The birth and death of the album: we understand how music formats have changed over the past 100 years
In past articles, we talked about the changing role of critics in the music world. Now let's talk about how the album format has lost its former significance - and what came to replace it.
Photo Florencia Viadana / Unsplash
In the first half of the 20th century, the music industry was not at all like what we are familiar with now. In part, the changes were related to the then popular technologies - the main musical format of that time was shellac records, which were played at a speed of 78 revolutions per minute. A standard 10-inch record held only three minutes of music on each side — this seriously limited the length of the material. Even orchestral music was intentionally cut to fit on the record. The first recordings of the Rhapsody in Blues Style by Gershwin lasted around 9 minutes, almost two times less than the original version of the work. Not surprisingly, the singles made up the vast majority of releases.
Albums existed - but they were few. They were distributed in box sets containing several plates. Even then, they had some of the characteristics that we attribute to modern albums - for example, they included songs of similar subjects . But it was impossible to call them single pieces of music - they rather resembled compilations. One can blame the “rigid division of labor”, popular at that time, between the authors of music and its performers.
')
In the early 50s, the vinyl revolution began. The plates of the new type, which can hold up to 45 minutes of musical material, quickly became popular. At the same time, the author’s genres of blues and folk music came to the mainstream. A person who writes and performs his music has a large share of creative control over his own records. This allowed the albums to turn from collections of separate songs into single pieces of music.
Photo Fleur / Unsplash
The transformation is easy to follow with the example of The Beatles, one of the most influential groups of all time. Their first two albums were almost half of alien songs. Later, they practically got rid of covers, and at the same time their work became more holistic and conceptual. The culmination of this trend was the famous “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band ", with seamless transitions between songs and compositions resembling suites.
For example, the album “Thick As A Brick” by Jethro Tull consists of one single song, divided into two parts. Double album “Works Vol. 1 ”Emerson, Lake And Palmer opens with a piano concerto performed by the band’s keyboard player and the London Symphony Orchestra. The tendency to incorporate symphonic techniques into the material was not limited to prog. Many popular albums of the 70s also fall under this trend - for example, the famous “A Night At The Opera” by Queen or the rock opera “ Ziggy Stardust ” by David Bowie.
By the end of the 70s, the process of rock music academicization declined, but the expectation that the album should be more than the sum of its components remains. Many pop albums of the 80s continued to develop this area. Among them are the Prince’s Sign O 'The Times and Peter Gabriel's' So'.
However, already in the 80s, the processes began that led to the decline in the popularity of albums.
The first was a growing focus on the commercialization of music , driven by music television and its growing popularity with young people. We already wrote about how MTV became the first youth channel on American cable TV. And it was no accident - at the beginning of the decade there appeared studies that described the influence of adolescents on the market economy. The channel’s management saw an unoccupied — and potentially very lucrative — niche that became even more attractive as the legal restrictions on advertising for children weakened . The artistic value of music faded into the background compared with its entertainment component.
As a result, the genre, which we call teen pop, was born. He focused on singles because they are cheaper than albums, accompanied by video clips and do not require continued attention from children. The influence of teen pop artists used to sell drinks, toys and even appliances to teens. Artistic music that touches on complex themes (especially in album format) cannot compete with pop hits as an advertising engine.
By the end of the 80s, other genres appeared that were poorly compatible with the classical song tradition - dance electronics and hip-hop. The central figures in dance electronics were DJs who put records on the dance floor. To make life easier for a DJ, there must be “buffers” in electronic compositions - a long intro and a long ending. It is easier to choose the perfect time to switch between tracks. Traditional album compositions are by their nature concise, and do not give this opportunity. Therefore, the main format of dance electronics has become a 12-inch single .
The final blow to the format of the album was caused by the death of physical media . We also wrote about it in one of the previous materials . In a world where streaming is the main form of music consumption, and entertainment content directly competes with music, attention is hard to hold for long. Streaming platforms - the "buffet" of the music industry. Listeners in such conditions tend to try everything a little bit, and not focus on one dish.
How do performers adapt to the new climate? As news cycles get shorter and it becomes harder to keep the public’s attention, the frequency with which content appears takes precedence over quality. The task of the performers is to stay in the headlines and custom playlists , rather than make their album their playlist. If the performer spent half a year recording a record, and it took only a week for the public’s minds, then this is wasted money.
Therefore, performers focus on singles . People are more likely to listen to them to the end - not to mention the fact that by releasing one song per unit of time, you can create infopovody more often. This opinion is shared by producer Savan Kotecha (Savan Kotecha), known for working with One Direction and The Weeknd. If such well-known names are concerned with creating a steady stream of singles, then it is all the more necessary for medium-caliber performers that most of their songs are heard to the album.
Japanese singer Siina Ringo recently released her first album in four years. 8 of 13 songs on it were released as singles. Two more songs became available after opening pre-orders. As a result, by the release of the album there were only three new tracks on it.
Due to the focus on singles, more and more remixes and duets are released . Working with other performers - whether it is an adaptation of a song for the dance floor or an appearance on someone else's track, helps to promote your brand and remain in the focus of the general public. In part, this is influenced by the growing popularity of hip-hop, a genre that encourages collaboration.
Photo by Søren Astrup Jørgensen / Unsplash
Some performers, inspired by Hollywood and the explosion of film franchises, release sequels to old works and a series of albums . This helps them to repeatedly exploit the same successful “story”. In 2013, Eminem released a sequel to the already classic recording “The Marshall Mathers LP”. All albums of the legendary Emo Group American Football have the same name and differ in numbers (like the early works of Led Zeppelin). The 1975 and Foals groups create a series of albums , in the hope that an emotional investment in the first part will allow them to “save” the listeners.
The genre of the album is not dead. But business realities force executives to rethink their approach to work. This state of affairs has both positive sides (more joint music projects, fewer “fillers”, tracks to fill the album), and negative ones (albums resembling compilations). True, it is still early to draw final conclusions. In the end, no one knows which technologies will change the music industry in the next five years.
Additional reading from our “Hi-Fi World” and Habrablog:
Forgotten audio formats: 8-track magnetic tape Stereo 8
Audio tapes in pop culture: why the outdated sound recording format is again considered fashionable
Forgotten Formats: Flexible Records
“Just take and listen to music”: 5 ways and formats to choose from
New-old formats: HD-vinyl and DIY-plates
What was on the first iPod: twenty albums that Steve Jobs chose in 2001
Pay what you want: how this model manifested itself in music, and who tried to earn it
Photo Florencia Viadana / Unsplash
How albums won the music market
In the first half of the 20th century, the music industry was not at all like what we are familiar with now. In part, the changes were related to the then popular technologies - the main musical format of that time was shellac records, which were played at a speed of 78 revolutions per minute. A standard 10-inch record held only three minutes of music on each side — this seriously limited the length of the material. Even orchestral music was intentionally cut to fit on the record. The first recordings of the Rhapsody in Blues Style by Gershwin lasted around 9 minutes, almost two times less than the original version of the work. Not surprisingly, the singles made up the vast majority of releases.
Albums existed - but they were few. They were distributed in box sets containing several plates. Even then, they had some of the characteristics that we attribute to modern albums - for example, they included songs of similar subjects . But it was impossible to call them single pieces of music - they rather resembled compilations. One can blame the “rigid division of labor”, popular at that time, between the authors of music and its performers.
')
Albums often consisted of songs by different composers, written at different times and already published by other people. There was nothing shameful in releasing a “cover album”.
In the early 50s, the vinyl revolution began. The plates of the new type, which can hold up to 45 minutes of musical material, quickly became popular. At the same time, the author’s genres of blues and folk music came to the mainstream. A person who writes and performs his music has a large share of creative control over his own records. This allowed the albums to turn from collections of separate songs into single pieces of music.
Photo Fleur / Unsplash
The transformation is easy to follow with the example of The Beatles, one of the most influential groups of all time. Their first two albums were almost half of alien songs. Later, they practically got rid of covers, and at the same time their work became more holistic and conceptual. The culmination of this trend was the famous “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band ", with seamless transitions between songs and compositions resembling suites.
By the 1970s, compilation albums began to be valued less than more conceptual works. The albums themselves in their structure increasingly resembled classical symphonic works - especially in the genre of prog rock, which was formed at the junction of rock and academic music.
For example, the album “Thick As A Brick” by Jethro Tull consists of one single song, divided into two parts. Double album “Works Vol. 1 ”Emerson, Lake And Palmer opens with a piano concerto performed by the band’s keyboard player and the London Symphony Orchestra. The tendency to incorporate symphonic techniques into the material was not limited to prog. Many popular albums of the 70s also fall under this trend - for example, the famous “A Night At The Opera” by Queen or the rock opera “ Ziggy Stardust ” by David Bowie.
By the end of the 70s, the process of rock music academicization declined, but the expectation that the album should be more than the sum of its components remains. Many pop albums of the 80s continued to develop this area. Among them are the Prince’s Sign O 'The Times and Peter Gabriel's' So'.
Sunset era albums
However, already in the 80s, the processes began that led to the decline in the popularity of albums.
The first was a growing focus on the commercialization of music , driven by music television and its growing popularity with young people. We already wrote about how MTV became the first youth channel on American cable TV. And it was no accident - at the beginning of the decade there appeared studies that described the influence of adolescents on the market economy. The channel’s management saw an unoccupied — and potentially very lucrative — niche that became even more attractive as the legal restrictions on advertising for children weakened . The artistic value of music faded into the background compared with its entertainment component.
As a result, the genre, which we call teen pop, was born. He focused on singles because they are cheaper than albums, accompanied by video clips and do not require continued attention from children. The influence of teen pop artists used to sell drinks, toys and even appliances to teens. Artistic music that touches on complex themes (especially in album format) cannot compete with pop hits as an advertising engine.
By the end of the 80s, other genres appeared that were poorly compatible with the classical song tradition - dance electronics and hip-hop. The central figures in dance electronics were DJs who put records on the dance floor. To make life easier for a DJ, there must be “buffers” in electronic compositions - a long intro and a long ending. It is easier to choose the perfect time to switch between tracks. Traditional album compositions are by their nature concise, and do not give this opportunity. Therefore, the main format of dance electronics has become a 12-inch single .
As for hip-hop, in this genre, the mixtape format began to gain popularity - a home compilation of compositions by various producers, which are united by the artist's poetry. Dozens of people can work on one hip-hop album, not counting the right holders of samples. This complicates the creation of a holistic product. Conceptual albums did not bypass the hip-hop side - but did not become “genre-forming”.
The final blow to the format of the album was caused by the death of physical media . We also wrote about it in one of the previous materials . In a world where streaming is the main form of music consumption, and entertainment content directly competes with music, attention is hard to hold for long. Streaming platforms - the "buffet" of the music industry. Listeners in such conditions tend to try everything a little bit, and not focus on one dish.
Return singles
How do performers adapt to the new climate? As news cycles get shorter and it becomes harder to keep the public’s attention, the frequency with which content appears takes precedence over quality. The task of the performers is to stay in the headlines and custom playlists , rather than make their album their playlist. If the performer spent half a year recording a record, and it took only a week for the public’s minds, then this is wasted money.
Moreover, the albums as such become just shorter . Studies show that even on the most hit records most of the auditions fall into 3-4 songs.
Therefore, performers focus on singles . People are more likely to listen to them to the end - not to mention the fact that by releasing one song per unit of time, you can create infopovody more often. This opinion is shared by producer Savan Kotecha (Savan Kotecha), known for working with One Direction and The Weeknd. If such well-known names are concerned with creating a steady stream of singles, then it is all the more necessary for medium-caliber performers that most of their songs are heard to the album.
Japanese singer Siina Ringo recently released her first album in four years. 8 of 13 songs on it were released as singles. Two more songs became available after opening pre-orders. As a result, by the release of the album there were only three new tracks on it.
Due to the focus on singles, more and more remixes and duets are released . Working with other performers - whether it is an adaptation of a song for the dance floor or an appearance on someone else's track, helps to promote your brand and remain in the focus of the general public. In part, this is influenced by the growing popularity of hip-hop, a genre that encourages collaboration.
Photo by Søren Astrup Jørgensen / Unsplash
Some performers, inspired by Hollywood and the explosion of film franchises, release sequels to old works and a series of albums . This helps them to repeatedly exploit the same successful “story”. In 2013, Eminem released a sequel to the already classic recording “The Marshall Mathers LP”. All albums of the legendary Emo Group American Football have the same name and differ in numbers (like the early works of Led Zeppelin). The 1975 and Foals groups create a series of albums , in the hope that an emotional investment in the first part will allow them to “save” the listeners.
The genre of the album is not dead. But business realities force executives to rethink their approach to work. This state of affairs has both positive sides (more joint music projects, fewer “fillers”, tracks to fill the album), and negative ones (albums resembling compilations). True, it is still early to draw final conclusions. In the end, no one knows which technologies will change the music industry in the next five years.
Additional reading from our “Hi-Fi World” and Habrablog:
Forgotten audio formats: 8-track magnetic tape Stereo 8 Audio tapes in pop culture: why the outdated sound recording format is again considered fashionable Forgotten Formats: Flexible Records “Just take and listen to music”: 5 ways and formats to choose from New-old formats: HD-vinyl and DIY-plates What was on the first iPod: twenty albums that Steve Jobs chose in 2001 Pay what you want: how this model manifested itself in music, and who tried to earn itSource: https://habr.com/ru/post/455806/
All Articles