Will I-tunes change the way artists develop albums?

[Chizip]

With the incredible popularity of I-tunes and the I-pod these days, will this have a much larger impact on the music industry than originally thought?

Now that people can go in and just select their favorite songs from an album instead of buying the whole thing, will this give artists an incentive to deliver an album full of catchy singles rather than an album that flows together and follows a certain theme?

 

[u2popmofo]

Interesting question. I'm not sure if it will change how an album is formed or made, but I do think it will change marketing drastically. It's good to see record labels squirming

 

[Bonochick]

If I'm gonna buy music, I'd rather buy something tangible and THEN load it onto my iPod.

liner notes

That's all I have to contribute right now.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I definitely see it changing the way artists develop the way they decide which songs go onto their albums. Whereas before there would be a few "throaway" songs on any given album, I see them trying to make all songs sound more like singles in order to get the most downloads or what have you out of their catalogs.

 

[Chizip]

yes i agree, but now that question is, is this a good thing?

would you rather have an album of 11 disjointed hits that dont really flow together (atyclb) or one cohesive album that follows a theme (unforgettable fire)?

 

[meegannie]

If I'm gonna buy music, I'd rather buy something tangible and THEN load it onto my iPod.

I'll pay £1.99 for a CD single (with one or two b-sides) or 99p for a vinyl, but I'm not about to pay 79p for one song from an album.

singles

 

[IWasBored]

i don't have an ipod, i don't know anyone in real life who has an ipod. so i don't even see any kind of revolutionary change in the music industry going on around me.

if i ever do obtain an ipod (which i'm pretty sure isn't going to happen in the near future, i don't have that kind of money. i could afford one, but then i wouldn't be able to buy any more music for a while...music player, new music, i'm going with new music), i can't see myself just spending a dollar per song on an mp3 or m4u or whatever kind of files those actually are.

it still scares me that it would be so damn easy to accidentally delete a song that exists only in computer-file form. i can't count how many times that's happened with stuff i've illegally downloaded, and i'd be realy pissed off if i lost something i paid for (kind of like if a cd got stolen, or i lost it).

and i'd so much rather have a physical copy of the album in my hand. misspelled liner notes, cracked jewel case and all.

and i agree with larrymullenspopangel about the artists pushing the singles and including more filler tracks because they don't think anyone is going to buy their music.

hopefully this will kill mainstream music in the state that it's currently in

 

[yolland]

Now that people can go in and just select their favorite songs from an album instead of buying the whole thing, will this give artists an incentive to deliver an album full of catchy singles rather than an album that flows together and follows a certain theme?

Or even an incentive to forget about albums altogether. Particularly if, as is likely, some form or another of 'music industry' continues to operate as a middle man between artists and vendors. Why would they commit to promoting an album's worth of songs, when services like I-tunes encourage consumers to purchase only the one or two they really like?

Even under the current system, the duration of the average recording contract has shortened dramatically from what it was when, say, U2 first signed with Island. Electronic distribution systems are only likely to increase the industry's impatience for big sales (and reluctance to resign artists who don't rack up sales quickly). That bodes poorly for time-consuming recording projects, like albums.

 

[Chizip]

That is true as well, I hadn't even thought about that...

 

[anitram]

I can see people releasing more EPs, for example.

I have an iPod, have had it for a long time, way before the people fell on the U2Pod bandwagon, but I keep buying more and more music. I like holding the CDs, I like the CDs on shelves, I like tangible things.

But I do realize maybe that's a dying breed and kids prefer to just download single tracks? Time will tell, I guess.

 

[Bonochick]

I have an iPod, have had it for a long time, way before the people fell on the U2Pod bandwagon

For me, it wasn't falling on the bandwagon...it was wanting an iPod for so damn long and then this being THE perfect excuse for "having" to get one.

 

[anitram]

Heh, fair enough.

I still prefer the classic white ones.

 

[beli]

I don't know that the great unwashed are ready for "invisible things". There are people who purchase downloadable songs but I don't know any of them.

Maybe its my age. Today I spent 5 bucks purchasing the single with Jacknife Lee Fast Cars. I'm sure it would have been cheaper to purchase the song online. I like to hold things. I having all my CDs lined up in alpha order. I like to sniff new releases. They don't smell as good as vinyl, but I sniff away nevertheless.

What Chizip is asking about changing the way albums are made, I think for some artists this could be the case. People like Britney, Jessica, Aimee, may end up releasing digital EPs or just individual songs. I don't believe it would change the way "atmospheric" artists structure their albums though.

The upside to all of this is hearing about the possibility of bands that aren't able to obtain recording contracts uploading their songs/albums to a download store thereby cutting out the record companies. This would be good for bands that don't fit what ever the current fad is, and hopefully lead to accessable diversified musical choices.

 

[bayernfc]

I can't see myself shopping from iTunes, or from any other digital music store for that matter. I rather pay for vinyl copies of cds I already have.

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