Designer albums.
Back in the days of records we'd place the needle on a record and let it play. Turning side A over to hear side B, or choosing a different record, was about the only decision we'd make about how the music should be listened to. Sure, we could place the needle anywhere that we chose, and in that way change the listening order, but when we did so we took our chances with scratching the record. With CDs came much greater control over how we chose to listen to a record. We could instruct the machine to change the order of the cuts, or even to delete one from playing. The CD in our possession was produced according to the desires of the musicians or producers, but we the listeners could now determine how we wanted to listen to it.
With CD burners we gain even more control. We may not be the writers or the musicians, but if we choose, we can create discs significantly different from the original. We can construct samplers of the music of various artists, or prepare a "best of" disc of hits of one particular artist. Today it's possible to walk into a record store in the States and purchase individual cuts instead of an entire disc and have those cuts burned onto a CD that we take home. In the sixties "concept" albums became popular in rock. Albums suddenly were much more than simply a string of individual songs. Instead we were offered an inclusive listening experience, and we experienced the music as the musicians planned it. But today our ability to select cuts and burn them to CD in the store is rapidly changing that experience. Purchasing music today is more like taking various foods from the shelves in the supermarket and placing them in a shopping cart. We plan our meals, and choose, and pay for, only the ingredients that we need. Even as I strive to collect entire albums, the album format is perhaps ceasing to be the organizational metaphor for purchasing music. My downloading habits may be the last remnants of an outmoded model of acquiring music.
Go to: The Complete Works.