In Defense of the Full-Length Album
In an industry that seems intent on casting aside the full-length album format, it is up to artists and listeners to keep them alive.
“I don’t listen to albums.” - PinkPantheress (July, 2024)
The statement heard around the music world. In a 2024 interview with Kids Take Over, indie-pop newcomer PinkPantheress declared that she does not listen to full-length albums- instead, she “just listen[s] to songs.” This statement came in response to a question about the track sequencing of her debut album, Heaven Knows. Although this was the claim that grabbed people’s attention and generated discourse, she actually went even further in her denouncement of full-length albums, clarifying on Twitter after the interview went live that she feels the experience of listening to music should be, “unique to everyone,” going so far as to ask, “Who cares if I listen to albums in full lol.”
Her extended explanation included a defense of her compact tracks, featuring some more bold claims about song structure and the necessity, or lack thereof, of bridges and repeated choruses, but that’s a discussion for a different piece. PinkPantheress gained traction on TikTok after releasing a handful of soundbite length tracks that feature her signature blend of Y2K-pop and UK garage. As we’ll come to discover, this is both telling and unsurprising. Her meteoric rise to fame represents a perfect example of the modern era of music stardom, and her somewhat out of touch opinions about the art of music making reflect a larger concern that is becoming endemic as music trends continue in this direction.
The full-length album is a dying art. Statistically speaking, I know this statement may appear to have very little merit. Physical music sales have been steadily increasing every year for the past decade, and more music is released on a daily basis today than in the entire year of 1989, according to one study conducted by MusicRadar. In general, not only are more individual pieces of music being released, but more music creators are emerging across the globe on an annual basis. But, I’m not talking about statistics or numbers when I say that the full-length album is in danger of extinction.
The combined factors that influence the creation and release of music in the streaming era is incentivizing, and in some cases, forcing, artists to prioritize shorter, quicker releases with less of an artistic focus and more of an emphasis on commercial viability. As we’ll see, the reasons for this shift are both practical and abstract, varying in effect between independent artists and some of the biggest names in the industry today. My goal is to explain why it is that we’re seeing artists drift away from the full-length album as the preferred music release format, and to emphasize why it is imperative that we keep the art of the full-length album alive. The future of music depends on it.
Not every artist is straying from the full-length release model of their own accord, like the example of PinkPantheress from earlier. For many independent artists, the industry has continually made it more challenging to release their music in this format, whether they want to or not. It’s true that physical media, mainly in the form of vinyl records, is making a comeback. Vinyl sales have been increasing by a steady percentage since the late-2000s, creating the illusion that albums overall are on the rise, but this is merely a mirage. While the number of vinyl records being purchased is increasing, in 2023, their sale still accounted for a mere 8% of overall music revenues in the United States.
Independent record stores have also seen sales boosts over the past decade. While this is a hopeful statistic about the state of independent record stores more generally, it doesn’t necessarily point to any key trends in the way music is created. It’s equally important to take into account that a large percentage of these sales can likely be attributed to a few major artists who have become champions of the resuscitated vinyl industry- Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, and Harry Styles, to name a few. These artists all have major labels fronting the costs of their vinyl production; independent artists do not have this luxury, often preventing them from sharing in the spoils of these vinyl sales.
Releasing an album is not always as simple as making the music and uploading it to streaming. While this is one way to do it, artists tends to make fractions of a penny per stream, often seeing the most significant financial return from the sale of physical media, merchandise, and live performance bookings. For an artist with major label backing, there is little to no risk when creating an album because the only thing the artist is responsible for is the music itself. Independent artists are burdened with creating the music and managing the production costs of their work. A recent set of studies conducted by Ditto Music, a distribution company for independent artists, found that only 12.8% of the surveyed artists had ever pressed their own music onto vinyl, with 54.4% of those who have never pressed vinyl citing the cost as the main deterrent. Genre plays a role as well, with rock albums being the most likely to be pressed on vinyl among these already scant numbers, and hip-hop/rap albums being the least likely. This fact is especially illuminating when you consider that hip-hop/rap is the most singles driven genre today. Other factors include lack of a guaranteed fan market to purchase the records once they are pressed and extended production times.
The percentage of albums versus singles and EPs released through Ditto has plummeted, and you can point to any one of these reasons as an explanation. In 2016, albums represented 35% of all releases, falling to just 9.7% in 2021. On the contrary, the percentage of singles and EPS released has risen from approximately 65% to a whopping 90.3% in the same time period. It is clear that the audience for albums is decreasing even among this small sample size of musicians. All this to say, it isn’t entirely up to independent artists whether they release full-length albums or not. Often, the constraints of the industry can be so limiting that they’re prevented from truly being able to express their artistry in the desired medium until they’ve built up the necessary following or find support from the label machine, neither of which are guarantees for any artist.
Trends among independent artists point to a wider shift in the industry overall towards singles being the preferred release method, even for those who do have the resources to put into the development and promotion of long-form projects. Much has been said about the impact of TikTok on the music industry, but its impact truly cannot be overstated. The advent of the app as a music discovery platform was unexpected, and caused artists and labels to scramble for 20-second snippets that have viral potential in order to gain relevance on the platform. Artists are just as responsible as listeners for catering to this release model. Allowing social media users to dictate the way music is created, promoted, and released has done just as much to stifle artists’ creative visions as the act of consuming music in this way has done. In a few rare instances, we have seen TikTok virality lead to genuine stardom, in the case of artists like Doja Cat or PinkPantheress. However, the shelf-life of these viral tracks is limited, and they often fade as quickly as they appeared. Despite the fact that virality is fickle and shortsighted, that hasn’t stopped artists from chasing the immediate gratification associated with social media hype.
Today’s crop of younger stars, many of whom got their big breaks due in part to TikTok’s boosting potential, are treating the album format as a way to combine their previously released singles into a quasi-playlist that includes a few throwaway tracks to pad the track list and reach the requisite length for release. Think of an artist like Tate McRae, who found herself with a massive hit last year after her track “greedy” went viral. The album that the track was subsequently attached to, Think Later, had one other minorly successful single, “exes,” but was then quickly abandoned in favor of more singles (which are now being compiled and released as a new album, So Close To What). McRae is nowhere close to the only example of this strategy put into practice- though I would consider her to be one of the more egregious ones. This release strategy is simply part of the rinse and repeat cycle of releasing music in 2025.
You might be ready to disagree with me on the grounds that there are obviously still “event” albums being released in the streaming era. I mean, look at Taylor Swift. She’s built her career off of album releases that stir fans into a frenzy and whose tracks have occupied the entire top ten on the Hot 100 on more than one occasion. How could I say that albums are dying if this is still happening? To this I say- look at when all of these “album artists” first launched their careers. Very few artists can still generate cultural discussion with an album release- artists like Beyoncé, Swift, Ariana Grande, and The Weeknd are a few who come to mind that still garner attention for their full-length releases. All of them also came up during an era where music was consumed differently than it is today. Because of this, they’ve developed fanbases that are primed to expect this type of output from them. Musicians that already have established their legacies as “album artists” are not indicative of a positive trend in favor of the full-length release format, they are outliers.
Before the streaming era, when music was still purchased physically, it was important for an artist to develop a full body of work that audiences would want to purchase. In the vinyl heyday of the 60s and 70s, consumers had no choice but to purchase the full album that might contain their favorite single. While this lack of choice is foreign to music consumers who grew up during the digital sales era, it often led to new discoveries and a greater appreciation of musicians’ artistic vision. iTunes marked the first major change in the way music was consumed when it launched in 2003, allowing users to purchase individual songs in addition to albums, but this effect hasn’t been nearly as significant as the introduction of the playlist-driven algorithms on streaming platforms that we see today. Spotify launched in 2008, but didn’t gain significant traction among users until the early-to-mid 2010s, marking another shift not only in the way music is consumed, but in the way it is released as well. Very little incentive exists- even among artists who have the resources- to put the effort into a full-length release when streaming platforms are just going to throw the notable singles into playlists anyway. This has created a negative feedback loop that will only continue to collapse in on itself.
It might seem like the obvious choice for an artist to focus on their singles output over the creation of a cohesive full-length album. It’s hard to argue with the merit of this claim, especially in today’s musical climate. My plea to artists and music consumers alike is simple- please do not let the album become a lost art. The tide may feel like it’s pushing against you every step of the way, especially for independent artists, but it’s imperative that you press on. There is nothing more important than making art for art’s sake- whether your intention is to make a political statement, work through a period of difficult emotions, or just experiment with new sounds and textures. There is still an audience of music consumers who are eager to listen to cohesive bodies of work, and it is not as small of an audience as you may think. It is particularly imperative for established artists to be at the forefront of this movement. They have built-in audiences who are standing at attention and ready to receive any musical offering they’re given. Demand your audiences to consume a fully-realized body of work, as it was originally intended. If the giants of the industry work to shift the dynamics of music consumption, the effects will begin to reshape audience expectations.
As we’ve seen, the streaming industry has presented a litany of challenges for independent artists, but it can also be weaponized to an artist’s advantage if done correctly. The barriers to entry into the industry have been all but torn down by the newfound ability to upload music to streaming platforms at any time, for little to no cost. The only preventative measure in place for many artists is uncertainty- the question of whether anyone is interested in what you have to offer. If you feel inclined to do so, make the album anyway, streaming numbers be damned. Any true music fan- of whom there are still plenty- is willing to take the time to listen to a full body of work, even from an artist they may not be not familiar with. One of the great joys of being a music lover is the ability to continually discover new artists. Having an album under your belt is a great way to gain attention via music publications and word-of-mouth; you’re more likely to gain traction if you have a thoughtful discography for new fans to dive into. There is no minimum number of monthly listeners required to make art. If one person is listening, or if one million people are listening, your art is still making an impact.
The path to success may seem quicker once you achieve virality off the back of a popular single; quite honestly, it probably is. While I respect and recognize the desire to reap the potential financial benefits of this method, I implore every musician to consider the long-term impact of their work as well. Making art is not only about success, it is also about legacy. While a notable single may have viral potential, it is very hard to build a following off of a single song. This is also the reason why we’ve seen an increase in what I’d consider to be “one-hit wonders” since the streaming era took hold. Great songs can certainly stand the test of time, but it is the full-length album that we venerate as cultural touchstones. Classic albums have been, and will continue to be, remembered for decades and even centuries to come. I know it’s compelling to make an immediate splash in the industry, but the destination will be so much more rewarding if you take your time on the journey and leave a trail of excellent work in your wake.
You wouldn’t judge a painting based on a fraction of its full image. As consumers, we owe it to an artist to experience their work as they intended, as a full-length project. If artists continue to work towards maintaining the integrity of their intentions, the music world will be better for it. At times it may seem like albums are falling on deaf ears. I promise you, we are still listening.
i wholeheartedly agree and thank you for posting this!!!