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March 30, 2007

itunes_store

Who killed the album? Not iTunes.

Posted Mar. 30, ’07, 2:01 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

iTunes loves albumsOne only has to Google “iTunes is killing the album” to see how far this idea has permeated the Internet. The theory usually runs that since iTunes has ushered in an era of legitimate à la carte downloading, the album, that masterwork of musical production, will suffer gravely as people flock to buying individual tracks.

I don’t see how this could be further from the truth. Especially with the introduction of the Complete My Album feature from earlier in the week, iTunes is among the strongest champions of the album as a format. This isn’t to say that the album, as we know it, has not faced some very serious challenges in the past decade or two, but to lay such wholesale destruction at the feet of iTunes is ludicrous.

For one thing, despite the blockbuster success of iTunes in the music download market, it still only makes up a fraction of music sold. That fraction is on the rise, certainly, but the days when digital downloads trump physical CD sales has yet to materialize. There’s no denying that the iTunes Store has influence (especially when it comes to integration with the iPod) but the album was becoming an endangered species before digital downloads were a gleam in Apple’s eye.

There was an era where the album was viewed as a work of art on par with a novel or a feature film: more than just a collection of unrelated songs, it was assembled with purpose and intent. Albums like The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Are You Experienced?, and The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds still remain to many the archetypal ideal of the album done right.

But with the massive consolidation of the radio industry that accompanied Congress’s decision in the mid-nineties to seriously relax ownership restrictions on radio stations, a great homogenizing shift began. Hit singles were played and overplayed, driving sales to albums that were often little more than thirty minutes of dreck hung around those same singles.

When iTunes entered this market, they made selling singles feasible for the first time in the digital era. The market for CD singles never really took off: they were expensive for what they offered and most people chose to throw down the extra money to buy the album. But on the net, it was easy to buy one song—so easy, in fact, that it’s been done billions of times over by now.

So what about the album? Just because iTunes makes a big deal about selling individual tracks, there’s nothing preventing you from buying a whole album. In fact, music on the iTunes Store is still organized primarily by album. It’s as easy to buy all of Pet Sounds as it is to buy “Sloop John B.” And albums on iTunes are cheap for the most part, too: the majority are sold at the $9.99 price point. When’s the last time you saw a new CD at that low a price?

And now, with the Complete My Album feature, Apple’s finally started doing something I begged them to do months ago: stop acting like a brick-and-mortar store and start innovating. Try this experiment, if you like: go to Target and buy a new CD single. Take it home, pop in the player and listen to it for a few months. Decide you like it. Head back to Target and tell the clerk that you’d like to return the single as a credit towards buying the full album. Wait as the clerk calls all of his friends over so they can have a big hearty laugh at your expense.

(I’ll admit that you might be able to get a buck for a single at some place that buys and sells used CDs, but even if you can, you’ll still be paying way more for the album than you would have on iTunes.)

Some, like TUAW’s Dave Caolo, seem to think that the Complete My Album feature is nothing more than a ploy to get you to shell out for music that you didn’t want in the first place. I won’t disagree that both the record companies and Apple would like more of your money, but as the consumer, the choice remains in your hands. Just because you can buy the rest of the album at a cheaper price doesn’t mean that you have to, any more than the fact that you can buy a single track from an album should deter you from buying the whole album if you want to. I fail to see how not making you buy the same track twice could constitute a bad thing, except for those who feel compelled to spend cash. If you do, you probably shouldn’t hang out in stores that much.

The strength of iTunes lies in its choice and flexibility, the likes of which you won’t get from conventional music stores and retailers. Buy an album, if you like. Buy a single. Buy four tracks from an album. Whatever you want. iTunes is just there to enable you to get what you want, not force it down your throat—unless, of course, that’s what you want.

There are still some shortcomings, certainly: I’ve purposely avoided discussing DRM here, as I don’t think it’s specifically relevant to the album, and there is the rather big lingering annoyance of “Album-only” tracks, which I hope iTunes will jettison someday soon (I’d point the finger on that one at the recording industry, though). But should record companies and artists decide to focus on creating albums instead of merely repetitive, nauseating singles, there will certainly be a place for them on iTunes.


9 Comments

ADarby said:

I agree the ITunes serves to promote sales of media, incl. music in single and 'album' format. It's a pleasure to hunt for music on ITunes and be able to buy just what I want to listen to. I'd stopped buying music (CD's) years ago as shopping at the Wherehouse and it's ilk was so depressing. Thank you Apple.

March 30, 2007 2:27 PM
Walt Basil said:

I am living, breathing proof that iTunes has killed the album format - for this individual if not a minority of folks. Since iTunes Store has become available I have bought 4 or 5 albums. That's it. Two were because the songs I wanted off the albums were not available on iTunes. Everything else has been the 1-3 songs off each album that I like. so for me, yes, iTunes has killed the album format. I can only speak on my behalf, and nobody else can tell me otherwise when it comes to my behalf.

Overall, I can't say one way or the other. What I can say killed the sales of the album from my perspective is the availability of songs on usenet (see full_album groups on usenet). Smart folks use usenet rather than P2P software. Of everyone I associate with, I know of only one other person who respectfully buys their music. Everybody else I know illegally downloads it. That goes for movies too. Everyone I know who is around my age or younger and is net savvy downloads their movies for free, many times while it is still in the theater.

March 30, 2007 2:32 PM
Fletcher said:

My iPod's ability to hold on the order of 100 full albums lets me listen to albums a lot easier than I could with my discman where I could only carry five or ten CDs conveniently.

I really like the "Complete an Album" option. It is a great demonstration of something they can do online which would be very difficult with CDs.

And, as a practical matter it may make a difference in my buying habits. I can now buy a couple tracks off an album I'm interested in and if I find myself liking them I can buy the rest with no penalty.

Back when 7-11 had free songs on Slurpees I bought a bunch of single tracks, but I wish I had the whole album. Just last night I was able to buy one of those albums for a discount without double buying any of the tracks.

March 30, 2007 2:38 PM
Strongblade! said:

My biggest frustration with iTunes remains to this day. The Canadian store often has partial albums only. Many times i've stumbled across the album I want, only to find that 6 of 15 tracks are available.

Coupled with the lack of Video content (No TV shows, no Movies) makes iTunes as a solution spotty at best.

Where I applaud the Complete my Album idea, in practise, an album has to actually be fully available to actually get first...

A Quick example? Soundtrack to Casino Royale. For some reason, all the bonus content is ONLY available on the US store. So even if I am buying the 'Full Album" I am still not getting the full album.

Did I mention no TV shows or movies?

March 30, 2007 2:41 PM
George said:

Dan, about those $9.99 albums...do you get the Sunday paper? If you do, you should look at the weekly advertisements from Best Buy, Target, and Circuit City. If you don't, they're all available online from the respective websites. Most new albums are available for that price the week they are released or soon after at any of the stores mentioned. Or if Walmart is more convenient, you can go there and make them price match it.

March 30, 2007 2:53 PM
Dan said:

Didn't album die when albums as I knew them were replaced by CD's? When that happend all of the glorious album art went with them.

March 30, 2007 2:59 PM
Thomas GvL Author Profile Page said:

Nice reflection... I kind of like the album because when it's done right, there's a recognizable style in every song and you can really choose the ones you prefer. Buying by song is hard because sometimes you might overlook a song just by listening to the 30 second preview.

An example of that is when I helped Bum Rush the Charts and bought "Mine Again" by Black Lab. Listening to the preview, I wasn't too impressed, but a few days later, when I remembered to listen to it, I really liked it.

March 30, 2007 8:07 PM
Kalessin said:

Of course iTunes isn't responsible for killing the album. If every song on the album was as good as the ones you bought, you'd buy those too. iTunes is responsible for record companies being slightly less able to rip us off than they were before, when we had to buy an album of up mostly rubbish in some cases, just to get the songs we want.

Of course, when I say "we", I am obviously not referring to the "smart people" Walt Basil mentions, who have never had any problems helping themselves to what they want.

March 31, 2007 3:24 AM
Adam said:

I imagine this is some sort of grassroots movement started by music execs.

The music industry killed the album by making a single good song business plan. Thats why they are called singles, you want that song? buy the whole album.

itunes made it easier for us to get that song. in the end, the music industry killed the album.

March 31, 2007 10:21 AM

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