When was the last time you listened to a full album from start to finish with no other distractions?
If you’re a regular subscriber to this channel, there’s a good chance you actually do this quite often, but for most music fans, the process of active rather than passive listening is becoming increasingly rare.
Just before Christmas, I put out a short video challenging listeners to set aside time for a classic album from start to finish without any distractions. That includes putting your phone out of reach and, ideally, listening on a set of headphones.
I recommend this as fewer people appear to be making time for music as their primary focus.
According to a fairly recent study by the IFPI, music fans spend over 20 hours per week listening to music, with 71% of respondents claiming music is important to their mental health.
The same study also breaks down a list of the top activities people do while listening to music, almost implying that music is mostly an accompaniment rather than the main entertainment for many listeners.
This begs the question: while we may be listening to vast amounts of music (perhaps more than ever), are we actually listening?
Another study found that just nine percent of surveyed adults preferred listening to albums, with 40 percent expressing a preference for playlists. Only 36 percent of adults surveyed listened to albums in chronological order.
What’s worse, 54% of those in the same survey said they listened to fewer albums than they did 5 – 10 years ago. Since music streaming is now the default medium for most listeners, this is perhaps not surprising, but I can’t help but question if we’re losing the album as an art form entirely and what we stand to lose in the process.
The vast majority of music fans are now missing out on the full experience of listening to an album as the artist intended, often intending to create meaning or tell a story.
There’s no doubt about it, consumer listening habits have changed and there are many advantages to modern streaming services — including an abundance of choice.
But unlimited choice inevitably leads to scrolling, which is highly unrewarding and often, very bad for our mental health. It’s low effort and ultimately not very satisfying.
Regular subscribers will know that I talk at length here at Sound Matters about the importance of music ownership and how much it can improve the overall experience and value of music. Endless choice often leads to choice paralysis, which can ultimately result in us actually listening to less music. There’s real evidence to bank the fact we value things more when we actually own them, and music is no different.
But not all is lost. While overall, appreciation for the album might be waning, it’s not disappearing entirely. It’s no secret that vinyl sales have done rather well over the last decade or so, and according to the earlier mentioned IFPI study, there are strong signals that music fans still want to buy music.
13% of respondents said they purchased a CD in the last month, while 9% purchased vinyl, and 5% purchased music on cassette. Fans’ top reasons for buying vary, with 24% stating they like collecting vinyl records, 22% saying they like physically owning music, and 19% saying they enjoy the ritual of playing a record and having the physical item to look at.
So all may not be lost for the album artform after all, but here’s my challenge to you if you’re not already doing so: take a few hours each week and make time for an entire album from start to finish without any distractions.
Put your phone and any other technological distractions out of reach. Grab a physical album, put on a set of headphones, close your eyes, and enjoy the entire body of work as the artist intended.
I find closing my eyes heightens my listening attention and helps me listen more actively. Reading the lyrics sheet as you go can give you a greater insight into an album’s story, but listening with eyes closed certainly helps you appreciate the depth of instrumentation and perhaps some of the finer details you might’ve missed when listening to an album passively while doing another activity.
Setting aside time for this active listening a few times a week will transform your appreciation of music and help you unplug and destress from our modern, hyper-connected world. Many of my viewers will already be doing this, but if you’re not, your mental health will thank you.
So Is the Album Dying?
According to data from Ditto Music, the number of albums released year-on-year saw a steady decline from the year 2016 to 2021 while releases of EPs and singles have seen continuous growth.
This is perhaps no surprise given the change in consumer listening habits. Consumers are even turning to platforms like TikTok and Instagram as an increasing part of how they discover new music, so it makes sense that artists would turn more to short-form releases to promote on social media platforms.
I can see a world where the album has decreasing importance digitally but remains significant for physical album sales. The future of music might be digital, but the future of the album is analogue.
I do hope we can hold onto the album as a concept; it would be a pity if all music releases were reduced to snippets and sound bites, released sporadically, and used primarily to gain social media clout.
Although the so-called “album era” might be over (a time usually defined as lasting from the mid-1960s until the mid-2000s), there would be much to lose from throwing out this release model entirely.
No more Dark Side of the Moon style records that take you on a sonic and spiritual journey? No more Ziggy Stardust-style concept albums? Storytelling reduced to a handful of 3-minute snippets at best? There’s much music culture at stake here.
Video might’ve killed the radio star, but let’s hope social media and the rise of the playlist don’t kill our beloved albums.
