The Change Mariner

Death of the Album in the Download Era

USAToday:
The album, music's dominant creative framework for the past 40 years, is dying under the wheels of an accelerating revolution.

The digital age, driven by single-song downloads, threatens to eradicate the multiple-track album, whether on compact disc, cassette or old-fashioned vinyl. It's not just the physical artifact that's joining shellac 78s, turntables and 8-track tapes in the pop graveyard: The very concept of songs integrated into a whole faces extinction.

"The entire game is changing," says singer Rob Thomas of Matchbox Twenty. "I can handle the fact that artists are selling fewer records and making less money, but you can't take away our albums! It's a conscious step toward disposable art. On an album, the artist creates a full work of art with songs that fit together and create a mood. If we become a single-minded nation, where careers depend on hits, you won't hear challenging music that takes risks."

The death of pop's primary esthetic and commercial unit evokes a variety of reactions. Cyber-savvy fans feel empowered. Confusion grips older consumers. Labels are threatened and panicked by the radical transition. Musicians are enthusiastic, dismayed or conflicted.

"The disappearance of the album as an entity would be sad, but anything to do with the evolution in how people access music excites me," singer Alanis Morissette says. "I'm very album-oriented, and my highest preference is that people experience my album as a whole, but I know people can gravitate to a certain song and listen to it ad nauseum. That's their right. It's about freedom of choice."

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