MUSIC BUZZ: Album Release Day // Looking for the next big star // Björk // More

Filed Under: Buzz — By: Oliver Bouchard

The official Album release day will globally move to Friday in summer. Of course, in the Internet age a global release day is the way to go, but does it have to be Friday? I kind of liked Tuesday – something to look forward to and kick the week off.

The Guardian has a piece with some interesting thoughts about the chase to find the next big star, albeit a link-bait title. Angus Batey writes in “Is new music killing the record industry?”:

Could the industry reverse its decline if it returned to what might be considered the old-fashioned model: sign fewer artists and work with them for longer periods, worrying less about the short-term fix of big hit singles and spending more energy building catalogues that generate cash over a much longer period?

That sounds like a good idea from industry perspective, right? But there is also the listener’s side: streaming services can lure us to always check for something new instead of spending longer time with a piece of music. On the other hand:

The changes in how music is being heard may make a move away from short-term thinking inevitable. Streaming services such as Spotify, which ensure that an artists’ previous albums are available for discovery – and income generation – when a fan discovers a band via their fourth or fifth LP, could help lead labels away from breaking new artists and prioritising blockbuster hits.

Listener behavior for sure changes – how, is is anybody’s guess at this time.

It looks like Björk does not like Spotify either:

“Guess what? This streaming thing just does not feel right. I don’t know why, but it just seems insane.”

She suggests “windowing” similar to what Netflix does, like a “physical” release first and streaming later. That may make sense, but it is hard to believe that the streaming services would go with such a model.

My new favorite new band, Ibeyi was interviewed by the New York Times a few weeks ago. Naomi says about her sister, Lisa-Kainde:

“We’re not best friends.”

Of course you can only say this publicly, if you actually are best friends. But apparently there a lot more dynamic going on between them than being twin sisters would suggest.

Sea Change’s Breakage is my favorite new album for this week. Give it a listen (Spotify link).