How do you guys see the future of album releases in the music industry?

[Illegally EATEN]

Musical artists have released their music on a variety of media ever since voice recordings were invented.

First there were LPs, then came cassettes, and finally CDs.

After that, the music industry began to become more digital, with mp3s being sold on Amazon and iTunes, and today, digital streaming services like Spotify and YouTube are becoming the main market of today's music industry.

While CDs are still being sold, and LPs have made a recognizable comeback in the music scene, there is no denying that all hard copy sales of music have declined steeply over the past decade, replaced by digital streaming.

What direction do you see the music industry going from here? Will digital streaming now be the default means for music consumption for now and forevermore?

Conversely, if we take a look at books and newspapers and magazines, we can see that while the internet and digital reading gadgets like the Kindle have certainly made their dent in the industry, books and other forms of reading are still very much alive and continuing to flourish.

I personally like to physically own what I acquire. I like to be able to see and hold what I buy, and for it to exist regardless of whether my phone is turned on or off. With Spotify, my music library ceases to exist if my phone is off or not connected to the internet. Plus, theres just something exciting about getting a new CD to add to my collection.

However, I cant deny the Spotify is of great use, and that aside from the feeling of owning the music, it does provide every other aspect of music consumption that the music market seeks. It brings the music that people want to be listening to straight to their ears.

If the music industry wants to make a comeback in selling physical copies of music, theyre going to have to evolve and come up with something original that a digital supplier cannot provide.

We had LPs, cassettes, CDs.... whats next? What unique, one of a kind experience can they provide that no digital service can provide?

I've personally come up with an idea- a music playing device that projects holograms in the form of music videos. Youd put your new hologram disc in the player, and while the music is playing in crisp quality, youd be able to watch in 3D music videos and graphics being projected above the device. A phone cant do it, neither can a regular computer. Theyd need to invent a new device that cannot be replaced by universal technology like phones and tablets.

Thoughts? What are your ideas? How do you think the music industry can evolve to save the concept of physical album sales?

 

[Sinned_88]

I think albums will disappear eventually. Artists will just release seperate songs that are not part of an album. Tours generate the most money for an artist, not albums. For example, look at Katy Perry. She released four(?) songs after Witness that don't belong to an album. The era's are less defined by an album. I don't like this trend, but I think it'll be the future of the music industry.

[Puppy]

Music will be programmed directly to our heads, who needs marketing? 

[Midnight]

I think it's going to be hard to get people to pay for music anymore.

[Roxxy]

For the next 10 or 20 years, yeah sure it will just be more of the same with pure sales becoming more insignificant. But I think 100 years from now, physical albums will cease to exist and everything, literally everything, will be digital. It's the only natural progression that seems logical based on where we are right now. 

[babyimmafreak90]

What an interesting thread! 

Tbh, I hadn’t thought too much about it because even with the streaming era, I will still buy a physical copy of an album that I like. 
I was all for the digital album thing, but I learned my lesson. I bought Artpop on iTunes when it was first released and that was great. But then the R. Kelly thing was finally taken seriously and her track with him was removed from my digital copy despite it being stored on my phone, something I owned. I’m of the mindset that you punish the artist, not the art and I also felt that it was a little violating. So a physical copy for me is worth it’s weight in gold. 
Even with TV and movies, it’s gone backwards. Luckily I have all 8 seasons of Desperate Housewives on hand at any moment because it is unavailable to stream in my country. Even iTunes only sells season one. The streaming era is all about on demand, yet the things I’m demanding aren’t available to me and for this reason, I’d love for a decent percentage of the GP to keep the physical industry alive. I think physical will always exist in at least a small way, for collectables and special editions but as Roxxy said above, everything will probably be digital in 100 years and that’s probably overestimating the time frame. 

 

 

 

 

[babyimmafreak90]

54 minutes ago, Sinned_88 said:

I think albums will disappear eventually. Artists will just release seperate songs that are not part of an album. Tours generate the most money for an artist, not albums. For example, look at Katy Perry. She released four(?) songs after Witness that don't belong to an album. The era's are less defined by an album. I don't like this trend, but I think it'll be the future of the music industry.

You’re probably right but that really is the pits. I love albums! Stand alone singles don’t have that same grab and pull that you get from listening to a great album. 
People talk about music dying back before the 80’s, but this would really be the day music died to me. 

[PokemonSpears]

I think we'll only move from digital platform to digital platform. I mean, nowadays it's impossible to imagine a world without youtube, spotify, itunes, etc, but we don't know what's gonna happen in the future, with economy, business decisions, what I mean is, any of these platforms could completely disappear in an unexpected turn of events that we can't foresee now, or they get a new CEO that decides to apply a drastic change that sends the platform to its end, so we don't really know.

I really love the hologram idea, because it's something I've expected for years, especially in the videogames department. Imagine being able to see Pokémon battles in 3d holograms  but I don't see the current technology evolving into that anytime soon. That would also imply artists would have to always do this sort of video for such gadget every time they want to release a song, and that costs more money and time. And this gadget would have to be multifunctional to be attractive for people, like for it to replace a mobile phone. So it would involve not only the music industry, but every other area, because it would have to have Internet access, phone call / video call, music, videogames, apps, etc. And it would have to be SO good that you can appreciate the image in high quality in any environment, independently of the light or the background. So I see it like something that may happen in a long, long time, that I'm not even sure if we're gonna be able to witness it.

 

A more plausible trend I can see in the near future is the livestreaming becoming the norm. Especially with situations like this pandemic we're living and social distancing. You can't travel to see your favorite artist? Buy a ticket to see the show live in real time, which already happens now, but it's like just some special events. It would be just a matter of evolving that into having better quality, or maybe even include the Virtual Reality technology to feel like you're in the show with the rest of the people.

 

Usually I don't like to think about the future, mainly because I get depressed about getting older  but also because I get disappointed when things go a different path. I mean, when I was a kid I would've imagined flying cars in 2020 and everyone dressing in silver clothes and having weird haircuts and stuff like that  but it seems like all we do is just keep bringing back old trends from past decades, and when it comes to technology, everything is becoming smaller instead of bigger. I hate that all the internet has become so mobile oriented, when I use the computer most of the time. I hate that the new Pokémon games won't have all the Pokémon at once, because they don't have time to program them or because they think kids can't handle that much, precisely now when the newest consoles are finally capable of storing that much information and more.  

[PokemonSpears]

3 minutes ago, babyimmafreak90 said:

I was all for the digital album thing, but I learned my lesson. I bought Artpop on iTunes when it was first released and that was great. But then the R. Kelly thing was finally taken seriously and her track with him was removed from my digital copy despite it being stored on my phone, something I owned. I’m of the mindset that you punish the artist, not the art and I also felt that it was a little violating. So a physical copy for me is worth it’s weight in gold. 

Same with Slumber Party when they released the Tinashe version  You need the physical copy to have the standard track. 

[babyimmafreak90]

9 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

Same with Slumber Party when they released the Tinashe version  You need the physical copy to have the standard track. 

Omg yes! How could I forget this? I do have a physical copy of Glory but I’ve never used it. 
I wouldn’t have been as mad if Tinasha brought something to the song, but she just sung over Britney’s bits anyway. 

I really don’t like the idea that you can pay for something in digital copy and then the powers that be can fettle with it after the purchase. There should be consumer laws against it tbh 

[Roxxy]

21 minutes ago, PokemonSpears said:

I think we'll only move from digital platform to digital platform. I mean, nowadays it's impossible to imagine a world without youtube, spotify, itunes, etc, but we don't know what's gonna happen in the future, with economy, business decisions, what I mean is, any of these platforms could completely disappear in an unexpected turn of events that we can't foresee now, or they get a new CEO that decides to apply a drastic change that sends the platform to its end, so we don't really know.

I really love the hologram idea, because it's something I've expected for years, especially in the videogames department. Imagine being able to see Pokémon battles in 3d holograms  but I don't see the current technology evolving into that anytime soon. That would also imply artists would have to always do this sort of video for such gadget every time they want to release a song, and that costs more money and time. And this gadget would have to be multifunctional to be attractive for people, like for it to replace a mobile phone. So it would involve not only the music industry, but every other area, because it would have to have Internet access, phone call / video call, music, videogames, apps, etc. And it would have to be SO good that you can appreciate the image in high quality in any environment, independently of the light or the background. So I see it like something that may happen in a long, long time, that I'm not even sure if we're gonna be able to witness it.

 

A more plausible trend I can see in the near future is the livestreaming becoming the norm. Especially with situations like this pandemic we're living and social distancing. You can't travel to see your favorite artist? Buy a ticket to see the show live in real time, which already happens now, but it's like just some special events. It would be just a matter of evolving that into having better quality, or maybe even include the Virtual Reality technology to feel like you're in the show with the rest of the people.

 

Usually I don't like to think about the future, mainly because I get depressed about getting older  but also because I get disappointed when things go a different path. I mean, when I was a kid I would've imagined flying cars in 2020 and everyone dressing in silver clothes and having weird haircuts and stuff like that  but it seems like all we do is just keep bringing back old trends from past decades, and when it comes to technology, everything is becoming smaller instead of bigger. I hate that all the internet has become so mobile oriented, when I use the computer most of the time. I hate that the new Pokémon games won't have all the Pokémon at once, because they don't have time to program them or because they think kids can't handle that much, precisely now when the newest consoles are finally capable of storing that much information and more.  

Reading this gave me life.

[jordeezy river red]

I think music will stop being "sold" for a while and the industry will have a lot of Miquela's while musicians will be employed by symphonies and live performance venues or be completely independent. 

[jordeezy river red]

I personally LOVE CD's still lol

[vzlafan]

i think that music would be by streamings, i think the future of the music videos gonna be financed by publicity, movies, industries and youtube or another platforms increasing the advertising like 30seconds per 30seconds.

Concerts after Covid i gonna think is gonna be OPEN AIR VENUES MOSTLY,  and the people is going to be distanced and reducing spaces in venues, or the crowd could wear this astronauts costumes for protection. or maybe the concerts would be realesed without crowds and TV streamings like britney live from las vegas.

Or maybe there gonna be like private chats with the artists and private performances with a paidplatform.  

[Illegally EATEN]

17 hours ago, babyimmafreak90 said:

What an interesting thread! 

Tbh, I hadn’t thought too much about it because even with the streaming era, I will still buy a physical copy of an album that I like. 
I was all for the digital album thing, but I learned my lesson. I bought Artpop on iTunes when it was first released and that was great. But then the R. Kelly thing was finally taken seriously and her track with him was removed from my digital copy despite it being stored on my phone, something I owned. I’m of the mindset that you punish the artist, not the art and I also felt that it was a little violating. So a physical copy for me is worth it’s weight in gold. 
Even with TV and movies, it’s gone backwards. Luckily I have all 8 seasons of Desperate Housewives on hand at any moment because it is unavailable to stream in my country. Even iTunes only sells season one. The streaming era is all about on demand, yet the things I’m demanding aren’t available to me and for this reason, I’d love for a decent percentage of the GP to keep the physical industry alive. I think physical will always exist in at least a small way, for collectables and special editions but as Roxxy said above, everything will probably be digital in 100 years and that’s probably overestimating the time frame. 

 

 

 

 

Which is why what the music industry needs to come up with in order to reignite pure sales is something that cannot be provided digitally on-demand; it needs to be something entirely new and original that no streaming service or online platform can provide.

Just like you need to physically order dish soap, laundry detergent, clothes, etc. So too the music industry must brainstorm to come up with something unique that can only be bought physically 

Im actually incredibly interested to see what they eventually come up with 

[Illegally EATEN]

17 hours ago, PokemonSpears said:

I think we'll only move from digital platform to digital platform. I mean, nowadays it's impossible to imagine a world without youtube, spotify, itunes, etc, but we don't know what's gonna happen in the future, with economy, business decisions, what I mean is, any of these platforms could completely disappear in an unexpected turn of events that we can't foresee now, or they get a new CEO that decides to apply a drastic change that sends the platform to its end, so we don't really know.

I really love the hologram idea, because it's something I've expected for years, especially in the videogames department. Imagine being able to see Pokémon battles in 3d holograms  but I don't see the current technology evolving into that anytime soon. That would also imply artists would have to always do this sort of video for such gadget every time they want to release a song, and that costs more money and time. And this gadget would have to be multifunctional to be attractive for people, like for it to replace a mobile phone. So it would involve not only the music industry, but every other area, because it would have to have Internet access, phone call / video call, music, videogames, apps, etc. And it would have to be SO good that you can appreciate the image in high quality in any environment, independently of the light or the background. So I see it like something that may happen in a long, long time, that I'm not even sure if we're gonna be able to witness it.

 

A more plausible trend I can see in the near future is the livestreaming becoming the norm. Especially with situations like this pandemic we're living and social distancing. You can't travel to see your favorite artist? Buy a ticket to see the show live in real time, which already happens now, but it's like just some special events. It would be just a matter of evolving that into having better quality, or maybe even include the Virtual Reality technology to feel like you're in the show with the rest of the people.

 

Usually I don't like to think about the future, mainly because I get depressed about getting older  but also because I get disappointed when things go a different path. I mean, when I was a kid I would've imagined flying cars in 2020 and everyone dressing in silver clothes and having weird haircuts and stuff like that  but it seems like all we do is just keep bringing back old trends from past decades, and when it comes to technology, everything is becoming smaller instead of bigger. I hate that all the internet has become so mobile oriented, when I use the computer most of the time. I hate that the new Pokémon games won't have all the Pokémon at once, because they don't have time to program them or because they think kids can't handle that much, precisely now when the newest consoles are finally capable of storing that much information and more.  

Youre correct in that the music industry would have to evolve to a certain extent in order that holographic music videos be made standard, but it may very well be the most natural progression of things.

Holographic technology certainly exists, it just has not been taylored for such use yet for whatever reason. It would need to be exclusively a music player imo in order for it to make a dent in the industry; just like people buy a TV, an oven, a couch- so too they buy a holographic music player 

[Roxxy]

6 minutes ago, DonoDotto said:

Youre correct

[Spicechinodiva]

Part of the problem is the Generation. While shopping at hastings one year prior to closing. Saw some 15 to like 17 year old teens. Browsing cds. Both of them said They stopped buying cds cos of things like spotify. Most music stores outside sam goody, Virgin Megastore who sold music at the ridiculous price of 18.99 (Suggested Market retail price) survived itunes. But spotify was that nail on the coffin. Unfortunately even stores like Target, Wal Mart have less aisles devoted to music. While Best Buy stopped selling cds since it's not popular anymore..

 

I don't think anything can be done. The industry caters to where the money is coming from. Streaming is bringing in the money. RIAA reports about 95% of earnings came from streaming. So it's going to be dead. Especially when most acts seen good pure sales through ticket sales to tour and merch bundles than a stand alone purchase.

[PokemonSpears]

16 minutes ago, DonoDotto said:

Holographic technology certainly exists, it just has not been taylored for such use yet for whatever reason. It would need to be exclusively a music player imo in order for it to make a dent in the industry; just like people buy a TV, an oven, a couch- so too they buy a holographic music player 

But it's precisely because of that that I'm not really sure. People used to buy things for each activity, so to speak, but now they want everything in one place. It's like, who buys a tv that is not a smart tv anymore? Or who buys a phone that isn't a smart phone? Or a digital camera that is only a camera? Or computers, I would've expected computers, at least laptops,  to become what mobile phones are today, but apparently a lot of people remained scared of them or something, or just for the comfort of something more portable, smartphones became that gadget that everybody owns, because it's easy to carry around, but also because you can do everything with it. 

So unless that holographic technology comes to phones, I don't see people getting into that, especially if they're gonna have to be buying a new one every time there's a new model. And the music industry would have to make sure that everybody has one, to really move on to this new technology as their main source to release music. Otherwise, if it's just an exclusive thing that only the richest people can buy, it won't be attractive for record labels to invest so much in it. 

[PokemonSpears]

2 minutes ago, Spicechinodiva said:

Both of them said They stopped buying cds cos of things like spotify.

And because where can you play CDs these days?  New computers don't come with a CD ROM anymore, you have to buy it separately. Car stereos don't have them either. And now that I think about it, I haven't seen any "CD Player" at the stores lately