I'm not sure about people's attention spans, I have a 70 minute album that I would consider to be very successful.
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People with shorter time frames available just listen to parts at a time, that's what I do anyways. That, or they just listen to the first 6 tracks every time and treat it like an EP haha.
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I think there's something to be said for the 'albums require more focus' argument but the general aesthetic of chipmusic serves shorter formats. Micromusic.net's single tracks (treated as 'releases'), Retinascan's 3'' CDs and 8bitpeoples' EP-based netlabel model - which pretty much dominated the chipmusic scene from 2005-2011 - inspired a load of people to do their own concise thing.
A lot of chipmusic EPs seem to contain filler anyway, let alone albums. That said successful chipmusic albums (by the likes of 4mat, YMCK, Bodenstandig 2000 etc.) are very satisfying.
Last edited by Stevens (Jan 8, 2013 9:51 pm)
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buffalo, NY
Here's an example for me. I really like Roboctopus' Victory Lapse, but every time it finishes I get sad that there aren't more tracks. And since I heard the first song 20 minutes ago, I'm gonna swap it out of my CD player rather than leaving it in there to possibly loop.
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danimal cannon wrote:
Here's an example for me. I really like Roboctopus' Victory Lapse, but every time it finishes I get sad that there aren't more tracks. And since I heard the first song 20 minutes ago, I'm gonna swap it out of my CD player rather than leaving it in there to possibly loop.
True. But an album that's too short is always better than an album that's too long.
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Brunswick, GA USA
I usually have to move on to doing something else before looping becomes a choice...
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Lexington, KY
Stevens wrote:
True. But an album that's too short is always better than an album that's too long.
This is so incredibly true.
But, it really doesn't address your point, Dan, so I'll offer you this:
I would be the last person on earth to argue 'Roots'' success and goddamn do I love that album, but I do have to have about 3 different sit-downs to hear the whole thing. So, instead of saying I just wanna listen to it, I say, 'Feels like time to listen to the first six or so tracks' or 'I'll jump in at Blueshift and see how far I get.'
Which, mind you, is absolutely not criticism of the album in any form. Just an example.
And yes, I look VERY forward to the cannonXzef album! I'll probably have to listen in installments though, haha.
Edit: Does this post sound snarky? I don't mean it to. I read it back to myself and thought... Hmmm... Hope that doesn't come off as insulting.
Last edited by Solarbear (Jan 8, 2013 10:06 pm)
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NC in the US of America
I use wireless headphones so I don't have to actually sit there while listening. It sacrifices some audio quality (and stereo panning), but it gets the job done (I don't have an mp3 player or cellphone atm). I don't remember when I stopped listening to music casually instead of making an event out of it (maybe when i got my first CD for my birthday), but I'm trying not to fall into the modern "classical" style of having to sit still and be shush in order to enjoy it. It's not as fun that way, imo.
As far as "Roots" goes, it's got so much variety in it, it almost feels more like a marathon than a 2 hour series debut special. 50/50 can't fit in an entire playthrough in one go of focused listening. It makes great house cleaning music, though.
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IL, US
so none of you guys have commutes? fucks sake...takes me at least an hour each way... plenty of time to get absorbed in some music (ok and i have a day job where i can wear headphones 90% of the time so i do)
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buffalo, NY
Yes my primary listen time is commutes. It's not uncommon for a single album to stay in my CD player for almost a week.
I guess this thread is a prime example of different strokes for different folks.
I also don't see how an album can be too long? If I don't feel like listening I just stop, if I want to continue with a short record I'm shit out of luck.
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Utah
I can definitely see the merits of both shorter and longer albums. I just want it to feel like time and effort were put into it. I prefer a longer album if all the music is good, just because I want as much good music as I can get. If any of the music is sloppy, the album suffers regardless of length.
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Utah
danimal cannon wrote:
It's not uncommon for a single album to stay in my CD player for almost a week.
When I was younger, pre-mp3 days, I'd get a new CD and listen to it for at least a week straight. If I liked it, there was a good chance that I'd memorize it in its entirety, to the point where hearing the songs out of order (shuffle mode) would be jarring and strange. If you wanted to listen to something else you had to switch CDs. With digital music, skipping between songs, artists and playlists is so simple. Perhaps this is one contributing factor for some people's fondness for full length albums and other people's fondness of shorter music bursts?
tl;dr
Digital is convenient. I feel old.
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Earth
The Laohu wrote:
danimal cannon wrote:It's not uncommon for a single album to stay in my CD player for almost a week.
When I was younger, pre-mp3 days, I'd get a new CD and listen to it for at least a week straight. If I liked it, there was a good chance that I'd memorize it in its entirety, to the point where hearing the songs out of order (shuffle mode) would be jarring and strange. If you wanted to listen to something else you had to switch CDs. With digital music, skipping between songs, artists and playlists is so simple. Perhaps this is one contributing factor for some people's fondness for full length albums and other people's fondness of shorter music bursts?
tl;dr
Digital is convenient. I feel old.
Ah good point. The medium itself does affect how we think about releases. I usually end up making playlists from my favorite artists.
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Milwaukee, WI
Electronic music in general gravitates towards the EP model. I think it has to do with the market receiving it most of the time. It is also difficult to be prolific with longer releases.
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uhajdafdfdfa
i think because it's free and not normally distributed on pieces of plastic that have a fixed manufacturing/environmental/logistical cost regardless of how much music is on them (maybe this is nonsense i dunno)
if someone wants to put out a three second release it makes a bit more sense now they don't have to do it on cd (and listeners don't have to get the bus to a cd shop and buy it and get the bus home again). and let's face it, it's really easy to make short releases and really hard to make long releases
also possibly a lot of chip musicians (ok, me) don't feel there is a great reward to putting out a cohesive full length album and would rather just write whatever songs they want and put them out as and when they feel like it
with no commercial/corporate pressures to put out a full-length, and most of us being hobbyists with no particularly lofty ambitions, there doesn't seem any reason to do it...
... unless you just Want To Do It and then you definitely should