Comments on: Your Take: Singles and Albums

By: K

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:06:03 +0000

I think the popularity of Ipods, Itunes, and digital downloads is great, especially considering that albums these days only have a handful of great songs.

Digital downloads are convenient, and offer instant gratification- which is what most people need in this fast-paced world.

By: Honky Tonk Junkie

Honky Tonk Junkie — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:22:52 +0000

I wish I could afford to purchase a whole CD from artists I like because what ultimately happens is I’ll go back to CD’s I purchased years ago and fall in love with some track I dismissed as filler then. Even now I do that with iTunes. Maybe some of the fill is just ahead of its time. I don’t think labels have the ability to correctly choose a single. I thought the lead single from George Strait’s latest album should have been the title track, Twang. Instead it was something else that, in my opinion, is not as strong.

By: Mojo Bone

Mojo Bone — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 07:05:16 +0000

My take is that the industry is as healthy as it's ever been. In the recent past, there has maybe been too much emphasis on albums and not enough on singles, and if the pendulum keeps moving, it's probably a good thing. For too long a time, albums were a way for a label and artist to make more money than they deserved. Take your standard-issue greatest hits package, for instance-don't they always leave off something you'd want and include a couple things you could have done without? I love the album format, and sequencing a great album, or even a great album side requires artistry that goes way beyond the three minute pop song, but who has time to listen to that much music in a single sitting, these days?

"I don’t like it, but I can see how the labels want to try and save money. It follows the whole trend of labels/radio/etc. not wanting to take risks, which is what’s really hurting the music quality right now in my opinion."

The flip side of that is that artists no longer need labels to validate their artistic vision; they can take their art straight to the audience, risking only the amount of time and money needed to produce (and reproduce) a digital file. In my opinion, this can only help great songs reach a larger audience, and that's good for everybody. I think the advantage of the modern method of presenting new music to the public is that once a given recording starts to gain traction with listeners, production of physical units can be ramped up in an economical manner-the end of record-store returns means an end to waste. A label can now risk next to nothing while developing a new artist; how is this not a breakthrough?

By: Littleboot

Littleboot — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 02:54:52 +0000

Before the album was the 45. I’d rather have a collection of all the single “hits” rather than filecabinets full of fillers. Those same record companies are the ones that ruined the album by stuffing them with fillers. Music fans caught on a long time ago. Albums are great for CD sales at shows. Make all your signature songs digital singles… Samples of your best work. A touring band can almost always sell CDs at shows, I think shelving an album altogether is senseless if it’s already been recorded. Albums aren’t dead yet.

By: Hanford

Hanford — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 15:46:37 +0000

If albums are good, then people will buy albums. The sad part is, is that most artist or bands these days only have one or two songs that are satisfying to the ear.

By: Mayor Jobob

Mayor Jobob — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:29:49 +0000

Will we ever hear Rodney Atkins first album? “God Only Knows” and “In a Heartbeat” are great songs!

By: Dave Wollenberg

Dave Wollenberg — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:22:21 +0000

I believe that an artist’s new album should be released exactly when the 1st single goes to radio. Otherwise, the folks’ll have no idea what album it’s on Peace.

By: Lucas

Lucas — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:00:14 +0000

Let me rephrase that.

I’d hate to see where guys like Garth and Toby would be if their labels that originally signed them relied on focus groups to tell them if they’d sell or not.

By: Stormy

Stormy — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:28:32 +0000

Lucas: What makes you think Toby doesn’t rely on focus groups to deside what to release or whether or not he supports the war in Iraq and certain presidents?

By: Lucas

Lucas — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:49:50 +0000

I’d hate to see where guys like Garth and Toby would be if we relied on focus groups and test demographics.