For the first half of the year, album sales have gone down 3% and digital song sales have risen 6%. These statistics reinforce the idea that listening to full albums may be, in fact, a thing of the past.
The article focuses on the most popular downloads of the year so far, including (not surprisingly) Gotye's single "Somebody That I Used To Know," and Fun.'s single "We Are Young" saying that these songs are breaking records in download sales. Both songs have broken the 5 million download threshold yet their albums as wholes have failed to take off.
So what does this mean for all us album loves out there? It shows that today's bands are focusing on producing number one singles as opposed to great full albums, and this shift may not stop anytime soon. With statistics like these, there is little hope any of today's pop bands will release the next Dark Side of the Moon or The Wall, and I doubt there's anyone out there making another Kid A or OK Computer either. We're all going to have to weather the storm of Call Me Maybe and One Direction and just hope that there's someone out there ready to revive the art of the album.
Here are some of my favorite albums, what are yours? Leave answers in the comments to let me know!
will.i.am actually talked about this a few years ago. You may want to look up his quote. He said something to the effect that it's not about making a good album anymore but all about a solid single. And as someone who is a HUGE fan of fun. before their newest album was released, I hold out the hope you do that the album will some day be revived.
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