Yo dude I was just enjoying your video (just randomly got recommended), then you said your name and I went "hold on..." since I found your music in like 2020, so I just wanna say awesome stuff, both the vids and your music!!!
People been saying "albums are dead" since the mid 2000s but you still see kids going DROP THE ALBUM in the comments of their favourite artists. Singles create interest, albums and EPs create *fans*.
Nothing beats a good album with specific track list layout for the listener. It defines the era the artist is in at the moment. But I wouldn’t clown her for that tho.
@@hadjitube not at all albums have always taken importance over any playlists or singles for me being able to create a full well rounded body of work is more impressive than anything nowadays imo
@@IanPlugThe interesting thing is that I tend to listen to albums over singles despite not owning a CD or a Vinyl LP. I exclusively listen to full albums on streaming.
This was the standard before the Beatles and Beach Boys dropped Rubber Soul and Pet Sounds respectively. The album and the studio turned into actual tools for artistry after that, but it still goes back and forth. Kanye, Kendrick and Frank Ocean got hip hop fans to really appreciate the album format because they put crazy effort into it, but very few artists of any genre today are really pushing high quality albums. Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Prince, Marvin Gaye, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins all did their part to maintain albums as quality artistic ventures.
@@geordiejones5618 i feel like hip-hop has always had that album-centric art style, especially with Lauryn hill, dr Dre, a tribe called quest (especially), de la soul, etc. they all used albums as a way to define themselves by eras - for example when de la soul used their second album to mark a significant change in attitude and style for their music, or 2001 marking the return of dre
That’s because these new era “artists” are all about the charts and the money. They know singles have a high chance to catch an audience because they’re low commitment and easily digestible. A good artists will make a cohesive album that puts you into the mindset and feelings they want to capture. A chart seeker will just make singles because they only want the money.
@@ArcadianWaheela singles have always been possible to lowball and make big bank, just look at the looong list of one-hit wonders from the 80s lol. I get what u mean tho
i can’t fully blame her, a lot of albums nowadays (from some pop/mainstream artists) can be not that great and you can tell by the production which songs are meant to be the singles, they feel like a compilation of songs instead of a cohesive album with a narrative. Nothing wrong about that but in those cases i’d rather just listen to the songs i like instead of the whole thing. However there are still great artists even nowadays that can release great albums with little to no skips, that don’t feel monotonous, with a narrative or something that ties the songs together. So i think it’s a shame she doesn’t listen to albums, i think she just needs to find a good one bc I think she could definitely benefit from creating one herself
Her caring about individual songs rather than albums makes sense considering her music is house/garage style. But being surprised by the fact people care about albums and track listings is wild especially as an artist 😭
A cohesive album 💿 is like a movie 🎥 to the ear 👂. Not everyone has time to sit though them in one sitting but it’s definitely worth the listen 🎧 for a good album
@@soocccermommy1326 have your heard ultraviolnce? There’s a clear story being told about leaving an abusive situation and finding yourself if you listen to the album from beginning to end.
I used to think the same as pink pantheress. That pop music should be known through singles. Then I listened to some of Britney Spears’ works. Her albums consist of so much different stuff man. Older pop stars like Britney, Christina, Mariah, Gaga, and Especially Whitney Houston put so much work into their deep cuts that you’d rather listen to those than the actual singles. Edit: 2006 born btw
The answer is pretty basic and kinda saying what Pink said: The album matters if the artist makes it matter. Obviously an album like Mr. Moral or Blonde the format matters but an album like Pink Tape I think listening to it in one sitting actually hurts it because it’s not cohesive. I love Pink Tape but the only time I’ve ever listened to it all the way through is when it dropped and when I bought the vinyl. Other than that I treat it like a playlist. People clowned him but I think Drake was on to something when he called More Life a playlist.
As someone who is in gen z, I think Album's are important for an artist. I love listening to albums from start to finish. I'm glad that we have artists who actually care about the art form.
Great points! Albums are amazing because they build a world you can get lost in for a while. They create a cohesive atmosphere you don't get by releasing sporadic 2:30min songs. And they build the legacy of an artist. I hope albums don't get phased out. Single tracks feel so fleeting sometimes when not connected to a larger body of work.
yes individual songs do feel fleeting! it's like @hadji experience with Jordan Ward: even if you liked it how often are you motivated to go search out and listen to only one song? when there is a longer experience it's much more likely to draw you back to listening to something. And speaking personally, i do think it changes your relationship to music listening to a good album a few times, there's a deeper connection available that you don't realise until you've experienced it.
@@perfectallycromulenteh not really, Bowie’s albums don’t really make it so that every song is important but Pink Floyd on the other hand is far more of a better example if you want to make some heads explode.
Well he got pretty old, but at the same time its interesting because he was the only boomer rockstar I could name besides Lou Reed who was listening to Kanye West Yeezus and Death Grips
Yeah I think most people put songs in their "liked or favorite" playlist and hit shuffle. People don't listen like with cds where they listen to that CD. The flexibility of new tech made new habits of consumption.
the notion that albums are irrelevant makes me laugh because im pretty sure more albums are coming out than ever.. old habits die hard and theres still a lot to be said in the album format, and if the artist is talented enough they can eat off it for years as we see with anderson paak. as for pinks statement shes not wrong about her opinion (its an opinion) but she could work on her tone lol. damn good video broe
It’s very simple…. Yes albums matter. Yes, singles can make you pop and get you a fan base and all that. Albums are still what elevates the artist and creates real fans and bolsters legacy. Why do I want to invest in you as an artist if you just have a couple singles I like? What’s really layered behind the “albums don’t matter” artists is really just lack of effort, care or ability to CREATE a cohesive body of work imo🤷🏾♂️
At the start of this year, I decided to start listening o music by albums, and I made a list where I wrote down and rated every album I listened to. I’m at 350 albums now hahaha. Listening by albums has made me love music so much more
Your core fanbase needs an album to become a core fan base. If the general public likes it, cool, but you build your core fan base with cohesive projects with emotionally driven stories.
no you do not, in fact the biggest genre in america rn, rap music is built off majority non-cohesive projects sure, alot of the time stories are told individually in the songs but you can only count on one hand how many rap albums have a cohesive story and there is still alot of successful artists outside rap who do not have cohesive albums and are huge successes, with giant fanbases
I catch myself many times listening to just songs instead of the albums but when I got to making music myself I don't value a single song nearly as much as working on a whole project. There is just this feeling of thinking everything out and putting it together. When listening, I have like a few albums that deeply resonate with me and a sea of albums that I tried listening to and they were fine but I didn't have enough capacity/interest or whatever to get into them more. I think about my piece of work the same way though. If at least a bunch of people can feel my project as a whole it means much more to me than a whole crowd singing one song and not knowing anything than this. I think that problem with 'dead albums' stems from the artists that just want to put their singles together and sell it without thinking about the whole story. It's just a bundle of songs when doing it that way. Look at Kendrick Lamar GKMC, TPAB, JCole FHD as the most prominent examples from rap (which i listen to a lot) which stand there for a long time because they got a whole story, a feeling.
Albums are very separate pieces of art and experiences than singles. Some people just enjoy singles and random tracks they put on a playlist on streaming. And that's fine. But artists who craft intentional albums with running themes and a great flow from song to song are offering listeners a deeper experience if they choose to take that journey. Not all artists do that, but the ones who do, you know it! Listening to singles is like reading a good magazine article or short story. Listening to a full album start to finish is like immersing yourself in a novel!
as a 20 year old, i grew up listening to singles and individual songs on playlists on my iPod or on MTV or on the radio. an “album” was a concept to me, a square picture representing a song or 2 that i knew. i never really was able to LISTEN to an album until i had grown into my teens. i can confidently say that discovering what an album can be, is probably one of the best things to ever happen in my life. i feel like part of it is because i’m a musician. another part of it is just simply that i’m a music consumer. it makes me really sad to see my generation of musicians and music listeners, not having the same love for the craft that is album making. ofc there will always be artists putting out albums, but it does seem like the scene has shifted. i for one, really enjoy albums as a whole. some of the greatest albums of all time have been made in my lifetime and i’m forever thankful for that. the quote about connecting a piece of art to its time of release, the consumer, and the feeling that the consumer had in the moment, is so crucial. this was kind of a yap session, but it’s something that i’m really passionate about.
The albums that made me exhausted with listening to albums: - we don’t trust you (70% was repetitive and bland) - we still don’t trust you (100%) - Might Delete Later (couldn’t make it past the 4th song) ALTHOUGH, GOD BLESS THE BLUE LIPS ALBUM I’m still listening to Loss of Life by MGMT Haven’t sat down for much of Bando Stone. I feel this was just him messing around
Albums represent an artists body of work and their artistic identity Success of an album on factors such as marketing, production, mixing, story themes, arrangements, time and songwriting. Before social media, people would buy albums off the strength of singles. If the single charted well, the album usually sells. This is how certain albums reached platinum or even diamond status.
If anything, the streaming era reignited the public's love of albums. During the mp3 era I thought albums were on the way out in popular culture, but that only lasted so long.
I feel like, the only reason why this is even a discussion is because a hot newer musician said it. There have always been people who don't care about listening to whole albums. And just listening to the specific songs they like. And sure there are way more of them now, with changes in technology, but people who listen to whole albums has become more and more niche for the last 20 years. And I think that's fine. I listen to whole albums. But who cares if everyone else does lol 😆 great video tho. No shade
Albums will never be dead, they said that 20 years ago, 10 years ago and they saying it now and people are still consuming and begging their artists to drop albums. It's also a cohesive body of work with alot of depth and often introspection that you can't get from only singles and playlists. Albums ain't going anywhere anytime soon no matter what some people say
When ipod was around especially UA-cam, singles and streaming music became more of a importance but having mixtapes and albums was still big in the 2000s
@@rorolovesfolklore specifically it was dropped without pre released singles. Lunch was released as a single the same day as the album and then birds of a feather became the second radio single in july. But generally in pop an album will have anywhere from 2-5 singles released before to promote it.
I completely understand why people don't listen to albums as much nowadays, but I specifically make time to listen to new albums while i work. it makes me feel a special connection to the music and the artist that I don't get with just single listening!
I don’t even listen to a lot of albums in one sitting just because I like to have a diverse music taste, doesn’t mean that I don’t make conceptual albums
Honestly, me being 15, while I do have a short attention span, (and was officially diagnosed with adhd when i was 7), the album format is the best thing ever, i can still listen to an entire album all the way through and not shy away from it unless i'm really hardcore trying to focus on something else. But even then, a good track listing, and just amazing songs all the way through is awesome. Just letting anyone reading this know, this will be a long comment explaining the tracklist of an album, but i'd say a very good example of how amazing tracklistings can be, is the 20 year old underground artist Jane Remover's Album, Census Designated, that album starts with a clear structure from the start, 10 tracks, an obvious intro track, and and spectacular outro track. It drifts off into this somewhat slow, dreamy feeling with the 2 intro tracks Cage Girl/Camgirl and Lips, which we're eventually taken out of that with Lips amazing beat drop near the end of it. Until we're then put into the more hard hitting tracks of Fling, Holding a Leech, and Backseat Girl, although they do have their small slow moments, jane is able to keep it consistent with how hurt she feels on this album, and is just letting out all of her emotions in these songs. Now for the 2nd act of the album, we're going into the even longer tracks of the album, starting with the 7 minute, Idling Somewhere, the first 4 minutes are just jane singing her heart out in a explosion of guitars/and drums somewhat, where it then leads into that same slow drifty feeling from the first 2 tracks, leading to the more relaxed and laid back track, Always Have, Always Will, most likely put in this spot to give us a breather from the last one, it is a very beautiful track in my opinion, its just builds up more and more until it has a more bigger assortment of guitars, while still keeping the same dreamy feeling. Now for the final 3 tracks, we have the title track, Census Designated, also the last single of the album, which seems to show Jane's personality the most. Even though the album is full of clever writing, this song is chalkfull of it, from somewhat fast paced verses, that depict a story of a girl being ruined by the music industry, which then leads to the amazing chorus, until the song drifts out of the slow guitars of how the first half of the song, and it ends in this massive wall of distorted sounds, the guitars are gone at this point, and it's showing off Jane's incredible production skills (oh did i mention this entire album is self produced by her too?) Then, after that explosion of sound, we're then again, put into another minute of a huge explosion of sound with the best song on the album, the 8 minute track titled Video, it's almost a jumpscare at first, until the song then leads into the next 5 minutes are just slow buildup, showing off Jane's improved vocal abilities from her last album, until she releases a guttural scream at the 6 minute mark and song literally explodes, having the guitars/drums come out again. Until it ends in almost heartfelt way? If you look at the lyrics, its clearly not that, since they're pretty dark. But this now leads us to the same way the album began, but in a much darker/twisted tone, continueing off of Video's dark ending, Jane graphically depicts her mental state and how she feels in the outro track, Contingency Song, just a very morbid way to end the album. But it makes sense considering this album was made after a near death experience Jane had went through the year before. Now that explained how each song kinda goes, it shows how it has such a cohesive experience, like that's what this album feels like, each song tells a specific story, either from Jane's perspective or another girl's perspective. And it tells it beautifully put together. An hour long experience with just 10 tracks. It's what made me realize how important these are to albums, and like hearing a record now that doesn't have consistent or cohesive track listing just doesn't do it for me.
yes, Albums are probably the best way to convey stories/atmosphere within music, some of the greatest albums of all time are conceptual albums that pushed the boundary of what music can be, singles or separate songs aren't able to achive what albums/EPs can do, Beach Boys's Pet Sounds being the first "true" modern album and it shows
Albums tell a story, and it sucks when artists are done with the story half way through but continue going. Many popular artists lately overestimate how much they need for a story. I feel gunna and Taylor swift were the worst offenders of this in 2024.
Listening to full albums repeatedly instead of just once over to see which songs to actually keep/download is scamming yourself, 90% of most albums is filler. The "best albums" you'll see on any list are no different, if you're listening to full albums you're willingly listening to mediocrity most of the time when you could just download the maybe 1 if any (in extremely rare cases 2-3, maybe 5 songs in extremely extremely extremely rare albums) songs worth keeping and then have playlists that are always great. If I find one great song I wanna hear again in an artist with 200+ I consider them good, many have none, there are only a handful of albums where I wanna hear every song, albums are just ways to release a bulk of new music putting yourself through the whole thing over and over because it's a "concept" or whatever is wasting your own time.
We need to go back to people doing music at home with their families. Music is a language and we can all learn it. It makes us human. When we are disconnected from this we worship musical “idols” and lose track of the music inside of us :)
Want to focus on generating buzz? Focus on dropping infatuating singles. Want to generate a fanbase and create a parasocial cult like fanbase? Only an album can do that. Creating a more focused and cohesive piece of work is only way you can create a longevity in music industry. Just think of how many artist dropped "compilation-like" albums that flopped after their single blew up, but everyone is still eagerly waiting for a Frank Oceans album.
I was born in 02. I also don't give a dam about albums bc I never listened to Michael Jackson or beetles. By the time I got a phone, I went straight to UA-cam to pick and choose my songs to make my own playlist. I definitely relate to Pinkpantheres
Those albums that deter you from skipping to the next track are a testament to masterful pieces of work from any artist. Creating a genius song is admirable in itself. But applying it in context to a concise, larger project is musical art in the highest form. There’s no such thing as a ‘one-hit wonder’ in an art museum. It’s always a ‘collection’ of work with a common theme. So, in the world of music as an art form, the craft of producing an album would never die.
Yes they matter. I like Pantheress, but this was such a goofy statement. Then again, it’s her. She’s makes albums, but has become set in making things for TikTok along with ice spice, Megan, etc. so it’s not surprising. But what she said was a really silly statement when albums as a whole are praised for concepts and cohesion.
I love albums but the original release format was artists dropping singles. The album didn’t become the primary form of music consumption until the 60s. Until then, people just released singles because the original 10 inch vinyls could only hold about 3 minutes of music. So in essence this is just another evolution of musical consumption, it’s not right or wrong, it just is.
Exactly! Some people are so close-minded to change. And the change in question isn’t even actually happening since the album release format is still pretty much relevant.
this is something i've thought before bc usually i dont fully listen albums just specific songs, turns out its way more common, but there are certain artists (less than 3) that if they drop a lenghty work i'd listen to it all
I love albums that has intentional tracklists. I.e SZA, Melanie martinez. But pink makes top tier music and her style is very unique so when it comes to her i find the tracklist comepletely fine lol
The way that I even barely listen to pre-release singles. That’s why I love eras where there’s just one or two singles before the album’s release. Hence why I enjoy Taylor’s new strategy. But I do realize it’s hard for upcoming artists to drop an album without several pre-release singles, they need an established fan base for that.
There will always be value in a fully realized album, but one of the most amazing things about music in the modern day is variety! If an artist's style doesn't really suit an album format, their music can still shine! I am such a big PinkPantheress fan, her production and sound pallette is so unique, but her songs are so compact, short and sweet, and if she had to make a full length 45 min + album it would end up with filler and mediocre songs which would spoil her great track record so far
When I listen to albums, especially if it is a concept album, I always make sure I listen from the start, until the end. No matter how long it is! I'm 17. I love albums!
Albums still matter and track flow still matters. BUT it needs to keep attention. And that’s why I think Kanye’s Wyoming run was so ahead of its time. 7 track less than 1/2 long albums with a smooth flow and a musical and/or conceptual narrative is the way of the future. Or even what XXX did with 17, an 11 song album that’s less than 1/2 hour long that has a full musical arc.
i love a good album. it’s so great to hear an album and have it feel so cohesive, story-like, and songs that feel like they are meant to be there. i love when i think of an album more than its individual songs. clairo especially i think of like this. especially sling and her new album, charm. it’s an *album* to me not an amalgamation of random songs. my favorite albums that feel like *ALBUMS*: trench, vessel, self titled (twenty one pilots), fuzzybrain (dayglow), superache (conan gray), rick (ricky montgomery), GUTS (olivia rodrigo), favourite worst nightmare (arctic monkeys), charm, sling (clairo), HIT ME HARD AND SOFT (billie eilish), harry’s house (harry styles), probably many others :)
There are single artists and albums artists. Single artist make many straightforward fun records Album artists make few complex lasting records Neither one is better than the other.
The newer artists they don’t really follow their own heart . They let the industry run them around no balls . Without us there is no Sony , no Def Jam 💯💯💯🙏🏿
14 seconds into the video and I will add my unsolicited opinion: I believe that albums do still matter. But now more than ever, it really takes dedication for someone to put in effort to make a good album. Also, as everything else in the whole world evolves that means that music and art two must evolve. So albums will have to start creating different experiences. Lastly, albums do matter! But the difference is people only value albums from fewer artists nowadays. Artists that they typically trust on delivering.
I forgot to mention this but this is a very big piece to the puzzle too: albums are usually about overall themes or stories. So you have to ask yourself as a music maker, are you making an album? Or are you just making a playlist full of songs? And nothing is wrong with either option but you really have to pay attention to what you're trying to achieve out of it.
I actually almost exclusively listen to albums. Like if somebody releases too many singles prior to an album, I'll just stop paying attention to them until the album comes out.
Keshi Gabriel album, Bazzi's infinite dream album. Ruel's free time and 4th wall album, billie's hit me hard and soft. i mean there is a long list of musicians that i have listened to their whole album, but i think album listening is coming back cause fans want to understand the artist fully.
honestly albums are not dead. i love listening to albums, my mom would play full albums when i was younger and once i got older, i listened to full albums myself. so albums aren’t dead, i feel like people who say that are the same people who claim music is dead or whatever
I think Dawn FM by The Weeknd is a perfect example of an "album". The concept and worldbuilding is amazing and makes each song so much better in the big picture.
Not caring about albums is lazy. If that's how someone consumes art, that's fine, they have every right to do that. But if you're not engaging with the art, especially on its own terms, then you don't need to be engaging in conversation about the art.
i think you are limiting your ability to enjoy if you set standard on yourself like "i dont listen to albums" i understand the concept of not listening to a full album if it doesn't grip you but if you refuse to listen on the run time you are simply missing out on your own preconceived notion, that you do not like albums I listen to whatever I like, sometimes it happens to be an album and sometimes not but i'm never going to miss out on something I might enjoy because I set a goalpost in my head
I don’t think albums are dead. I think most mainstream artists making album concepts a priority are lacking. Mk.Gee’s Two Star & The Dream Police is an example that albums are still alive. One of the differences with Mk.Gee is he is also educated in music. (Learned that from your video on him.) Albums are def still alive… just a lot less prioritized when it comes to messaging and longevity.
Beyoncé said it best “People don't make albums anymore because they try to sell a bunch of little quick singles and they burn out, and they put out a new one, and they burn out again.” I don’t fully expect anyone to listen to an album in full every single time they listen to a particular artist, you’ll find the songs you like and stick to those. But albums create eras, they tell stories, they discuss what’s relevant in the artist’s life at that point and you can’t get that off of 3 quick singles.
As a gen-z person with adhd, I have very little trouble sitting through an album if it really engages me. I like a fair share of albums that are 50 minutes or even over an hour long. I may switch between albums a few songs in if I don't vibe with it (especially on new ones) or if I'm having a bad day with my adhd. Some are even good enough for me to leave it on after it repeats. For me that's mostly dreampop (Slowdive - Souvlaki, Beach House - Bloom) and psychedelia (Tame Impala - Currents, MGMT - MGMT) that have that staying power. Not only that, but I've been listening to playlists less and less in favor of albums. I just find myself getting frustrated trying to make playlists where I don't hear the individual songs on them too many times. We all listen to music differently, and it makes sense why people who only listen to popular music would rather not sit through full albums, but they are definitely not obsolete.
I think the album and formats like that in general are similar in many ways to genre. It's a product of cultural influences and technological limitations often from a long time ago, but people liked it enough to continue reusing it in creative ways. Rock as a genre started in the 1950s and is still in use today, though in a much different and more musically diverse capacity than it was when it first started, just as the album has changed significantly from just 40-minute song collections to cohesive pieces even to increasing the length of time as technology progresses. When we say that the album is dying just because people that get Billboard top albums have done nothing interesting with their albums and filled them with bloat, it's like saying that rock is dying because Imagine Dragons litters modern rock radio. Neither of those statements are really true, albums and rock are both surviving and thriving outside of the center of the music industry, which has pumped forgettable crap into the charts since its inception. I also think that just as we have seen genre start to lose relevance now that musicians have much more diverse and complex webs of artistic influences, the differentiation between formats has started to lose relevance. We have a general definition for singles, albums, EPs, etc., but many singles have 3 or 4 songs on them, and many EPs are longer than a single 33rpm record would allow (i.e. All Delighted People by Sufjan Stevens or How To Leave Town by Car Seat Headrest). Really, they're all just a bunch of collections of songs that are defined by the artist, and no matter what you call it, they are all the same format with different names and general length guidelines. The only way to truly change format, I believe, is to abandon the song altogether and have music somehow contained differently, and not just by changing the length of the format.
Yeah sorry to break it. In a world where it's so easy to access movies/tv shows, play videogames, and play any song they want, albums are the last media most people would pick to spend their time.
Yo dude I was just enjoying your video (just randomly got recommended), then you said your name and I went "hold on..." since I found your music in like 2020, so I just wanna say awesome stuff, both the vids and your music!!!
People been saying "albums are dead" since the mid 2000s but you still see kids going DROP THE ALBUM in the comments of their favourite artists. Singles create interest, albums and EPs create *fans*.
@@DavySolaris haha very well said !!
Albums are the best way to make musical worlds
Facts right here
Music industry just fell off but people do and still want albums
@@hadjitube
Facts
Nothing beats a good album with specific track list layout for the listener. It defines the era the artist is in at the moment. But I wouldn’t clown her for that tho.
I def would
@@fedfed96Why can't people just listen to what they want to?
PinkPantheress just needs to work on her track listings lmao
Absolutely I love listening to full albums
has the way you listened to them changed at all?
@@hadjitube not at all albums have always taken importance over any playlists or singles for me being able to create a full well rounded body of work is more impressive than anything nowadays imo
@@IanPlugThe interesting thing is that I tend to listen to albums over singles despite not owning a CD or a Vinyl LP. I exclusively listen to full albums on streaming.
But most people don’t, and we can’t blame artists for catering to their own preferences as well as the preferences of their audience
Same!
I don’t think the album will ever die but I have noticed newer era artists are more focused on singles vs full on projects
This was the standard before the Beatles and Beach Boys dropped Rubber Soul and Pet Sounds respectively. The album and the studio turned into actual tools for artistry after that, but it still goes back and forth. Kanye, Kendrick and Frank Ocean got hip hop fans to really appreciate the album format because they put crazy effort into it, but very few artists of any genre today are really pushing high quality albums. Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Prince, Marvin Gaye, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins all did their part to maintain albums as quality artistic ventures.
@@geordiejones5618 i feel like hip-hop has always had that album-centric art style, especially with Lauryn hill, dr Dre, a tribe called quest (especially), de la soul, etc. they all used albums as a way to define themselves by eras - for example when de la soul used their second album to mark a significant change in attitude and style for their music, or 2001 marking the return of dre
That’s because these new era “artists” are all about the charts and the money. They know singles have a high chance to catch an audience because they’re low commitment and easily digestible. A good artists will make a cohesive album that puts you into the mindset and feelings they want to capture. A chart seeker will just make singles because they only want the money.
@@ArcadianWaheela singles have always been possible to lowball and make big bank, just look at the looong list of one-hit wonders from the 80s lol. I get what u mean tho
i can’t fully blame her, a lot of albums nowadays (from some pop/mainstream artists) can be not that great and you can tell by the production which songs are meant to be the singles, they feel like a compilation of songs instead of a cohesive album with a narrative. Nothing wrong about that but in those cases i’d rather just listen to the songs i like instead of the whole thing. However there are still great artists even nowadays that can release great albums with little to no skips, that don’t feel monotonous, with a narrative or something that ties the songs together. So i think it’s a shame she doesn’t listen to albums, i think she just needs to find a good one bc I think she could definitely benefit from creating one herself
she did create an album last year i think
@@ljbproductions3350 which makes sense she's not COMPLETELY against albums she just prefers listening to mixtapes or the singles
@@ljbproductions3350artists can totally have different ways that they like to enjoy art versus how they like to format their own art
@@stickypinktip Might be her label not her though.
@@yes-gs2rd what does this change?
i just think pink prefers mixtapes over albums
Mixtapes are just collections of songs which have less thought into them collectively than an album, basically a downgrade.
Her caring about individual songs rather than albums makes sense considering her music is house/garage style. But being surprised by the fact people care about albums and track listings is wild especially as an artist 😭
A cohesive album 💿 is like a movie 🎥 to the ear 👂. Not everyone has time to sit though them in one sitting but it’s definitely worth the listen 🎧 for a good album
like IGOR and DAMN.
@@sporkyone Lol @ DAMN being the second choice. Kendrick's worst...
Every Lana del Rey album is a whole story and a cohesive work.
Lana del rey albums are great but honestly I don’t see any storyline in any of them
@@soocccermommy1326 have your heard ultraviolnce? There’s a clear story being told about leaving an abusive situation and finding yourself if you listen to the album from beginning to end.
there aren't any storyline in any of lana del reys albums but the storytelling in each song is good
You mean Kendrick Lamar album?
holy mid
"Like books and black lives, albums still matter." ~ Prince
Prince always coming in clutch with the facts!!!
I used to think the same as pink pantheress. That pop music should be known through singles. Then I listened to some of Britney Spears’ works. Her albums consist of so much different stuff man. Older pop stars like Britney, Christina, Mariah, Gaga, and Especially Whitney Houston put so much work into their deep cuts that you’d rather listen to those than the actual singles.
Edit: 2006 born btw
I hope people don't give up albums
will never happen, concept projects keep every genre alive
I love albums especially when they have a central theme
The answer is pretty basic and kinda saying what Pink said: The album matters if the artist makes it matter. Obviously an album like Mr. Moral or Blonde the format matters but an album like Pink Tape I think listening to it in one sitting actually hurts it because it’s not cohesive. I love Pink Tape but the only time I’ve ever listened to it all the way through is when it dropped and when I bought the vinyl. Other than that I treat it like a playlist. People clowned him but I think Drake was on to something when he called More Life a playlist.
As someone who is in gen z, I think Album's are important for an artist. I love listening to albums from start to finish. I'm glad that we have artists who actually care about the art form.
Great points! Albums are amazing because they build a world you can get lost in for a while. They create a cohesive atmosphere you don't get by releasing sporadic 2:30min songs. And they build the legacy of an artist. I hope albums don't get phased out. Single tracks feel so fleeting sometimes when not connected to a larger body of work.
Fans come in for a single and stay for an album. It doesn't matter when or where.... An album will always hold strong.
yes individual songs do feel fleeting! it's like @hadji experience with Jordan Ward: even if you liked it how often are you motivated to go search out and listen to only one song? when there is a longer experience it's much more likely to draw you back to listening to something. And speaking personally, i do think it changes your relationship to music listening to a good album a few times, there's a deeper connection available that you don't realise until you've experienced it.
David Bowie once said that he doesn't really listen to music that much at all
Telling rock fans you skip songs on Bowie's classic albums is a good way to make some heads explode.
@@perfectallycromulenteh not really, Bowie’s albums don’t really make it so that every song is important but Pink Floyd on the other hand is far more of a better example if you want to make some heads explode.
David Bowie defeated pop music so I get it
Well he got pretty old, but at the same time its interesting because he was the only boomer rockstar I could name besides Lou Reed who was listening to Kanye West Yeezus and Death Grips
@@kelechi_77 Paul McCartney actually worked with Kanye on a couple songs so I’m sure he listened to Yeezus at some point.
Yeah I think most people put songs in their "liked or favorite" playlist and hit shuffle. People don't listen like with cds where they listen to that CD. The flexibility of new tech made new habits of consumption.
the notion that albums are irrelevant makes me laugh because im pretty sure more albums are coming out than ever.. old habits die hard and theres still a lot to be said in the album format, and if the artist is talented enough they can eat off it for years as we see with anderson paak. as for pinks statement shes not wrong about her opinion (its an opinion) but she could work on her tone lol. damn good video broe
It’s very simple…. Yes albums matter. Yes, singles can make you pop and get you a fan base and all that. Albums are still what elevates the artist and creates real fans and bolsters legacy. Why do I want to invest in you as an artist if you just have a couple singles I like? What’s really layered behind the “albums don’t matter” artists is really just lack of effort, care or ability to CREATE a cohesive body of work imo🤷🏾♂️
At the start of this year, I decided to start listening o music by albums, and I made a list where I wrote down and rated every album I listened to.
I’m at 350 albums now hahaha.
Listening by albums has made me love music so much more
listening by albums has made me realize how many big artists have shit music outside their known hits
Your core fanbase needs an album to become a core fan base. If the general public likes it, cool, but you build your core fan base with cohesive projects with emotionally driven stories.
no you do not, in fact the biggest genre in america rn, rap music is built off majority non-cohesive projects sure, alot of the time stories are told individually in the songs but you can only count on one hand how many rap albums have a cohesive story and there is still alot of successful artists outside rap who do not have cohesive albums and are huge successes, with giant fanbases
having brat in the thumbnail answers the question
Nowadays, I only listen to Albums, Ever since I semi stopped using Spotify and picked up a cd Walkman, I’ve only been listening to albums in full.
I catch myself many times listening to just songs instead of the albums but when I got to making music myself I don't value a single song nearly as much as working on a whole project. There is just this feeling of thinking everything out and putting it together. When listening, I have like a few albums that deeply resonate with me and a sea of albums that I tried listening to and they were fine but I didn't have enough capacity/interest or whatever to get into them more. I think about my piece of work the same way though. If at least a bunch of people can feel my project as a whole it means much more to me than a whole crowd singing one song and not knowing anything than this. I think that problem with 'dead albums' stems from the artists that just want to put their singles together and sell it without thinking about the whole story. It's just a bundle of songs when doing it that way. Look at Kendrick Lamar GKMC, TPAB, JCole FHD as the most prominent examples from rap (which i listen to a lot) which stand there for a long time because they got a whole story, a feeling.
well said!
Albums are very separate pieces of art and experiences than singles. Some people just enjoy singles and random tracks they put on a playlist on streaming. And that's fine. But artists who craft intentional albums with running themes and a great flow from song to song are offering listeners a deeper experience if they choose to take that journey. Not all artists do that, but the ones who do, you know it! Listening to singles is like reading a good magazine article or short story. Listening to a full album start to finish is like immersing yourself in a novel!
as a 20 year old, i grew up listening to singles and individual songs on playlists on my iPod or on MTV or on the radio. an “album” was a concept to me, a square picture representing a song or 2 that i knew. i never really was able to LISTEN to an album until i had grown into my teens. i can confidently say that discovering what an album can be, is probably one of the best things to ever happen in my life. i feel like part of it is because i’m a musician. another part of it is just simply that i’m a music consumer. it makes me really sad to see my generation of musicians and music listeners, not having the same love for the craft that is album making. ofc there will always be artists putting out albums, but it does seem like the scene has shifted. i for one, really enjoy albums as a whole. some of the greatest albums of all time have been made in my lifetime and i’m forever thankful for that. the quote about connecting a piece of art to its time of release, the consumer, and the feeling that the consumer had in the moment, is so crucial. this was kind of a yap session, but it’s something that i’m really passionate about.
I’ve recently started to get into listening to full albums and it has made my love of music explode over the last few months
Would highly recommend
My absolute goat every time I end up clicking a video it’s you and it’s always golden
Pinkpantheress just freed me from all of the expectations and pressures to create an album! Now im gonna go apeshit with it and defy norms
The albums that made me exhausted with listening to albums:
- we don’t trust you (70% was repetitive and bland)
- we still don’t trust you (100%)
- Might Delete Later (couldn’t make it past the 4th song)
ALTHOUGH, GOD BLESS THE BLUE LIPS ALBUM
I’m still listening to Loss of Life by MGMT
Haven’t sat down for much of Bando Stone. I feel this was just him messing around
Albums represent an artists body of work and their artistic identity
Success of an album on factors such as marketing, production, mixing, story themes, arrangements, time and songwriting.
Before social media, people would buy albums off the strength of singles. If the single charted well, the album usually sells. This is how certain albums reached platinum or even diamond status.
If anything, the streaming era reignited the public's love of albums. During the mp3 era I thought albums were on the way out in popular culture, but that only lasted so long.
I feel like, the only reason why this is even a discussion is because a hot newer musician said it. There have always been people who don't care about listening to whole albums. And just listening to the specific songs they like. And sure there are way more of them now, with changes in technology, but people who listen to whole albums has become more and more niche for the last 20 years. And I think that's fine. I listen to whole albums. But who cares if everyone else does lol 😆 great video tho. No shade
Albums will never be dead, they said that 20 years ago, 10 years ago and they saying it now and people are still consuming and begging their artists to drop albums. It's also a cohesive body of work with alot of depth and often introspection that you can't get from only singles and playlists. Albums ain't going anywhere anytime soon no matter what some people say
I find pinkpanthress questioning albums so funny considering her latest album is one of my all time favourites.
Look at Cardi B. Had a smash hit of an album in 2018. And hasnt dropped since. Only drops singles and features that are extremely successful
As a teenager who collects physical albums, i dont think the album will truly die, i think its just a matter of a person and what music means to them
When ipod was around especially UA-cam, singles and streaming music became more of a importance but having mixtapes and albums was still big in the 2000s
i love your example w tyler it really shows how albums can represent a time in a artists life
Billie Eilish’s new album was dropped without singles and was marketed as “an album experience that should be listened to front to back”
what about lunch?
@@rorolovesfolkloredidn’t LUNCH become a single after the album dropped or am i remembering wrong
@@guppy.mp3 idk thanks!
@@rorolovesfolklore specifically it was dropped without pre released singles. Lunch was released as a single the same day as the album and then birds of a feather became the second radio single in july. But generally in pop an album will have anywhere from 2-5 singles released before to promote it.
@@Asterisk94 yup! i didn't realize lunch wasn't a pre single
I completely understand why people don't listen to albums as much nowadays, but I specifically make time to listen to new albums while i work. it makes me feel a special connection to the music and the artist that I don't get with just single listening!
I don’t even listen to a lot of albums in one sitting just because I like to have a diverse music taste, doesn’t mean that I don’t make conceptual albums
Honestly, me being 15, while I do have a short attention span, (and was officially diagnosed with adhd when i was 7), the album format is the best thing ever, i can still listen to an entire album all the way through and not shy away from it unless i'm really hardcore trying to focus on something else. But even then, a good track listing, and just amazing songs all the way through is awesome.
Just letting anyone reading this know, this will be a long comment explaining the tracklist of an album, but i'd say a very good example of how amazing tracklistings can be, is the 20 year old underground artist Jane Remover's Album, Census Designated, that album starts with a clear structure from the start, 10 tracks, an obvious intro track, and and spectacular outro track.
It drifts off into this somewhat slow, dreamy feeling with the 2 intro tracks Cage Girl/Camgirl and Lips, which we're eventually taken out of that with Lips amazing beat drop near the end of it.
Until we're then put into the more hard hitting tracks of Fling, Holding a Leech, and Backseat Girl, although they do have their small slow moments, jane is able to keep it consistent with how hurt she feels on this album, and is just letting out all of her emotions in these songs.
Now for the 2nd act of the album, we're going into the even longer tracks of the album, starting with the 7 minute, Idling Somewhere, the first 4 minutes are just jane singing her heart out in a explosion of guitars/and drums somewhat, where it then leads into that same slow drifty feeling from the first 2 tracks, leading to the more relaxed and laid back track, Always Have, Always Will, most likely put in this spot to give us a breather from the last one, it is a very beautiful track in my opinion, its just builds up more and more until it has a more bigger assortment of guitars, while still keeping the same dreamy feeling.
Now for the final 3 tracks, we have the title track, Census Designated, also the last single of the album, which seems to show Jane's personality the most. Even though the album is full of clever writing, this song is chalkfull of it, from somewhat fast paced verses, that depict a story of a girl being ruined by the music industry, which then leads to the amazing chorus, until the song drifts out of the slow guitars of how the first half of the song, and it ends in this massive wall of distorted sounds, the guitars are gone at this point, and it's showing off Jane's incredible production skills (oh did i mention this entire album is self produced by her too?)
Then, after that explosion of sound, we're then again, put into another minute of a huge explosion of sound with the best song on the album, the 8 minute track titled Video, it's almost a jumpscare at first, until the song then leads into the next 5 minutes are just slow buildup, showing off Jane's improved vocal abilities from her last album, until she releases a guttural scream at the 6 minute mark and song literally explodes, having the guitars/drums come out again. Until it ends in almost heartfelt way? If you look at the lyrics, its clearly not that, since they're pretty dark.
But this now leads us to the same way the album began, but in a much darker/twisted tone, continueing off of Video's dark ending, Jane graphically depicts her mental state and how she feels in the outro track, Contingency Song, just a very morbid way to end the album. But it makes sense considering this album was made after a near death experience Jane had went through the year before.
Now that explained how each song kinda goes, it shows how it has such a cohesive experience, like that's what this album feels like, each song tells a specific story, either from Jane's perspective or another girl's perspective. And it tells it beautifully put together. An hour long experience with just 10 tracks. It's what made me realize how important these are to albums, and like hearing a record now that doesn't have consistent or cohesive track listing just doesn't do it for me.
yes, Albums are probably the best way to convey stories/atmosphere within music, some of the greatest albums of all time are conceptual albums that pushed the boundary of what music can be, singles or separate songs aren't able to achive what albums/EPs can do, Beach Boys's Pet Sounds being the first "true" modern album and it shows
This makes me so sad :( I really started listening to albums in 2021, and I just can’t go back. I’ve been missing so much!
6:10 you couldn't have been more right and you made me stop for a second to make sure you weren't watching me. great video!
Albums tell a story, and it sucks when artists are done with the story half way through but continue going. Many popular artists lately overestimate how much they need for a story. I feel gunna and Taylor swift were the worst offenders of this in 2024.
If the album ever dies, it'll be because people kept saying it was dead when it clearly wasn't.
These months i've been only listening to albums front to back tbh
Listening to full albums repeatedly instead of just once over to see which songs to actually keep/download is scamming yourself, 90% of most albums is filler. The "best albums" you'll see on any list are no different, if you're listening to full albums you're willingly listening to mediocrity most of the time when you could just download the maybe 1 if any (in extremely rare cases 2-3, maybe 5 songs in extremely extremely extremely rare albums) songs worth keeping and then have playlists that are always great. If I find one great song I wanna hear again in an artist with 200+ I consider them good, many have none, there are only a handful of albums where I wanna hear every song, albums are just ways to release a bulk of new music putting yourself through the whole thing over and over because it's a "concept" or whatever is wasting your own time.
1:12 dawg what are you saying 😭🙏
We need to go back to people doing music at home with their families. Music is a language and we can all learn it. It makes us human. When we are disconnected from this we worship musical “idols” and lose track of the music inside of us :)
This is my favorite video you’ve done
album experience is still one of the best experiences you could make in a certain time
your videos have popped up on my algorithm a few times now and you make great content. forgot to sub at first but now we locked in
Want to focus on generating buzz? Focus on dropping infatuating singles. Want to generate a fanbase and create a parasocial cult like fanbase? Only an album can do that.
Creating a more focused and cohesive piece of work is only way you can create a longevity in music industry. Just think of how many artist dropped "compilation-like" albums that flopped after their single blew up, but everyone is still eagerly waiting for a Frank Oceans album.
I was born in 02. I also don't give a dam about albums bc I never listened to Michael Jackson or beetles. By the time I got a phone, I went straight to UA-cam to pick and choose my songs to make my own playlist. I definitely relate to Pinkpantheres
Wanting to listen to whole albums was weird in the 90s. Most people just listened to the radio and only liked the hits.
Those albums that deter you from skipping to the next track are a testament to masterful pieces of work from any artist. Creating a genius song is admirable in itself. But applying it in context to a concise, larger project is musical art in the highest form. There’s no such thing as a ‘one-hit wonder’ in an art museum. It’s always a ‘collection’ of work with a common theme. So, in the world of music as an art form, the craft of producing an album would never die.
Yes they matter. I like Pantheress, but this was such a goofy statement. Then again, it’s her. She’s makes albums, but has become set in making things for TikTok along with ice spice, Megan, etc. so it’s not surprising. But what she said was a really silly statement when albums as a whole are praised for concepts and cohesion.
I love albums but the original release format was artists dropping singles. The album didn’t become the primary form of music consumption until the 60s. Until then, people just released singles because the original 10 inch vinyls could only hold about 3 minutes of music. So in essence this is just another evolution of musical consumption, it’s not right or wrong, it just is.
Exactly! Some people are so close-minded to change. And the change in question isn’t even actually happening since the album release format is still pretty much relevant.
i LOVE albums
this is something i've thought before bc usually i dont fully listen albums just specific songs, turns out its way more common, but there are certain artists (less than 3) that if they drop a lenghty work i'd listen to it all
I. Want. That. British accent.
I love albums that has intentional tracklists. I.e SZA, Melanie martinez. But pink makes top tier music and her style is very unique so when it comes to her i find the tracklist comepletely fine lol
The way that I even barely listen to pre-release singles. That’s why I love eras where there’s just one or two singles before the album’s release. Hence why I enjoy Taylor’s new strategy. But I do realize it’s hard for upcoming artists to drop an album without several pre-release singles, they need an established fan base for that.
Artists only care about singles
Producers, because most are old or appreciate the medium definetly are still into the album process
There will always be value in a fully realized album, but one of the most amazing things about music in the modern day is variety! If an artist's style doesn't really suit an album format, their music can still shine! I am such a big PinkPantheress fan, her production and sound pallette is so unique, but her songs are so compact, short and sweet, and if she had to make a full length 45 min + album it would end up with filler and mediocre songs which would spoil her great track record so far
it honestly depends but i think its a good thing to keep a mix of singles, eps and albums
thank god I grew up and experienced on Kanye's album run from 2004-2016
When I listen to albums, especially if it is a concept album, I always make sure I listen from the start, until the end. No matter how long it is! I'm 17. I love albums!
Albums still matter and track flow still matters. BUT it needs to keep attention. And that’s why I think Kanye’s Wyoming run was so ahead of its time. 7 track less than 1/2 long albums with a smooth flow and a musical and/or conceptual narrative is the way of the future. Or even what XXX did with 17, an 11 song album that’s less than 1/2 hour long that has a full musical arc.
i agree with this for the kanye ones especially the teyana one, but the issue with the 7 track albums is you better hit on all 7!! haha
I love how the guy says that track listing is a very important thing
i love a good album. it’s so great to hear an album and have it feel so cohesive, story-like, and songs that feel like they are meant to be there. i love when i think of an album more than its individual songs. clairo especially i think of like this. especially sling and her new album, charm. it’s an *album* to me not an amalgamation of random songs.
my favorite albums that feel like *ALBUMS*: trench, vessel, self titled (twenty one pilots), fuzzybrain (dayglow), superache (conan gray), rick (ricky montgomery), GUTS (olivia rodrigo), favourite worst nightmare (arctic monkeys), charm, sling (clairo), HIT ME HARD AND SOFT (billie eilish), harry’s house (harry styles), probably many others :)
When he called me out for folding my laundry while listening had me shook. Also panther is making 2001’s look bad😭
Wake up babe new Hadji video on the music industry just dropped
There are single artists and albums artists.
Single artist make many straightforward fun records
Album artists make few complex lasting records
Neither one is better than the other.
The newer artists they don’t really follow their own heart . They let the industry run them around no balls . Without us there is no Sony , no Def Jam 💯💯💯🙏🏿
14 seconds into the video and I will add my unsolicited opinion: I believe that albums do still matter. But now more than ever, it really takes dedication for someone to put in effort to make a good album. Also, as everything else in the whole world evolves that means that music and art two must evolve. So albums will have to start creating different experiences. Lastly, albums do matter! But the difference is people only value albums from fewer artists nowadays. Artists that they typically trust on delivering.
I forgot to mention this but this is a very big piece to the puzzle too: albums are usually about overall themes or stories. So you have to ask yourself as a music maker, are you making an album? Or are you just making a playlist full of songs? And nothing is wrong with either option but you really have to pay attention to what you're trying to achieve out of it.
I actually almost exclusively listen to albums. Like if somebody releases too many singles prior to an album, I'll just stop paying attention to them until the album comes out.
Keshi Gabriel album, Bazzi's infinite dream album. Ruel's free time and 4th wall album, billie's hit me hard and soft. i mean there is a long list of musicians that i have listened to their whole album, but i think album listening is coming back cause fans want to understand the artist fully.
honestly albums are not dead. i love listening to albums, my mom would play full albums when i was younger and once i got older, i listened to full albums myself. so albums aren’t dead, i feel like people who say that are the same people who claim music is dead or whatever
'ALBUMS STLL MATTERS' - Prince
💯 Coming from an artist who had many album and eras all different and exciting.
I think Dawn FM by The Weeknd is a perfect example of an "album". The concept and worldbuilding is amazing and makes each song so much better in the big picture.
a lot of people hating on PinkPantheress, like dude who gaf about what other people think about the albums lmao just stream the music any way you want
listening to tbp in full hits so well
It’s like cds and vinyl aren’t as popular now, so people aren’t forced to listen to the whole thing at one time
absolutely haha it was talked about in the video
Not caring about albums is lazy. If that's how someone consumes art, that's fine, they have every right to do that. But if you're not engaging with the art, especially on its own terms, then you don't need to be engaging in conversation about the art.
i think you are limiting your ability to enjoy if you set standard on yourself like "i dont listen to albums"
i understand the concept of not listening to a full album if it doesn't grip you but if you refuse to listen on the run time you are simply missing out on your own preconceived notion, that you do not like albums
I listen to whatever I like, sometimes it happens to be an album and sometimes not but i'm never going to miss out on something I might enjoy because I set a goalpost in my head
I don’t think albums are dead. I think most mainstream artists making album concepts a priority are lacking. Mk.Gee’s Two Star & The Dream Police is an example that albums are still alive. One of the differences with Mk.Gee is he is also educated in music. (Learned that from your video on him.) Albums are def still alive… just a lot less prioritized when it comes to messaging and longevity.
Beyoncé said it best “People don't make albums anymore because they try to sell a bunch of little quick singles and they burn out, and they put out a new one, and they burn out again.” I don’t fully expect anyone to listen to an album in full every single time they listen to a particular artist, you’ll find the songs you like and stick to those. But albums create eras, they tell stories, they discuss what’s relevant in the artist’s life at that point and you can’t get that off of 3 quick singles.
The Weeknd’s album eras omg
great example of someone who takes the era seriously haha
@@hadjitube yea lol
New one happening rn too
As a gen-z person with adhd, I have very little trouble sitting through an album if it really engages me. I like a fair share of albums that are 50 minutes or even over an hour long. I may switch between albums a few songs in if I don't vibe with it (especially on new ones) or if I'm having a bad day with my adhd. Some are even good enough for me to leave it on after it repeats. For me that's mostly dreampop (Slowdive - Souvlaki, Beach House - Bloom) and psychedelia (Tame Impala - Currents, MGMT - MGMT) that have that staying power.
Not only that, but I've been listening to playlists less and less in favor of albums. I just find myself getting frustrated trying to make playlists where I don't hear the individual songs on them too many times. We all listen to music differently, and it makes sense why people who only listen to popular music would rather not sit through full albums, but they are definitely not obsolete.
I think the album and formats like that in general are similar in many ways to genre. It's a product of cultural influences and technological limitations often from a long time ago, but people liked it enough to continue reusing it in creative ways. Rock as a genre started in the 1950s and is still in use today, though in a much different and more musically diverse capacity than it was when it first started, just as the album has changed significantly from just 40-minute song collections to cohesive pieces even to increasing the length of time as technology progresses. When we say that the album is dying just because people that get Billboard top albums have done nothing interesting with their albums and filled them with bloat, it's like saying that rock is dying because Imagine Dragons litters modern rock radio. Neither of those statements are really true, albums and rock are both surviving and thriving outside of the center of the music industry, which has pumped forgettable crap into the charts since its inception.
I also think that just as we have seen genre start to lose relevance now that musicians have much more diverse and complex webs of artistic influences, the differentiation between formats has started to lose relevance. We have a general definition for singles, albums, EPs, etc., but many singles have 3 or 4 songs on them, and many EPs are longer than a single 33rpm record would allow (i.e. All Delighted People by Sufjan Stevens or How To Leave Town by Car Seat Headrest). Really, they're all just a bunch of collections of songs that are defined by the artist, and no matter what you call it, they are all the same format with different names and general length guidelines. The only way to truly change format, I believe, is to abandon the song altogether and have music somehow contained differently, and not just by changing the length of the format.
I can listen to albums in full
even artists i don't care for like Taylor Swift or Drake.
And i usually have an short attention span
some underrated albums are Raven by Kelela and The Land is Inhospitable and So are We by Mitski especially for what they offered.
No, they don't matter anymore. Playlists are way longer with more variation and yet are more consistent with the vibe I want at any given time.
"like books and black lives albums still matter"
-Prince
Yeah sorry to break it. In a world where it's so easy to access movies/tv shows, play videogames, and play any song they want, albums are the last media most people would pick to spend their time.