Comments on: …On albums as an artistic statement, the “shuffle” button, and mixes http://oktobeginwith.com/blog/2009/07/08/on-albums-as-an-artistic-statement-the-shuffle-button-and-mixes/ Mon, 26 Dec 2011 19:31:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 By: Tom Dougherty http://oktobeginwith.com/blog/2009/07/08/on-albums-as-an-artistic-statement-the-shuffle-button-and-mixes/comment-page-1/#comment-26 Tom Dougherty Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:50:45 +0000 http://oktobeginwith.com/?p=109#comment-26 "Lets face it, most artists in mainstream music culture nowadays only have one song worth calling music anyway." Sorry, but i disagree on the most part to this statement. The age of one-hit-wonders seems to be over, now that the sale of PHYSICAL CD singles is decreasing rapidly, with some publisher's stopping the production of them entirely. As a result, the sale of singles is becoming digital only. Most songs sold in this way on iTunes, and other distribution, as from users selecting specific tracks they are after. What then makes a certain song sell better than others? It's not that the buyer walks into a CD store, and buys the single because it's cheaper. They hear the song on the radio, online, or from the samples on the websites. It is now the consumer that chooses which song would make the best "single". Only a very small group of musicians, those that are in it for the money, would put all their effort and resources into one song. The old business model of singles and albums has virtually been made redundant. Interestingly, and I was not aware of it when I wrote this post, while both the sale of digital singles and digital albums are growing (with the sale of singles still ahead of albums), it is interesting to note from 2007, the sale of albums is increasing more than the sale of singles. http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/download/index.html “Lets face it, most artists in mainstream music culture nowadays only have one song worth calling music anyway.”

Sorry, but i disagree on the most part to this statement. The age of one-hit-wonders seems to be over, now that the sale of PHYSICAL CD singles is decreasing rapidly, with some publisher’s stopping the production of them entirely. As a result, the sale of singles is becoming digital only. Most songs sold in this way on iTunes, and other distribution, as from users selecting specific tracks they are after. What then makes a certain song sell better than others? It’s not that the buyer walks into a CD store, and buys the single because it’s cheaper. They hear the song on the radio, online, or from the samples on the websites. It is now the consumer that chooses which song would make the best “single”.

Only a very small group of musicians, those that are in it for the money, would put all their effort and resources into one song. The old business model of singles and albums has virtually been made redundant.

Interestingly, and I was not aware of it when I wrote this post, while both the sale of digital singles and digital albums are growing (with the sale of singles still ahead of albums), it is interesting to note from 2007, the sale of albums is increasing more than the sale of singles.

http://www.riaj.or.jp/e/data/download/index.html

]]> By: Drew McMahon http://oktobeginwith.com/blog/2009/07/08/on-albums-as-an-artistic-statement-the-shuffle-button-and-mixes/comment-page-1/#comment-25 Drew McMahon Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:25:06 +0000 http://oktobeginwith.com/?p=109#comment-25 I know you mentioned it in the article (which I agree with for the most part) but you can't discount singles in the grand scheme of things. Lets face it, most artists in mainstream music culture nowadays only have one song worth calling music anyway. This seems to be the trend in pop music, and has been growing for some time. In a case of chicken or egg, are singles becoming more prominent because of the shuffle button, or is the shuffle button more useful because artists put all of their creative energy into a single song, at the expense of the rest of an album? I know you mentioned it in the article (which I agree with for the most part) but you can’t discount singles in the grand scheme of things. Lets face it, most artists in mainstream music culture nowadays only have one song worth calling music anyway. This seems to be the trend in pop music, and has been growing for some time.

In a case of chicken or egg, are singles becoming more prominent because of the shuffle button, or is the shuffle button more useful because artists put all of their creative energy into a single song, at the expense of the rest of an album?

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