A metallic whir commences from within the turntable. The device’s circular platter begins to spin, and the precision needle directs itself to one of the many grooves found on a record’s surface to produce sound. The ritual of playing music through an analog medium such as a vinyl record has become somewhat romanticized by nostalgia and aesthetic, but it is a mental image we often draw when envisioning music, or more specifically, an album, in its purest form. The album format grants artists a great deal of freedom, permitting the curation of meaningful, durative bodies of work that communicate a message. Alongside artist-driven compositions, listeners have a history of taking matters into their own hands as well. Cassette and compact disc mixtapes were previously prevalent forms of combining songs from multiple sources to create new sets, either to share with others or personalize a listening experience. Today, digital streaming services are the prominent method of creating the customizable groupings we commonly refer to as playlists. With their increasing popularity, playlists have become the preferred format for a substantial number of music listeners.1 This forces artists to relinquish control of deciding how their work should be listened to, and raises the concern as to whether or not albums are an inferior, out-of-fashion format. Although the paradigm of what constitutes an album could be viewed as constraining, it actually provides a framework for musicians that playlists simply cannot provide. Oftentimes, the two configurations are viewed as opposing forces; instead, they should be viewed in conjunction, working together to unlock more modes of expression than would be possible independently.
In an abstract sense, the album is a relatively new idea in expressive history. In the mid-twentieth century, vinyl records were in the process of claiming market dominance across the musical landscape. Vinyl quickly became the world’s preferred method of music consumption because it was able to house far more of it than previous formats.2 A record is able to house approximately forty-five minutes of music over both sides of its surface; this physical limitation unintentionally set the standard length for albums, as musicians began to organize their music with the newly expanded time frame in mind. However, the heart of an album does not rely strictly on its runtime or number of songs, but rather its concept. An album is any considerable, organized piece of music that attempts to achieve something, whether it be through language, sound, or both. This musical template has surpassed the requirement for records, passing through the eras of different tangible mediums, and even surviving the transition to a digital world.
The longevity of the album format is not surprising given the command it gives artists over their craft. Musicians often spend a great deal of time creating a specific experience for their fans. The most meticulously put-together albums are intentional in every aspect, from song sequencing, titling, and technicalities like production, mixing, and mastering. Furthermore, albums permit their creators to convey enduring emotions and narratives to listeners, elements that, while they can be simulated, are largely lost by playlists. Overall, an album provides cohesion, uniformity, and intention that cannot be replicated by other formats.
It is true that alternative methods of music distribution are often less constricting in nature. Playlists let fans decide for themselves where songs should be positioned and what should be included, bestowing the privilege of choice to the listener. The shift in responsibility certainly dictates that individualized collections allow fans to interact with music in a unique manner, just as albums do, but this is hardly reason enough to disregard the album format entirely. Neither option requires the other to fade into obscurity in order to thrive. Playlists and albums find their appreciative roots in the same place: a love for music. Although different manifestations of the same passion, it is an incredible opportunity to both enter an artist’s mind as they see fit for presentation, and for listeners to present a meaningful collage of ideas that inject an accompaniment to the conversation.
A peaceful coexistence is already being embraced between the two musical structures. Several artists have taken the liberty of creating albums that thrive off of the prominence of playlists. Legendary hip-hop producer The Alchemist is known for deriving inspiration from the disparate complexion of playlists in much of his current work. The beatsmith claimed in a 2021 interview, when asked about making albums in a primarily digital landscape, that:
“an album is a big song, and there’s moments everywhere throughout that album, just like there’s moments in a song. I started looking at it like that, like, if I could keep a song interesting then I got to be able to keep the album interesting”.
– The Alchemist
The Alchemist has perfected the art of seamless transitions between songs in their intended placement, while maintaining effectiveness when the songs are pulled out of their original context.3 Through a blending of presentation techniques, artists are actively accounting for the various ways that people consume music. Cases like The Alchemist’s show innovation, charisma, and solidify the possibility of playlists and albums coexisting from a creative perspective.
To further defend the album format, recent trends show a desire to maintain its existence by returning to the point of inception. Vinyl is an intimate way of listening to music, but it is also one of the most inconvenient by present standards. Switching between songs requires increased effort, the records themselves take up a fair amount of space, and they are considerably more expensive than the next-most economical solution, CDs. Despite its immediate flaws, the greatest strength that the medium offers is that it urges listeners to hear albums sequentially, as intended. In 2022, vinyl record sales rose for the seventh consecutive year in a row, and have finally surpassed the sales of CDs. A physical connection to music is something that is clearly aspired to, and signals the persistent relevance of albums as a template.
Much of what makes music so compelling is its ability to invoke vivid feeling. There is something indescribably attractive about a composition that holds a meaningful concept or simply sounds satisfying to the ear. Albums have proven through time, reception, medium, and example that they are capable of producing incredible results. Playlists allow users to assume more control of their listening, but do not hinder the experience found in other forms. Both albums and listener-driven techniques of consuming music can work independently, but hold the potential to interact with each other, taking music in compelling new directions. The exact trajectory of music cannot be predicted with a high degree of certainty, but the existence of the album has provided humanity with a format that has flourished since its introduction, and will continue to be a prominent form in the expression of self.
- MN2S has compiled information on the trending growth of playlist popularity, with one study showing that 40 percent of listeners prefer playlists to albums. ↩︎
- Prior to vinyl records, shellac discs were commonly used to store music. These discs were only capable of holding three to five minutes of music per side. ↩︎
- The Alchemist’s collaborative album with rapper Boldy James, Bo Jackson, is ripe with tracks engineered to work as individual pieces, but reveal subtle cohesion with a successive ear. See the songs “Flight Risk” and “Illegal Search & Seizure” in sequence. ↩︎