Why Should Artists Make Albums?

.....When hardly anyone but the most loyal and traditional music lovers are still buying them.  Have people at large lost the interest in hearing a bunch of songs in one sitting from an artist in favor of the odd tune every now and then released digitally, Youtubed, Spotified, Pandorad, etc?

Change is one of those things that happens in funny ways and over the past 2+ decades, we've seen a lot of it which I feel we are still coming to grips with.  At least I am!  I was the kind of guy growing up who spent my whole bank account buying albums in the store if I was lucky enough to find them.  It was exciting too as some of the more rare rock albums were hard to find.  I remember finding the ELP double live album Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends (which I am listening to now) as an import after trying to rack it down for months in 1992 or so.  I think I paid $25 in 1992 money for it and I was glad I did!!

To someone growing up today this kind of thing is probably the same way I looked at how old fashioned it looked in those movies when people made a phone call and it had to be switched over from some operator at a switchboard.  What a hassle!

To put things in some proper perspective, we are in a terrible recession and many are out of work or struggling to make ends meet. To add to that, think about how expensive broadband, cable and the cost of living is and then take a look at how many sold out concerts you see or attend....or have seen poorly attended or cancelled even.  It is important for people to have broadband in these times as it makes communication easier and more enjoyable so I can see why families place huge emphasis on that.

Now with digital downloads, legal and illegal, most have given up on paying for or even obtaining music, choosing to stream it instead through a variety of services and getting a CD is almost like a collector's edition...and you know what?  That's OK and if it's not, we'd all better get hip to it, because it's reality.  People will buy collector's editions at your shows or even will contact you in person or buy it through an outlet or a number of sites.

So to answer my question, the reason artists should make albums is for themselves and for the FANS and people who want the collector's edition.  They are the most loyal of your listeners and deserve it. They will be the ones at your shows that are pissed off that you don't have it for sale so you better love them for that.

You also should not shut out the 'loaders. Who's to say that just because their methods of buying or obtaining music is not the way you'd like them to buy it, that they are cheating you or making you fail? You better believe that these folks will be checking your show out or at least thinking about hopping the gate, if you've got the goods.

:0)

Leibowitz

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