge bands that you’ve referenced in your blog will probably keep making albums but down in the breeding grounds of music’s next generation, the album is becoming an increasingly unworkable proposition.

    B

    PS – By the inclusion of the signed Morrisey at the top there I’m guessing you are part of a generation who grew up with the album form being central to the cultural musical experience. The new wave of consumers, born directly into the world of high speed broadband, will have no such allegiance.

  • David Greenwald

    This is a great comment and you make some smart points. However, I think in terms of future viability though a 30-40 minute collection still makes the most sense as a package – it can soundtrack a commute, a workout, dinner, etc, beyond just listening for pleasure. I think people will largely stick with it. I guess we’ll see.

  • Briss

    Point totally taken and this is how i feel about the 30-40 minute package too, but i think that the itunes playlist, far from being the mixtape substitute is actually usurping the album as a soundtrack to the everyday. The immediacy of being able to drag and drop a 3 hr playlist together in 5 minutes and to tailor it to your needs at that specific point in time is a very seductive prospect, and it takes even more away from the album’s relevance. But man i hope you’re right. Thanks for the post

  • http://www.rawkblog.net David Greenwald

    Thanks for commenting! Hope to see you around.

  • Darren

    Great comments, but I over the 35 years I have listened to radio and bought albums, rarely – very rarely is there an album that can be listened to in its entirety over and over and over again. Yes there are a few, but even the best acts have trouble consistently packaging 10-14 really great songs together, much less in a manner that evokes a really great listening experience.

    The “death of the album” should be argued from the current “tweens” point of view. Most of my friends are parents of teenagers. All are inseparable from their ipods, zunes, and bit torrent clients. I do not know of one of them who obtains their music legally or otherwise that listens to full albums. The closest they come is making a playlist of their favorite artist’s best songs.

    I would argue many who are still clinging to the album (even in digital format) are of a certain age who grew up with the album concept as their experience. The real test of the album will come as this generation who was raised on digital media chooses to embrace or not embrace the “digital album.”