Writer for Rolling Stone argues that song skipping on streaming sites are killing the record

[Exemplar]

The answer to that question ultimately depends on how those fans are consuming music on Spotify, Apple Music, et. al. One thing’s for sure: Not all new music is created equal — and the stats bear it out.

Take Drake’s Scorpion, the biggest album in the U.S. market this year. In a clear bid to rack up as many streams possible (and break multiple records in the process), Scorpion is 25 tracks long. Yet, according to numbers I’ve obtained and crunched from Spotify-monitoring site Kworb, some 63 percent of global streams from Scorpion on Spotify since the album’s release in June have come from just three songs: “God’s Plan,” “In My Feelings” and “Nice for What.”

In fact, just six songs on the album (also including “Nonstop,” “Don’t Matter to Me” and “I’m Upset”) have claimed 82 percent of its total streams. The other 19 tracks get just 18 percent of the spoils between them — an average of less than 1 percent each.

It’s a similar story with the biggest album of the first half of the year in the U.S.: Post Malone’s beerbongs & bentleys, from which just three tracks (“Rockstar,” “Psycho” and “Better Now”) account for 62 percent of worldwide Spotify streams.

The full article is quite the read Tim Ingham: Album in Trouble, Music Business Probably Can’t Save It – Rolling Stone

 

[Blue Of Mind]

Coincidentally, I read this article just yesterday because Discogs' Facebook page posted a link to it.

I think the return to a pre-Beatles "albums are meaningless" musical landscape sucks for music as a whole. Sometimes, albums can contain fan-favourite and hidden gems that aren't always played on the radio because they weren't released as singles. Albums can also contain wider themes or even tell stories that an individual song can't.

Though this opinion is coming from someone who's devoted to bands and musicians enough to buy their full albums. A lot of people are more casual and just listen to individual songs, and those are the people who drive the music industry. Truth be told, I hate streaming for the most part, because 1.) What's the point of buying a Spotify subscription when I can just listen to something on YouTube, and 2.) Streaming means you don't actually own a song or an album. I'd rather have the music physically in my room or locally on my computer for easy access and storage.