Album Returns as Deep Artistic Product Fueled by Streaming Algorithms
The music industry is witnessing a resurgence of the album as a complete and profound artistic product, a trend driven by streaming algorithms and a desire for deeper artist-fan connection. In the early 2000s, albums were major commercial releases, often timed for holidays and accompanied by physical booklets. The rise of streaming shifted focus to singles, with artists releasing individual tracks every few months to maintain relevance and feed algorithms. However, major global artists like Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Olivia Rodrigo are now crafting albums with narrative depth, demonstrating that audiences still crave extended, cohesive musical experiences. This trend is also evident in Israel, where albums by artists such as Par Tasi, with his 22-track 'Radio Sadeh 3', are topping streaming charts.
Musicians like Eyal Botner, who recalls buying Danny Sanderson's cassette as a child and studying album credits, emphasize the album's role as a comprehensive artistic statement, akin to a play with a beginning, middle, and end. Botner notes that while the industry shifted towards singles, the renewed focus on albums inspires him to create conceptually unified works again. The shift also allows artists to diversify their output, as seen with Static's solo album 'Liraz' after his duo Static and Ben El disbanded, which aimed to present him as an individual artist with his own story.
Industry professionals like Meital Shevah, an artist manager and former music journalist, point to the high cost of music videos in the YouTube era as a factor that diminished the album's prominence. The production of elaborate videos, like Netta Barzilai's "Bassa Sababa" costing an estimated one million shekels, became a significant expense. With the advent of Spotify and Apple Music, algorithms favor consistent content delivery, making albums beneficial for platforms. Shevah explains that while singles capture a moment, albums sell the artist, offering a more comprehensive artistic identity. This allows artists to explore different facets of their work, as exemplified by Lihy Tולדano and Noam Kleinstein, who are releasing albums to showcase their artistic depth.
The return of the album and Extended Plays (EPs) is seen not just as a fleeting trend but as a natural evolution that aligns with the economics of streaming, which requires a constant flow of content. This development caters to both the platforms' need for material and artists' pursuit of artistic depth for long-term career building. The album, unlike a single that sells a moment, effectively sells the artist.
