ALBUMS ARE TO STREAMING WHAT GASTRONOMY IS TO FAST FOOD...

 

One of the major changes affecting music creation today is the promotion of single tracks to the detriment of albums, in CD, vinyl or cassette format.

 

The supremacy of streaming over album purchases, whether in physical or digital form, marks the end of concept albums and the reign of individualized tracks that can be endlessly recombined and recontextualized in hybrid playlists, with a strong anonymization effect.

 

Most of my musical life, both as a listener and as a creator, has taken place in the album era. "Dark Side of the Moon", "Close to the Edge", "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway", but also "Blonde on Blonde" or "Beggars Banquet", to limit myself to a few references, have unfolded for me coherent musical universes, thought out, conceptualized, linked by an aesthetic and an artistic project.

 

Similarly, my classical musical education has led me to listen to symphonies and concertos in their successive movements, and to coherent bodies of lieder or sonatas.

 

Can you imagine Beethoven symphonies or Vivaldi concertos being deconstructed in Spotify playlists? Or Mahler 5th Symphony? Will its "Adagietto" will be featured in “Playlists for sleep, relaxation, yoga” ? Come on!

 

So, is it still possible today to produce a "concept album"?

 

As an ambient musician, I'm still deeply attached to this format.

 

I like the idea that my "albums" tell a story, create a world, explore spaces and create atmospheres by following a common thread.

 

I like the idea that an album, even of ambient and electronic music, is a creative entity, a whole, with aesthetic, sonic and emotional coherence.

 

I like the idea that an album, from the first track to the last, unrolls a common thread and invites the listener to immerse themselves as if on a journey.

 

Perhaps this concept of musical creation is definitely outdated. I suppose the album format still makes sense for international stars and record companies who can still promote the CD object. But even then, the dismemberment of works is required for commercial exploitation on streaming platforms.

 

Of course, single releases are naturally destined to explode streams...

 

But what sense is there in seeing works cut up into tracks subject to the algorithms of the platforms, the goodwill of playlist curators, and the vagaries of listeners' "likes"?

I like Bandcamp because it recognizes the artistic integrity of the album, as a concept that organizes several tracks around an idea, an atmosphere, an emotion and an artwork...

It's probably the last "Treasure Island" for true explorers of musical worlds that are often marginal, non-commercial, but faithful to a creative ethic, and willing to take the time to listen. An album is to streaming what gastronomy is to fast food... 

 

Thanks for reading this post... 

 

... and, by the way, here is my Bandcamp Page:    link