The Death of Album Eras
Words by
Triston
"Yaps on Record"
Why aren’t people listening to albums anymore?
More music is available right now than at any point in human history. And somehow, we’re listening to less of it.
Well, I shouldn’t say less music but rather less albums - we're listening to songs individually from those albums & there's a difference.
The funny thing is, I actually used to listen to full albums. I remember being like 5, putting on Beyoncé’s B’Day and I Am Sasha Fierce, and just dancing around my room front to back - just vibing through the whole thing.
And then at some point that just... stopped. Music became something I picked up in pieces from family, the radio, & from stumbling across random songs, not projects - and I didn’t even notice the shift until way later.
I didn’t think it was a problem until I realized I couldn’t name a single album I actually enjoyed from side A to side B anymore.
Now with streaming, you can find almost anything, almost instantly, for like $10 a month. And yet, over half of us are listening to fewer full albums than we were 5-10 years ago. Deezer surveyed 8,000 people and found that 40% of listeners just straight up prefer playlists.
Which, for a long time, was me.
Where did Albums/EPs come from?
A lot of people assume technology predetermined how long releases should be (and kind of, yeah). The vinyl LP held about 45 minutes, but Columbia Records set it that way specifically to fit in a full classical symphony - artists just started filling that space. Eventually, artists like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, & many more started making those 45 minutes actually mean something.
Then the CD came along and held 70-80 minutes. Legend has it that Beethoven’s 9th Symphony was literally used to decide that number. And suddenly, artists felt like they had to fill all of it. That’s basically where the full album was born.
Then digital downloads happened. Then streaming. And suddenly you didn’t have to listen to a project track by track anymore — entire discographies available on demand. For most of recorded music history, buying an album was a commitment, financially and physically. You picked it up, took it home, and listened front to back because that was just... the only option.
Social Media Did Something To Us
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy using TikTok & Instagram. I've found so much music on there and I've put my own stuff out that way too. But it rewires how you listen.
If something doesn’t hit in the first 3-10 seconds, you keep scrolling. So albums end up getting consumed like playlists of songs you’ve already heard out of order, or you just end up only hearing one song from the project, and when that’s the experience, why would you sit with a full project?
I’ve been on the other side of this too. I’ve released single after single because that’s what the algorithm promotes - quick, digestible, & shareable content. You really stop thinking about the full picture and start thinking about what’s gonna grab someone’s attention before they swipe away, never to hear your music again. Social media doesn’t reward patience, and it definitely doesn’t reward albums.
But something gets lost in that. An album isn’t just a collection of songs. It’s a story sequence and a world someone built, wanting us to sit in it.
We just stopped sitting.
What Actually Makes An Album Work
For me, there are four things that make a project feel like a world rather than just a collection of songs:
A cohesive story: It doesn’t have to be a personal one, it just has to feel like everything is pointing towards the same thing. A mood, a theme, a world. Something that makes the whole feel bigger than the individual songs.
Interpretability: The album or project has to make you feel something. A line, a sound, a moment that hits different depending on where you are in life when you hear it. That sort of nostalgic or knowing pull you can’t really explain but you know it when you feel it.
A personal brand and visual identity: The art, the rollout, the aesthetic. Not in a necessarily corporate marketing way, but in a this came from a space or state of being rather. You can feel when an artist builds a world around their project versus when they just drop a bunch of songs with no real correlation, story arc, or sound-wise. (I’ll admit I’ve definitely dropped a bunch of songs myself, hoping one would stick for somebody instead of really fleshing it out.)
Architecture: The beat, motifs, the little instrumental ideas that keep coming back. A motif is basically musical DNA - a short recurring melody or rhythm that threads through the whole project and makes everything feel connected. When it’s done right, you don’t even consciously notice it. You just feel like the album holds together.
When a project has all four of these characteristics, it stops being something you listen to and starts being somewhere you go.
DON’T BE DUMB deserved more time
Upon reflection on recent drops, A$AP Rocky’s DON’T BE DUMB -
The hand-drawn aesthetic, the messiness, the fact that it didn’t feel polished or optimized for any particular moment. I mean, he even had a Pinterest board just for the album. A Pinterest board.
How often do you see artists or their teams building a world and inviting people in, and it doesn’t feel forced? (Ik this isn’t explicity super album focused but it’s definitely world building and my marketing brain loves it).
Albums I actually sat with:
Now just for funsies, if you’re curious here are some recent albums I’ve listened to front to back - either for the first time, repeat, or just as a combined project instead of individual tracks.
Two Dreams by Circa Survive
Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear
DON’T BE DUMB by A$AP Rocky
Broken Bells by Broken Bells
American Football by American football
The Mating Game by Bitter:Sweet
The Divine Feminine by Mac Miller
I don’t need more music
I used to think I wanted my favorite artists dropping constantly. Now I’ve come to this conclusion that I’d rather wait and get something intentional than just be fed all the time. Some albums are meant to live with you and sit for a few years. Music isn’t an app update. (I ATEEEEEE)
And that same Deezer study found that 94% of people said they’d reconsider listening to a full album in higher quality audio. Which tells me the desire is still there. People aren’t done with albums. They just need a reason to slow down.
Closing thoughts
I’ve actually been working on another project of my own. I’m trying to do more collabs and further enhance the next biome in my story!
So for fun, I decided to sample something from DON’T BE DUMB and flip it into a beat. Albums don’t die when formats change. They die when we stop giving them the time they deserve.
Thank you so much for reading my yap! If you want to watch the lovely YouTube video paired with this Substack, you can find it below :D
Also, here’s the lil rough beat I made sampling DON’T BE DUMB
3 Song Recs:
STOLE YA FLOW by A$AP Rocky
3:15 (Breathe) Russ
Les Fleurs by Minnie Riperton
What I listened to while I wrote this:
Pittsburgh by Wilco
Medicated by Wiz Khalifa
Don’t Look Back by Miguel
I Caught Myself by Paramore
Take Ü There by Jack Ü
Resources:
Originally published on Substack