Album Alternative

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Basic Project Aim

My main aim of this creative research project is to formulate a creative solution to the problem of the ‘dying’ album format. This is a practical continuation of the theories I explored in an essay from second year for the Musicians, Commerce and Commodification module. In exploring the creative boundaries the album has reinforced for decades, I hope to break it apart; creating a long-form format that is both new and satisfactory. Whilst my project trajectory will follow this goal, I expect that the final product may not necessarily fill the gap of the album within the recording industry. Finding a replacement for the long-term investment security that the LP provides within this industry is not my main aim and is a complex problem to solve in itself. However, I hope that in attempting to create music outside of the restraints of the album, I will get to begin the long process of overcoming it.

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Mood

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Definitions of the Mixtape

When I begun exploring alternative formats to the album, the first concept that came up was the notion of the mixtape. The Mixtape has a historical connotation attached to it that references both early DJ mixing and amateur home-made mixtapes. However, not all of the works that I encountered with this label subscribed to these definitions. I found that some had been labeled as mixtapes but the works themselves functioned in the same way an album did: a series of tracks that ran in a specific order set by the creator with discernible breaks between tracks. Thus, for the purposes of my study, I’ve decided that to avoid labelling these albums incorrectly I have to set parameters that musical works must subscribe to in order to be considered a mixtape. For me, a mixtape must be holistic. It may or may not have a theme within its lyrical content that connects all of the tracks together but a successful mixtape (to me) is one that does have a theme which runs throughout it. I also believe that mixtapes must be ‘unbreakable’; which is to say that it would feel inappropriate to take one of the tracks out of the mix and listen to it exclusively. They can also be shorter in duration than an album if the subject matter or sonic world the artists is exploring has been adequately tested. The mixtapes I have enjoyed the most feel like research projects in themselves. They take a theme, a genre or a melody and explore, extract, experiment with that concept throughout the entire piece. I believe that by thinking of my own work within this context, I should be able to create something effective. 

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ERYKAH BADU - BUT YOU CAINT USE MY PHONE (Mixtape)

Compared to the other material that I have listened to for this research project, this seems to best fit the label of ‘mixtape’. Featuring a sample of Drakes Hotline Bling, Erykah Badu has created a mixtape that seamlessly flows from track to track in both a sonic and lyrical sense. The tracks are all different lengths; some 6 minutes long whilst others are less than a minute. It contributes to the feeling of this being a mixtape - flitting between tracks according to what best fits in the overall rhythm of the entire piece. Because of this, it sounds distinctly curated which, to me, recalls older examples of mixtape work and DJ mixes which are ‘curated’ from tracks from different artists. 

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This visuals for the ‘world’ I am creating are heavily inspired by the architecture and interior design India Mahdavi - http://www.india-mahdavi.com/1/news.html

In most of her projects she incorporates these signature plush chairs which have been a direct inspiration for many of the organic shapes and objects that appear in my sketches. They were the catalyst for the other visuals that followed.  This post features the work she has done for Red Valentino in Sloan Square (2016) and the Sketch Gallery room (2014)

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EASY FUN - EASY THIS EASY THAT

This is the second of two EASYFUN 7 minute mixes I’ve listened to extensively in my personal time. I have the same thoughts surrounding this mix’s duration as I did with the EASYMIX but I feel like this mix is more effective for some reason - possibly because the ‘interlude’ in this mix is more realised than the one in the EASYMIX. The sound sources are all incredibly similar but utilised in a different way for each of the parts of this mix, making each track feel more like a movement within an overarching structure. I read it as an exploration of the sounds he is using; a theme and variation but instead of the theme being melodic, it is sonic: stacked saw synths, scrambling intensely warped vocals and percussive-melodic synthetic sounds. 

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MISSNG NO - M1 PERSONAL TRAINER

Similar to the Erykah Badu mixtape, Missng No constructs each ‘track’ of this mix out of both his own sounds and vocal samples from various different pop tracks such as “start-format it” from Daft Punk’s Technologic:

and melodic phrases from Delilah’s Go:

The entire piece naturally builds up and weaves in key changes, tempo changes and tonal variations in an unobtrusive way. It does not do anything radically different in the way it treats the format of the mix, but it is still a good example of a cohesive long-form format that is not an album.  

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GAIKA - SECURITY

“The mixtape’s narrating voices shift perspective, populating it with a cast of compulsive ravers and lusty dancers, gangsters on the town alongside small-time dealers convinced they’re on a winning streak.” - Rory Gibb[1]

As with most of the mixtape examples I have listened to, Gaika’s follows a narrative placed within an environment that is illustrated through the use of heavily referential sounds. He utilises sonic elements from Dub, Trap and Rave - all of which have their own unique significance to London and its nightlife. In encasing his work with these sonic quotations he is able to accurately convey a sense of place throughout the mixtape. The unity in the work is achieved through him striving to sonic recreate a physical place. Each track functions as another part of the place’s identity, thus it must harmonise with the others in order to accurately do this. 

[1] Rory Gibb, “Gaika: Sounds from the Megacity” The Wire Issue 388 (June 2016) pg. 38

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The Album in Contention: Pt. 1

From the research I undertook as part of my musicians, commerce and commodification essay, I was able to shape an understanding of why long-form formats have played an integral part in the commercial aspects of the music industry. Since its rise in popularity throughout the 1950s the LP has occupied a central position within record labels as a way of stabilising the precarious nature of the recording industry. Regardless of what others may argue, it is undeniable that the recording industry relies on the ever-changing tastes of society[1]. This is relevant for all kinds of music, that which appeals to mass-culture, and that which appeals to niche groups; the recording industry will always have to keep up with even the most specific of tastes in order to function[2]. What the album format enabled record labels in the 1950s, and up until recently, was a steady and traceable income. Unlike singles, album releases accumulate a back catalogue for artists that can be continually sold for extended periods of time, allowing the album to have a longer “shelf-life”[3]. This back-catalogue functions like insurance for record labels who, even if they release a couple singles to no great success, can still rely on the income of a back catalogue to keep them in business[4]. Furthermore, this steady income, according to Kier Keightley, is also what attracted artists toward the album format. He states that: … success does not simply mean having a blockbuster hit single. Rather, developing a career that extends over the long haul and that leads to a continuously selling back catalogue of long-play albums is seen to represent the key to true success in the post-war music industry.[5]         Conclusively, the position of the LP at the centre of the recording industry has enabled record labels to present an apparent stable and steady income to its investors as well as organise the careers of it’s signed artists. Whilst this explains the commercial reasoning behind the LP’s dominance in the music industry, it does not account for the artistic reasons that one has when engaging with long-form formats. Albums for artists usually represent the opportunity to create a cohesive ‘masterpiece’. This thinking is evident best in the concept albums Pet Sounds and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and was a principle that laced the albums of Progressive Rock bands in the early 1970s[6]. Today we can see these values explored by artists such as Beyoncé in Lemonade, Solange in A Seat at the Table and Frank Ocean in Blonde. All of these examples employ devices commonly associated with concept albums such as a consistent storyline or theme that connects all of the tracks in a seamless listening experience.

[1] Keith Negus quoted by Steve Jones, “Music and the Internet” in The Handbook of Internet Studies, ed. Mia Consalvo and Charles Ess (Wiley-Blackwell: Chichester, 2011), 449.

[2] Ibid, 449.

[3] Kier Keightley, “Long play: adult-orientated popular music and the temporal logics of the post-war sound recording industry in the USA”, in Media, Culture and Society. Vol 26, No. 3 (2004) pg 381.

[4] Ibid, 376

[5] Ibid, 375-376

[6] Examples include: Yes. Close to the Edge. Atlantic (1972) Vinyl. The Who. Quadrophenia. Track, MCA (1973) Vinyl. Pink Floyd. The Wall. Harvets, Columbia (1979) Vinyl.

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The Album In Contention: Pt. 2

In evaluating the albums of Beyoncé, Solange and Frank Ocean, it is easy to discern the importance of having long-form formats such as LPs in a creative sense. Albums are valued as complete ‘artworks’ that contain more autobiographical and artistic information than a single could provide - simply because there is more time to play with when creating an LP. It lets the artists fully realise their storylines and messages as well as the sonic explorations they are making for this specific work. They are also able to structure their careers according to each album, each one symbolising a different phase in their artistic development. Even so, the reasons to adhere to the album format have begun to be debunked in the face of new listening behaviours. 

Statistics collected for the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) by the NPD and complied into annual “consumer profiles” exhibit that younger consumers are more likely to engage in “free” consumer behaviours (peer-to-peer file sharing, subscription-less streaming services) whilst older consumers still buy physical or digital downloads[1]. The most popular mode of consumption for adults aged between 36-50 and 51+ are CDs[2]. These age brackets also buy music more then any other age bracket[3], with 13-17 accounting for the age bracket who buy music the least. 

One reading of these statistics may tell us that younger consumers value music less and therefore do not invest in it, however this notion is not true. When we observe the most popular genres within each form of consumption, we see a connection to genres and their traditional formats. For example, music consumers still buying classic rock albums tend to do so within the traditional formats that these genres would have originally been packaged in[4]. Additionally, those who consume music through free formats such as peer-to-peer file sharing and music streaming preferred music that usually concentrates on singles such as ‘the top 40’[5]. 

What these statistics suggest to me that the genres popular with younger consumers– such as pop or hip-hop – should strive to uncover new long-form formats that are better suited to their audience’s listening behaviours. The audience can give artists a context to their music that showcases how the music is valued and experienced, which ultimately adds to the value of the music itself. Artists who wish to best showcase their works they should take their audience’s listening habits into consideration.

[1] RIAA, (2011-2014). Consumer Profiles [pdf]

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[y2kaestheticinstitute]

‘Liquid Glacial Table’ - Zaha Hadid (2012)

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Hotel Nhow Berlin - Karim Rashid (2010)

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More examples of India Mahdavi’s work: http://www.india-mahdavi.com/1/news.html 

This is her redesign of Ladurée Geneva (2016)

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Final Product

Presently, I have two ideas for the final form this project will take. The first is a ‘long-form pop-song’. When I first thought about approaching this task, I felt that if I stuck to a traditional pop-song (verse / chorus) structure I would inevitably fall into making a mixtape or album. This is because the demand to fill the required duration of a long-form format would cause me to just list out tracks in a specific order. Presenting my work in this way, I felt, would not confront the notions of what an album is and what listening habits are not being satisfied by it. It also wouldn’t challenge or confirm any of the research I had undertaken or my understanding of the LPs place within a wider context. As such, I have undergone some alternative ways of writing to try and fabricate a successful long-form pop song.

The second option is a themed ‘playlist’ (for lack of a better word) that incorporates both falsified advertisements and real advertisements amongst the longer tracks. In doing this I hope to blur the distinction between advertisement and content as to dissolve the potency that the advertisements have. Through this process, I anticipate that the real advertisements will seem less disruptive to the listener within the sound world of the work.  Additionally, by assimilating commercials into the work itself, I hope that the work will be rendered incompatible with the streaming services that it is mirroring. It will then isolate the world to exist in its own parameters and rules. Whether I will be able to effectively convey all of this or manage to make the work function as such remains to be seen. 

My main challenge with the second project option, I feel, is keeping the sounds as cohesive within the playlist as an album would be. The way I am engaging with this right now is through creating within a concept that can also be transformed visually; giving the work an alternative route of aesthetic communication that exists outside of the music itself. The concept right now is this:

·      The ‘playlist’ has been curated by a fictional planet or land that is using this ‘exclusive’ service to advertise people to visit their world from earth.

·      They have been able to arrange which advertisements that already appear on the streaming service will be allowed to play in-between their selected tracks.

·      So, I’m taking the preoccupation that I feel Spotify* has with Tropic House in their commercials and expanding on it.

·      As such, the world this playlist is advertising is heavily inspired by coral reefs; the music in the playlist is themed around aquatic sounds and influences.

In focusing the work on a specific world and theme, I hope that I can create the cohesive experience I wish to make. This playlist will be presented as a webpage. As the listener navigates through the various scenes and activities within the webpage, they will also trigger a randomising sample playback patch that I will build in Ableton. I wanted to randomise the playback as it will require the listener to engage with the work themselves in some way - if they don’t click they can’t listen. It also will (hopefully) keep them guessing - you don’t know what will be a song or an advertisement and on another level, which commercials are real or not - or what will come next. I am still experimenting with the technological possibilities of all these ideas. 

* I’ve chosen to work around the pre-existing parameters that are present within Spotify as that streaming service offers listeners free streaming on the condition that advertisements are permitted to be inserted within their queue every 3-4 songs.