What are we to make of the new music environment that’s encroaching upon us today? Presently – in what feels almost like some form of hyper-real speed – we’re being consistently bombarded with the latest and hottest music tracks that we need to listen to now. Blog sites like the music blog aggregator the Hype Machine and personal music track social service Sound Cloud feed music lovers daily with thousands upon thousands of singles to consume.

But what ever happened to the music album? Where did the intricately thought out concepts and production of the once revered music album venture off to?

Sure, I read about reviews for music albums here and there but usually at the bottom is a subsection hyping singular music tracks that I should download, disregarding the music album as an whole constructed piece of musical artwork.

Of course I’ll contribute some of it to the glorious technological breakthrough and iconic Apple iPod, along with its iTunes store companion as one factor in the mix. I’ll also bring in shuffle mode as a contributing factor – after all, shuffle became so popular it eventually formed into it’s own device and a function popular on all music playing devices today. The spontaneity of shuffle mode makes music a tad more exciting, adventurous and risque then the traditional music album format.

The music album is making a comeback with services like BandCamp, letting artists sell their music albums on their own terms. It can even make a comeback with greater technological marketing. Maybe applications coinciding with a music album release could be a hit…who knows?

Artists aren’t getting enough kudos for their hard work and time into whole music albums any longer and the part of audio engineer and producer feels largely or entirely ignored. One can only hope albums will make a comeback and listeners will take the time out their fast-paced days to hear some beautifully intricate aural magic.

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