Albums Or Playlists?

[KilnerLUFC]

Remember seeing a tweet some months back asking if albums were a slowly dying breed, and been replaced with Playlists. At the time I thought it a stupid question, that Albums would always be my preferred choice, telling some kind of story as the album progresses. As time has moved on since then though, I've found myself becoming hooked on browsing various channels on Youtube, listening to their defined playlists, acquiring the specific tracks that catch my attention.

 

It's been a long time since I heard someone talk about the new album they're listening to, went and actually purchsed. Instead, people talk more about playlists they've got on the likes on Spotify, Soundcloud, Youtube etc...and I'm the same now, even 'acquiring' genre-specific playlists, instead of specifically hunting down albums. The emregnce in popularity of these programs means we have access to literally any track we want, and usually gives us access to tracks long before an album is released, thus giving us the ability to pretty much build the album in some shape or form before the release.

 

Maybe it's just my ADD, but even when I do get a new album, it's a rarity that I give it a full playthrough, and find myself slowly crawling back on to the web to find some new tracks to build my collection.

 

Artists still get paid for streams online, and the internet is a fantastic way of discovering new music that we would never really come across usually. Hell, 90% of the music on my HD is music that I would never have come across had it not been for the likes of Youtube and whatnot.

 

Wondering what you lot think though, and what your preference is these days?

 

 

[Shenmue18]

Nothing like listening to an album from beginning to end, I totally agree with you. I have playlists on Spotify and things of that nature, but I listen through entire albums to see what I want to and don't want to add to it.

 

I think listening through a whole album instead of just picking out select tracks and only listening to those has been and likely always will be something for the more hardcore fans of a band, singer or group though, plenty of people used to buy CDs just for a couple of select songs back in the day.

[Landotel]

To me for some reason, an album is like a piece of art, playlists are a compilation of art.

 

I know some people wouldn't agree to that, but that's how I feel.

 

Nevertheless, I prefer albums.

[Sombra]

If I'm checking out a new band I'll listen to an album or two from start to finish and then usually just throw the album into a playlist that's on shuffle. It is always nice to listen to an album all the way through though such as Disintegration by The Cure.

[Platypus Chairlines]

I'd prefer albums. Because an album always has a taste & sound to its own. Also albums that hold a specific concept (e.g Green Day's 21st Century Breakdown & American Idiot.) should be listened as a whole in my opinion so that one can get the reference(s) or the story that lies under it. I think playlists are for those who want to hear their favorite songs combined together or distinct sounds of one genre that ranges from band to band.

[MikeMyth]

I have a Playlist of course, but nothing is like listening to an album in all of it's entirety.

 

I personally love Radiohead, and could listen to almost any of their albums entirely.