'Can an Album Still Break Through in today’s world?'

[Henk]

https://mailchi.mp/editionrecords/snowpoet-pre-order-the-new-album-slttgrhtyy-17454050?e=6dfcdc5976

Interesting views by Molvaer

'Can an Album Still Break Through
in today's world?


Twenty-five years after the seismic impact of Khmer (released on ECM in 1997), Nils Petter Molvær joins Edition founder Dave Stapleton to look back on a time when albums shaped culture and to ask how artists can still reach listeners in an age of fragments, feeds and passive streaming.'

Read the article for more, it's really nice imo and worth the read.

[Henk]

I think Bandcamp fills a gap, but it's not mentioned by Molvaer.

[AnotherSpin]

Molvær complains that:

- In today's world, music has become passive — it's turned into background noise for everyday tasks like walking the dog or doing the dishes.
- Streaming platforms devalue the physical presence of music and the creative effort of artists: "You spend a year working on an album, and someone just downloads it for free."
- He criticizes the technological priorities of these platforms, which don't align with artistic ones.

Strange. Back in the '70s, '80s, and '90s, I was a devoted fan of ECM Records. I listened to all the major albums they released, and many of them still speak to me deeply. From my purely subjective point of view, the arrival of musicians like Molvær ruined the original ECM magic. It marked a huge — and possibly irreversible — shift toward mechanical music, something that clicks and chirps in your ear buds while you're riding the subway or shopping at the supermarket.

People were already copying music for free from vinyl to reel or cassette long before streaming.

Labels have always had interests that didn't align with those of the artists.

In other words, Molvær himself played a key role in the changes to how we experience music — the same changes he's now criticizing. At the same time, nothing stays the same forever; everything changes eventually, and often not for the better.

That said, his album Khmer was quite listenable — at least as background music

[steve ridgway]

I read it but have no idea how unknown music is marketed nowadays. When I was young I discovered (non-classical) music through national radio, TV and printed news.

[AnotherSpin]

I read it but have no idea how unknown music is marketed nowadays. When I was young I discovered (non-classical) music through national radio, TV and printed news.

Word of mouth should work the same way it always has — only now, instead of radio, we have the internet: YouTube, Instagram, and so on. Streaming services provide links, and forums are full of useful information — I feel like most of the music I discover these days comes from GMG. It seems that, in this sense, information spreads far more widely and quickly than it used to.

Of course, the downside is that along with useful information, a lot of noise comes in too.

This somehow reminded me of a scene from The Chess Players, a film by the great Bengali director Satyajit Ray. In it, two wealthy Indian men are discussing the news that the British have set up a telegraph line in their area. "How terrible!" one of them exclaims — "Now that the telegraph has come, all the bad news will arrive even faster."

[steve ridgway]

I listened to all the major albums they released, and many of them still speak to me deeply.

Having a restricted supply of music, being only able to purchase (or tape) albums infrequently, did make me listen to them attentively and repeatedly, value them more, play and discuss them with friends. I don't even bother with the neighbours' streaming system now when I go in to look after the cat, soon got bored with having to think of what to ask for next.

[AnotherSpin]

Having a restricted supply of music, being only able to purchase (or tape) albums infrequently, did make me listen to them attentively and repeatedly, value them more, play and discuss them with friends. I don't even bother with the neighbours' streaming system now when I go in to look after the cat, soon got bored with having to think of what to ask for next.

I completely agree. Back in the days when we waited for an album, copied it, and listened to it for months — every sound was absorbed like water into a sponge. What can I say — that's how it was then, and now it's different. Some things are gone forever, some new things have arrived. We haven't changed — we're still the same.

[steve ridgway]

Word of mouth should work the same way it always has — only now, instead of radio, we have the internet: YouTube, Instagram, and so on. Streaming services provide links, and forums are full of useful information — I feel like most of the music I discover these days comes from GMG. It seems that, in this sense, information spreads far more widely and quickly than it used to.

Yes, but the audience is fragmented. There used to be large numbers of people listening to each of a few radio shows or reading the same few periodicals each week so when someone released a new album a lot of people knew about it at the same time and it had a chance of "breaking through" as a result of good reviews or radio play.