Art of Listening with Keith Jopling #4
A new series called Art of Listening by the ever-incisive Keith Jopling. This week, we’re excited to present the fourth installment: The album of the year is...The Album!
Well, ‘tis list season again: December is now Listmania month.
I can’t decide whether these end of year ‘best of’ lists are more important than ever, or no longer of any meaning at all. They might be of more importance than ever because we live in a content flood. And helping us navigate that flood is that trusted friend, the algorithm. Yeah right!
We really do need these human curated lists. On the other hand, there are just so many of them now, it seems, that it almost defeats the point i.e. scarcity, a filter. Even prioritising your lists (I’m down to a few: Pitchfork, Bandcamp, The Quietus, Limited Addition Records and Daily Records), that would mean you effectively have a list of lists.
Of course, looming very large across everyone's December socials is Spotify Wrapped, now such a big brand in itself, that all Spotifiers seem to work around the clock on it during the month of November. Wrapped appears to be partly A.I. powered this time around, which has caused some blowback. Wrapped deals in time (minutes and months), songs, genres, artists and podcasts. In doing so, you may have noticed that albums are not included. That obviously reflects listener behaviours on the platform, but culturally, that might seem surprisingly out of touch with the way many music fans and artists think about music.
Let’s face it, the tech platforms that have grown music’s consumption over the past two decades have not exactly been friendly to the industry’s flagship format. As a result, the album was once under threat. First, between 1999 and 2008, Napster and iTunes unbundled it. Then Spotify shuffled it. But in the end, the album endured. The album won. It was reassembled, like some epic sci-fi movie where the protagonist is turned into a cyborg but then turns back to human again.
And the album is getting stronger. Vinyl is back. 8-12 tracks per album are back. Sleeve notes are back. Cover art is back. The classic album is back! This is good for music, good for business, good for artists and good for fans.
The thing is, the album is aspirational for artists. It’s the format that allows them to express themselves at a given moment in their career. It’s the format that allows them to contribute to the canon of great recorded music works. To make your first album is a right of passage. For fans, albums are also aspirational. A vinyl collection is a dignified way to recognize the art. A listening session is a journey we can share with the artist and with fellow listeners.
Streaming then, has not been kind to albums, but it hasn’t been bad for them either. Indeed, I reckon that artists and record makers have raised their game when it comes to albums. They’ve gotten better. Shorter, leaner, less filler, more thematic. So, come on music distribution platforms - recognise you can’t always ‘disrupt’ stuff that’s bigger and better and more enduring than any phase or chapter of technology. Ride with us on this one. Do more to celebrate and champion albums in 2025 and let’s make the industry’s best format even better.
And what a year 2024 has been for albums! And all the lists remind me just how many I’ve missed. And yes, of course, I have my own list:‘Decanted’ is the 12 (or maybe 13) Song Sommelier album picks of the year. Like a case of fine wine, or a crate of finely crafted beer. All selected by hand and ear.
Have a great holiday and see you next year.
Learn more about Keith Jopling:
Keith is a music strategist, advisor, consultant, writer and mentor. In 2021 he started the music podcast The Art of Longevity, featured under Spotify’s “must listen” music podcasts and on all other platforms. The archive sits on his music curation site The Song Sommelier.
Keith has worked with the boardrooms of labels, streaming services, start-ups and investors. He has held previous roles with Sony Music, Spotify, EMI and the BPI. Most recently he was Consulting Director at boutique music agency MIDiA Research (2019-2024) and began his career in music as Research Director at global trade body IFPI (2000-2006).
As an educator, he has lectured in music business, strategy and innovation at Henley Business School, NYU, BIMM, ACM, Belmont, Syracuse, Westminster and the University of Krems, Austria.