8Sided Blog

thoughts about music’s place in the 21st century

  • About Me
  • Newsletter
  • Media
  • 8DSync
  • 8D Industries
  • Q-BAM

The Album’s Place In A Streaming World

August 14, 2015 · Leave a Comment

Music Business Worldwide:

You wouldn’t know it to earwig most modern label conversations, but physical album sales alone actually accounted for 53% of 2014’s total sales/on-demand streaming cash haul. It’s therefore something of a worry to consider the shabby treatment the LP is currently being subjected to around these parts – and the recklessness with which the language and mathematics of streaming are being imposed upon it.



First we must recognise that streaming will claim the majority of music consumption in the future. But that doesn’t prevent us from asking a vital question: What do all of streaming’s measurements of success – its billions of plays, its viral playlists and its carefully-branded ‘memberships’ – actually mean in the context of traditional, unit sales-based album successes?



The truth is, we have no idea… and we probably never will.


There’s some valid food for thought in this kinda snarky piece, and the author is right to point out that physical sales remain (comparitively) strong. That’s certainly not gleaned from all the ink and fanfare given to the streaming economy. And I share the writer’s frustration with those in the music industry who try to contextualize and measure new technologies through traditional formats.

Regardless, I’m not beholden to the ‘album’ … I feel that as that concept loosens the artist has a lot more room to creatively play with how his / her music is presented to the listener. Don’t get me wrong – great albums are great. But so are are series of EPs, or ten single songs each released weekly, or any other permutation that’s possible now. How, and with what frequency, an act’s music gets released can now be part of the game, rather than just being expected to have a sixty minute set of songs ready each year or so. As a (sometimes) recording artist, I find that inspiring.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: A&R, Streaming

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *



Related Posts

Default ThumbnailApple Music Licensing, Explained: Why Some Beats 1 Shows Won’t Be Podcasts Default ThumbnailThe Argument For Streaming Services To Adopt ‘Subscriber Share’ Default ThumbnailFull Stack Music: 1 Trillion Streams, 200 Million Tickets Default ThumbnailAd-Supported Optimism

Connect

  • Email
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Twitter

about

Howdy. I'm Michael Donaldson.

I think and write about music’s place in the 21st century. And I’m fascinated by how technology affects culture, especially in the ways we make and listen to music. I’m the founder of 8DSync, 8D Industries, and 8DPromo. Sometimes I'm a Q-Burns Abstract Message. But mostly I'm just trying to keep these damn cats out of my office.

Michael Donaldson

I like to send postcards to my friends, and if you'd like I'll send one to you.

Oh, and here's what I'm working on now.

listen

(or listen on Spotify)

follow

follow us in feedly

Follow

locate

latest posts

  • Foreign Dissent: International Punk Rock in a Digital Age
  • Don’t Reveal Your Magic
  • The Seven Book Challenge
  • Albums, Singles, and Setting Fan Expectations
  • Taking Back Our Fuel
  • #Worktones: Middle Eastern Experimentation, Kalbata ft. Tigris, Jason Lytle
  • A DJ’s Spin on Music Recognition Tech
  • Foretelling a Future of Artist Autonomy
  • Energy Fools the Magician
  • When Small Podcasts Want Big Music

hot topics

8DPromo Ambient Music Apple Apple Music Audio Audio Production Bandcamp Book Recommendations Brian Eno Copyright Creativity Crystal Ball Gazing Curation DJs Esoterica Film Krautrock Legal Matters Movie Recommendations Music Break Music History Music Licensing Music Publishing Music Recommendations Music Tech now Pandora Podcast Productivity PROs Record Labels Rights Management Royalties Sampling Social Media Songwriting SoundCloud Spotify Streaming Synthesizers Technology The State Of The Music Industry Video Vinyl YouTube

Copyright © 2019 · 8D Industries, LLC · Log in