Re: Falling (Death of an Album)

["Nathan Swartzendruber" <thefishpatrol at hotmail_com>]

> > IMHO, if this is a valid argument, it's very late in coming. With the
> > advent of MP3s and P2P, single songs are what most people went for
> > because full albums were much more difficult to find. People grabbed
> > what they could find and then listened, or didn't listen, later.
>
>Or, as Courtney Love pointed out, people turned to mp3s because they knew
>that albums often have just one or two good songs, and the rest of the
>stuff is filler crap.  If record companies really *need* to put out entire
>"albums", then the popularity of mp3s will hopefully encourage them to
>make sure that every album that exists *deserves* to be an "album".

Okay I admit it, I look at how many tracks are on CDs I'm thinking of 
buying. I'm happier to spend the same cash for 12 songs instead of 9. Maybe 
to get slightly better odds of getting an extra good song? Do artists know 
that some of their songs are filler? Would you want an entire CD of hits? 
Though there's a difference between hits and good songs, in that the latter 
aren't necessarily the former. I have to wonder how much the "sell a hit" 
mentality works its way into artists' brains after so much repeated 
pounding.

Mark Knopfler's "Sailing to Philadelphia" is a good example for me. Some 
very interesting variety on there, and some songs that I really do like. And 
a couple I skip every time. A few recent CEOs might be able to account for 
everyone's musical tastes, but I can't.
I remember in college when I could make a playlist of songs from a single 
CD. (That was so cool.) I found a way that made sense to me, I guess. For a 
couple years, hearing the CD play straight through confused the heck outta 
me. Maybe it told a different story. Or maybe I just like my habits left 
alone.

Nathan

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