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Passions: Albums vs Singles: What’s your jam?
Two musicians from the same band discuss the practicality and functionality of the two formats of music releases
“People who want to explore an artiste’s work listen to albums”
By Aveleon Giles Vaz
When I was in class 8, my dad and uncle, both cool musicians, gave me a stack of albums and asked me to really listen to them. This became one of my biggest lessons in music.
When I listened to the albums, the music started making more sense to me than singles did. A lot goes into making an album; listening to one gives you an overview of what the artiste is really saying.
Some albums are like collections of short stories. But others, called concept albums, are like novels with chapters that flow into each other, resulting in seamless storytelling.
The Beatles’s 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is believed to be the first concept album. Pink Floyd’s 44-minute Dark Side of the Moon album cannot be abandoned after one song either. It revolves around the theme of mental health, greed and everything a person goes through in life.
Today, however, music is about four-minute radio-friendly songs. People don’t have the time or patience to spend an afternoon listening to an album. Only people who really want to explore an artiste’s work do that.
I too find myself without time for albums. But I make time for them.
Aveleon Giles Vaz, 35, is a Delhi drummer and musician who performs with Five8, Classic Collective and The Copycats.
“Youngsters don’t have the attention span for albums”
By Prabhtoj Singh
Playlists have become popular today, thus promoting singles. It’s easier to listen to hit songs one after another at parties instead of listening to an album, as not everyone will know all the songs on the album.
The younger generation doesn’t have the attention span for albums. This generation is more focussed on the next party song, the hit song with the crazy drop, or whatever is trending on Instagram.
Artistes are also trying to keep their songs shorter so they will be played on a loop. The shorter the song, the more addictive it is. The trend among musicians is to release a single every month. I support this trend as every song gets its due attention.
With so many good singles coming out, many don’t feel the need for an album. Albums take much more time to produce, while with singles, the artiste can concentrate on just one song at a time. Monetarily, a single will cost about 1/10th of an album, if you count everything, including videos and marketing. Video is an important medium, and singles allow the budget for that. I did this for my song Peaches.
But albums are still relevant because they encapsulate the artiste’s sound at a particular point in time.
Prabhtoj Singh, 28, is a Delhi-based musician and singer-songwriter, and the vocalist of The Copycats, who will release an album later this year.
From HT Brunch, June 4, 2022
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