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Home , Album, Album era, Compilation album, Extended play, More Life, Songwriter

LONG PLAYER: DEFINING THE ROLE OF THE IN THE STREAMING ERA

December 2018 BPI ERA MIDiA Album Report BPI ERA MIDiA Album MIDIAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA Album Report MIDiA Research About MIDIAResearch Or emailusat [email protected] www.midiaresearch.com For details visitourwebsite: strategy. , onlinevideo, mobile content andpaid content global digitalcontent markets. Ourcoverage includes to provide unrivalled insight into therapidly changing data, MIDiA Research focused ontheintersection of technology andcontent. market forecasts andother proprietary data tools leverages multi-countryconsumer isauniqueanalysis anddata service

MIDiAresearch.com Section 2: Section 1: CONTENTS

- 3 Conclusions

The The Album: ABrief History The Evolving Role of Retailers Genre Outlooks New Models Artist Voices andNow

MIDiAresearch.com • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Key Findings Music fans to turn albumsfor nostalgia: 62%of albumlisteners listen on YouTube and30%onaudio streaming UK consumers listen to albumsonCDwhile 33%often Album listening isnow splitacross multiple platforms: 38%of content/ nolonger needto bereleased allat discarded, everything isfair game the now-hypothetical constraint of aset numberof tracks is The albumcanbereinvented instreaming environments; once key for opportunity older andyounger fans alike Engaging superfans withalbum-delivered merchandise isa have alonger-term future streaming market –illustrates physical albumformats may The resurgence of physical sales inSouthKorea –amature the albumcanbefor more thanadecade of Pablo From ’s than genres withyounger fans Genres witholder fans skew more towards albumlisternership least monthly viastreaming 40% of allUKconsumers aged under25listen to albumsat further 17%listen at least monthly 42% of UKconsumers listen to albumsat least weekly anda average 41.8 years The average free streamers is35.3while CDbuyers consumers remain loyal to traditional formats Younger musicfans are embracing streaming while older in themusicof theirfavourite artists Half of album fans also listen to albums to immerse themselves listen to albumsthat remind themof atimeintheirlife framework for andfans bringing artists together The future of thealbumwilldepend uponthinking of itasa traditional albumformat visualcomponents,will harness Rock willremain to the Hip Hopwillcontinue to challenge accepted wisdoms, Pop Different genres willhave different futures for thealbum environments experience, aprinciple for building ‘descendants’ instreaming The essenceof what an albumis, isitsrole as anartist-centric rather thanarulebook, andeverything ispossible once. Iftherelease schedule isthought of asblank canvass to ’s - 4 Scorpion n Rainbows , have artists beenredefining what , through ’s, The Life MIDiAresearch.com Foreword richer andmore meaningful when considered asa whole. be appreciated individually, butforming of awork part that is publish hisgreat novels –sequentially; as chapters that can brings to mindtheway that Charles Dickens often usedto their own boundaries of spaceandtime. Such anapproach for to anartist express theiremotions ortell theirstory within streaming service? Then thealbumbecomes alarger canvas in aseriesof tracks released sequentially over timeviaa then isthere any reason why it can’t alsofind expression properties andpackaging butby anidea, themeoraconcept, –boundtogetherindividual artist not somuch by itsphysical should beprimarily body definedof asaparticular work by an technology. So, , for example, you accept that thealbum evolving, asithasalways done inresponse to advancesin and theLaserdisc, analternative view isthat thealbumis the Great Format Graveyard intheskyalongside the8-track While somecommentators are ready to consignthealbumto streaming world. suggest anupdated definition that ismore relevant for apost- what meanby the ‘album’. Perhaps, better still, to even on vinyl format in2018, itmight beappropriate to reconsider anniversary ofof thealbum National Album Day andthe70th For themeantime, however, andgiven therecent celebration illuminate thisquestion. data may becomeavailable at industry level that canhelp ofsingle analbum. oraspart Intime, more detailed per-user on-year thanitisto determining whether asongisplayed asa measuring theevolution of overall musicconsumption year- year), butwe recognise that such ametric isbetter suited to basis, albumconsumption isgrowing (up9.5%ontheprevious downloaded, or equivalent’‘their streamed in2017. Onthis announced that 135.1 million albumswere purchased or In itsmost recent market update earlierthisyear, theBPI measuring listening, rather thanpurchase. define andquantifythesuccess of albums, asitnow involves grapple withtheincreasingly complex challenge of how you In fact, sinceaudio streams cameinto being, we’ve allhadto singles) from analbumavailable to stream’. streaming, there needto be ‘at least tracks (inclusive of minutes ormore thanfour songs’, thoughinthecontext of Charts, it’s whenaphysical recording features ‘over 25 When isarecord analbum? Well, according to theOfficial - 5 MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA of work. Kanye West’s so that thealbumbecomesanever-changing, organic body of analbumare not fixed, butcanbe changed by theartist raises theintriguing possibilitythat theconstituent elements combined withtheon-demandnature of digitalplatforms, The notion that analbumevolves through , when discussion surrounding thismuch-loved musicformat. the streaming era, andencourage you to join inthevibrant at YouTube Space, which explored therole of thealbumin MIDiA report drawing on therecent BPI/ERAInsight Session But thisisjust apersonal view, andIinvite you to read this picture of theartist. palette, andto experience thelight andshadethat give atrue through which to seethedifferent tones of colour inanartist’s that they . For such fans, the albumisanessentialprism and to connect withtheidentityandmessage of theartists not satisfy theirdesire to go beyond just enjoying somemusic, experience. Yet for some fans this ‘snacking experience’ may while accommodating thosewhowant a ‘lean-back’, radio-like encouraging more fans to engage actively insharingmusic, the albuminto new frontiers, aidingmusicdiscovery and democratisation of thecompilation albumisarguably pushing combinations that bringnew context andmeaning. This and moods, compilingthemusicof multiple into artists new users andservicesto create theirown musicalnarratives the streaming environment. Streaming platforms are allowing None of thischanges theincreasing relevance of playlists in the rest of ustoo? good enoughfor Kanye (aka WWKD?), should that not persuade being incompatible withastreaming environment, andifthat’s it “living art”. Kanye clearly doesn’t seeanalbumas since then Ye hasmadeaseriesof changes to thetrack listing, on astreaming service()aheaditsphysical release, and Chief Executive BPI&BRIT Awards Geoff Taylor, - 6

The Life of Pablo was first published MIDiAresearch.com seems anage –thepapers were full of tales of death of “the honoured journalistic device. Not solong ago –althoughit Declaring the “death” of this, that ortheother isatime- Entertainment Retailers Association CEO, Entertainment Retailers Association Kim Bayley, “death” is declared. experience? Most certainly— how many timesits Will thealbumcontinueto beamainstay of themusicfan’s album to that thisreport isdedicated. album evolving. Itisto exploring thefuture course of the It isnot acaseof album sales decliningbutacaseof the to beconsumedinitsentirety. statement,The albumisauniqueartist abodyof work created speaker.smart occasions. Streaming albumsisidealonthemove orfrom your package ideafor birthdays, Christmas andallmannerof unique attributes lend itto gifting–aself-contained musical the petrol station orclothing store. Inthisformat thealbum’s ensure that demandcanbetapped wherever itarises, beitin to respond to theCD’s declineby expanding distribution, to of entertainment retailing’s great achievements was whatever form suitsyou. The CDformat isubiquitous at retail. Today you canlisten to albumswherever you might beandin believe. on aweekly basis, contrary to what themediawould have you around 55%of thoseunder25continueto listen to albums streaming serviceisalsoalbumconsumption. We know that and physical formats, andstreaming albumtracks ona First thingto remember isthat albumscomeinboth digital detractors would have you believe. is strong reason thealbumismore robust thanits series of double-digit declinesinrecent years. However, there in traditional ownership terms, thenof course we have seena changed how onedefines thealbum. Ifonedefines thealbum But, not sofast. The huge successof streaming hasinevitably suggestion that itsdeath isnigh. revival. of Itistheturn thealbummore generally to face the These days of course theheadlinesare allaboutthevinyl vinyl”. - 7

MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA distinctions between what constitutes analbumoraplaylist. and labelsare responding inaway that may beblurring the challenger of inthebest acentury. part Innovative artists The playlist hasprovided thealbumwithitsfirst genuine format AAAS) orDrake’s strategy of albumreleases asstatus updates. of thealbumasaservice(which unfortunately abbreviates to change. Whether that be Kanye West’s we are beginningto seethefirst signs of truly transformational M.O. throughout thedownload era. Itisonly withstreaming that iTunes LPs, the 16-track template remained the album’sof the 90s this didgive riseto 80-track compilation albumsandrich media first real opportunity to do away with format constraints. Although The iTunes Store-dominated download modelrepresented the format of theseventies, to the16-songCDalbumsof thenineties. individual gramophone ‘singles’, through thefour-tracks-a-side LP in, from itsprehistory asafolder, or ‘album’ to hold together long history thealbumwas shapedby theformats itwas delivered representing not alternative, butmultiple futures. Throughout its The albumisat afork intheroad, withmultiple paths behaviour, delineated by factors such asage andgenre. longer fitsall. Instead, music fans have anamazingdiversity of to listen to them. What haschanged though, isthat onesize no create them, labelswant to release them andfans want that bindstherecorded musicbusinesstogether. still Artists For allof thespectacular industry shifts, albumsremain theglue transforming before itsvery eyes. But, change isnot codefor ‘end’. from itsinception, thealbumisfindingits familiar surroundings being reshaped too. Inthecrossfire isthealbum: 70 years on behaviours of musicfans andmusicformats themselves are It isnot just thebusinessof musicthat isbeingreimagined, the transformation of therecorded sincethebirth musicindustry. Streaming isputtingmusiceconomicsthrough theirmost radical Introduction where itisnow andwhere itmight go. In thisreport we willlook at thealbumat 70, where ithas been, asthey go. some retaining atraditional approach, others rewriting therule different genres takingavery different approach to thealbum; with itindifferent ways. The sameistrue of artists, withthoseof different thingsto different groups of musicfans, andthey engage and diverse musicconsumption landscape, thealbummeans a much bigger andmore complex equation. Intoday’s fragmented This, however, isjust thestart. Andstreaming of isstill butapart - 8 approach

MIDiAresearch.com -2- HERE ANDNOW - 9

MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA The Album: ABrief History century’s two majorbusinessdevelopments (mass century.20th Standingfirmly at thecrossroads of the one of mediumsto theenduringartistic emerge inthe Alongside thefeature-length film, thealbumbecame Loved aMantheWay ILove You – to name butafew). Underground, The Doors andAretha Franklin’s INever Gears, the debutalbumsfrom PinkFloyd, releases thanany other (SgtPepper, Cream’s Disraeli 12-month periodthat includedarguably more seminal became thebiggest seller inasingle year. Itwas a that aPop musicalbum(TheMonkees secondalbum) more challenging work. Itwas not until1967intheUS tosee thealbumasanopportunity create broader and suchartists as andBobDylanbeganto weaker, filler material. Thisbegan to change when tended towards repackaging existing hits alongside Early Rock andPop releases onthemediumoften biggest sellingalbumswere often . and aplethora of novelty records. Duringthisperiodthe advent of Rock n’ Roll –was dominated by showtunes circles, while thesingles market –at least untilthe and Vocal Pop (’s IntheWee SmallHours) medium was thepreserve of , Classical, Musicals social movements of the decadesought to upend. The entirely coincidentally – the very hierarchies that the awash strand withacertain of elitism–perhapsnot sales. Priorto the1960s, thenotion of thealbum was Richard andBuddy Holly were driven primarily by single Rock n’ Roll performers such asElvisPresley, Little they released longer works, thecareers of notable 50s primary market for therecorded musicindustry. Though 45 rpmseven-inch single sales continuingto bethe plus saw albumsremain asecondarymarket, with per side. Despite thisinnovation, thefollowing decade- LPs that could play for upto 52minutes, or26minutes began to bringout331⁄3rpm12-inch extended-play commercialised in1948, whenColumbiaRecords What becameknown as album’‘the was first culture that demandeditsaudible delights. magazines, theradio andtelevision fuelled thepop car hadbeenhalf acenturyearlier, while theriseof lines madetheLP asaproduct asinevitable asthe production andmassmedia), thefactory assembly - 10 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA do inthestreaming era. Indeed, what they must doto find what albums, now freed from theconstraints of physical, can and that process must considerthewiderpossibilitiesof Pondering thefuture of thealbumin2018ismissioncritical, (, Kanye West, ChancetheRapper). platforms andof course thecontroversy around windowing ’s decisionto initially withhold like strategy with released, withexamples beingRadiohead’s pay-what-you- albums was sometimes more around how they were being great work continuedto becreated, theconversation around the first time, at least legally. For thenext decade, although effectivelyStore unbundled intheearly thealbumfor 2000s which were artists judged. However, thelaunch of the iTunes as new genres emerged, itremained thecentrepiece by Albums would outsell singles for 40years until2008. Even music didinthealbum’s peakera. and Snapchat play more of anidentitydefining role than shunting musicasideinfavour of socialmedia. utterly transformed teenage mediaconsumption teenage time-spenduntilthemid-00s. Butwhenitdid, it services would alsonot occupy significantamounts of subsequent popularityof socialnetworks andmessaging systems were not yet mainstream. The world wideweb and to alinearbroadcast. Meanwhile homevideoandgaming the homeat atimewhen choice wasTV both limited andtied records were theonly on-demandform of entertainment in power. to From theearly 90s, thelate asidefrom 60s , but thiswas not exclusively because of themedium’s own central cultural reference pointinmany young people’s lives, Over thenext few decades, thealbumwould becomea launched the ‘’ proper. album sales overtook singles for thefirst timeand effectively This asymbolic watershed asthefollowing year, long-term relevance amonganew generation of musicfans. - 11 - , surprisereleases (Beyonce), 25 from streaming MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA How Consumers Listen to Albums, Q32018, UKonly Listening Platforms Figure 1: YouTube andAudio Streaming are Now NearingCDfor Popularity asAlbum

Additionally, thefact that rates for listening to albums– artist listening remains of themusiclistening part landscape. services listening to albums, itdoesdemonstrate that album necessarily spendingthemajorityof theirtimeonstreaming Although thisdoesnot meanthat streaming consumers are engage withalbumsandare doingsoonstreaming platforms. traditional album sales are on the wane, many consumers still 30% onstreaming services. This illustrates that even though listen to albumson CDwhile 33%listen on YouTube and legacy formats, butdigitally too. 38%of UKconsumers often remains acore consumerbehaviour, andnot just across music-to-own formats are declining, butalbumconsumption As theshiftto streaming accelerates, sales of albumson illustrates thediverse nature of albumconsumption. 29% –andcompilation albums– 24%–are relatively similar - 12 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA Main Reasons that Album Listeners Like Listening to Albums, Q32018, UKonly Album Listeners Listen to Albums Figure 2: Nostalgia, Familiarity andImmersion inanArtist’s Outputare Key Reasons album: speaking at theBPI/ERAInsight Sessionontherole of the era. Itisapointmadeby ’s Joanne Kalli when catalogue albumsare still soimportant, even inthestreaming memories andhow we felt . This isakey reason why feel like looking through old photos, recalling those lives. The albumswe listened to most duringthosetimescan and albumsoften form thesoundtrack to key phasesof our things that cantake usback to amomentinaninstant. Music them of atimeintheirlife. Music, like smell, isoneof thefew UK albumlisteners they like listening to albumsto remind Nostalgia isthekey reason people listen to albums. 62%of reveals that albumsmeanmany thingsto many people. Diving deeperinto why consumers like listening to albums create narratives that linktogether thecollection of songs. to theeffort make artists to tell stories withtheiralbums, to with therunning order of thesongs onthealbum. This speaks state that they listen to albumsbecause they becomefamiliar After nostalgia comes ‘familiarity’. 56%of albumlisteners thetechnology haschanged massively.” to theartist. It’s just that theapproaches have changed and of thestorythe heart that we’re telling. It’s still fundamental “We’re talkingaboutalbumsandthat still, fundamentally, is

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MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA they want to say.” to artists. Itsolidifiesthemasartists, anditsolidifieswhat has changed… butwhat hasn’t changed is what albumsmean “The way people consumeisreflective of how theirbehaviour manager, UK): fans, apointmade by Jacqueline Eyewe (seniormarketing vision andaplatform for anartist’s relationship withtheir experiencesartist-centric –awindow into anartist’s creative themselves into thecreative outputof anartist. Albums are they like listening to albumsbecause they like to immerse into theartist’s story, with51% of albumlisteners saying A corollary of absorbingthealbum’s narrative isimmersing time.” your brain inamusicalway… andyou doneedalength of first. Itkind of seepsinto your consciousness, almost rewires related. Ithasbeenthestuff Ihaven’t really understood at “The musicI’ve got themost outof hasalways beenalbum- Broadcasting’s J Willgoose Esq.: listening experience for fans, asexplained by Public Service select songs, canalsobecrucial to unlocking analbumasa Listening to albumsasabodyof work, rather thanafew I feel abodyof work ishow you candothat.” got to at theworld from afew different perspectives, and ’t really look at theworld from oneperspective. You’ve “The songsonmyalbumare allaboutdifferent sidesof me. Mercury-nominated Novelist artist putsitlike this: - 14 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA 2018, UKonly How Streamers That Listen to Albums Interact WithAlbums onStreaming Services, Q3 Services Figure 3: Recommendations andPlaylists are Key Routes into Albums onStreaming

However, that asmaller share (33%)usethe ‘go to album’ streamers, playlists are not abinaryalternative to albums. on playlists –both 47%. This indicates that for many music recommendations, asthey are by hearingindividualtracks equally likely to discover albumsthrough streaming service on streaming services, listeners that stream albumsare music streaming consumption. Interms of albumdiscovery subset of musicfans, of their albumsform part animportant collections onstreaming services, meaningthat amongthis (48%) of UKalbumlisteners that stream save albumsto their will increase witheach passingyear. Currently, nearly half With streaming growing strongly, its impact on album listening streaming servicescandrive albumlistening. there isstill much room for improvement interms of how features onstreaming servicesfrom individualtracks, shows - 15 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA Frequency of Album Listening, UKOnly, February 2018 Figure 4: Over Half of UKConsumers Listen to Albums Every MonthorMore weekly’ listening penetration isactually higheramong However, age onceagainplays adetermining role. ‘At least activity, withasignificantbase of heavy consumers. couple of days. Album listening remains amainstream UK the weekly listeners: 15%listen daily and24%at least every albums every monthormore. Afurther breakdown among Therefore, more thanhalf of theUKpopulation listen to listen to albumsat least weekly and17%at least monthly. robust view of thealbumemerges, 42%of UKconsumers Indeed, whenwe look at overall musicconsumption, amore the actual usage of theCDalbumafter ithas beenbought. other measures consumption. Inshort, we donot get to see streaming data isthat onemeasures transactions while the One of thechallenges whencomparing CDsales data with role of age isclear. strong figures across theboard for albumlistening, butthe listen to albumsat least weekly. To be clear, theseare still consumers aged 35-plusrepresent 63%of allthose who weekly musiclisteners but65%of 35-plus. Furthermore, at least weekly albumlisteners represent 49%of under 35 compared to more thanathird of thoseaged 35-plus. Thus, In fact, only 3%of under35sdonot listen to musicweekly, much more likely to befrequent musiclisteners asawhole. for thoseabove 35. However, thisreflects that under35sare consumers undertheage of 35–49%, compared to 43% - 16 -

MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA environments. resonance amongyounger musicfans withinstreaming consumers, butitdoesillustrate that theformat hassome that albumsaccountfor themajorityof streams for younger rate for curated playlists isjust 14%. This doesnot mean monthly onstreaming services. The under25spenetration UK consumers aged 25andunderlisten to albumsat least and risingto 56%for under25s. This meansthat 40%of for just 12%of older albumlisteners, but41% for under35 aged 35andover. Meanwhile, streaming was the format of choice for 21% of under35s, compared to 51% for those formats. Ofallalbum listeners, CDswere thealbumformat Age differences becomemore pronounced still across - 17 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA Listening to Playlists More, Q12018, UKOnly Consumer Attitudes to Whether they are Listening to Albums Less Because they are Remain Loyal to theAlbum Figure 5: Playlists are Replacing Albums for Younger Consumers butOlder Listeners

playlists get progressively better at secondguessing thetastes listening behaviour that radio supports. However, thefact that the riseof playlists, asthey directly compete for thelean-back In many respects it isradio that needsto bemost by concerned of playlists inabroader senseisclear to see. to stations withinstreaming servicesandthecombined impact compared to 14%. Add the9%of allUKconsumers that listen penetration isnearly double that of curated lists –27% have greater traction, especially amongunder25s, where (i.e. includingusergenerated playlists, add to collection etc) may still beinitsrelative infancy, butplaylists more widely streaming playlists. Consumeradoption of curated playlists are listening to albumsless because they are listening to Streaming ischanging listening behaviour. 36% of consumers consumption. focused consumers, are much less impacted by thechanges in which meansthat albumsthat appeal to older, less streaming- implications are manifold. Change isnot evenly distributed, subscribers and79%of streaming speaker owners. The due to playlists for 62%of 16–19year olds, 65%of music Age andformats are key. Album listening hasdecreased share of musiclistening thanitwas inthe pre-streaming era. strong possibilitythat lean-back listening willbecomealarger of listeners, andthat listeners canskipandrewind, raises the

- 18 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA in younger stages of theirlives. connected withmusicinaway that they didpreviously when the abilityto keep theirtoes inthewater, to quickly feel now. Compilation albumsdohowever give older consumers team andthat of astreaming service, save experience—for intrinsically different abouttheskillsets of alabel’s curation curation andascience, isboth anart butthere isnothing they are beingreplicated by playlists. challenge from streaming, withthevery essenceof what Compilation albumsthoughface arguably thesternest their albumsto listen to individualtracks, often inplaylists. more andmore usedto much of theiraudiences dissecting Meanwhile, withyounger artists fan baseswillhave to get - 19 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA and new worlds. they doprovide auseful view of consumption trends andact asabridge between theold Streaming andtrack equivalents are not measures of album consumption norsales, but albums to anew future for albums instreaming. sales. Rock might just bethegenre best placedto navigate thetransition from traditional exactly midway inthe sales-versus-streams rankings, butnumberoneinterms of album Contemporary Urban –isinthetop third for sales. Rock isthegenre that catches theeye, album equivalent sales. Meanwhile, of thetop third interms of SEAshares, just one– shares butboth rank inthebottom third of thegenre rankings for contributionto total for albumsof fans of each genre. Bluesand Jazz have thehighest actual albumsales of different genres to theoverall albummarket, which areflection isinturn of theaffinity The extra lens through which thesetrends needto beviewed, isthevolume contribution albums play less of arole here thanfor genres witholder fans. latter genres are at thebleeding edge of new musicconsumption patterns, andactual albums (SEA)accountingfor 85%of Contemporary Urbanand83%of Danceunits. These bases andhave less than 10%of AES comingfrom physical, with streaming equivalent the spectrum, Contemporary Urban(HipHopandR&B)Dancehave theyoungest fan 60% ormore of theirAES unitscomingfrom actual physical formats. At theother endof (AES). , Jazz, Folk, Country, MORand Classicalallhave older fan basesandhave The age impact ongenres directly translates to albumsales andto album equivalent sales Streaming Equivalent Albums (SEA) 1,000 track streams equalonealbum Notes: Track Equivalent Albums (TEA)10tracks equalonealbum August 2018, UKOnly Distribution of Equivalent Album Sales by Format andby Genre, September 2017to Figure 6: Album Consumption isHugely Diverse Across Different Genres - 20 -

MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA Key Innovation inAlbum Formats andRelease Strategies, 2007to 2018 Remains Intact Figure 7: The Album HasSeenNumerous ExperimentsbutitsFundamental Structure

• • innovation milestones inthedigitalera: truly pushedtheboundaries. These are afew of thekey album you-want), format innovation thoughless widespread, has release strategy (e.g. surprisereleases, windowing, pay-what- experimentation. While most of theinnovation hasbeenin The last decadehasseenanimpressive amountof album albums. of musicfans simply liked to listen rather thaninteract with of effort increating such apiece of work, andthat themajority presage anew era inalbums reflected both thesheer volume for anew wave of interactive albums. The fact itdidnot vigour, capabilities of apps and tablets were beingexplored with an album-as-an-app. inatimewhenthecreative Bjork – culture that would risewiththenext wave of socialplatforms. audience. Anearly trailblazer for themash-upandmeme alsoblurringin turn thedistinction between creator and able to purchase thetrack Nudeto create theirown versions, spawned aMySpace-centred competition, withfans the role of themusicfan asamusicbuyer. The albumalso the option to pay what they wanted for thealbum, reframing Radiohead - Biophilia Biophilia: In Rainbows: - 21 - looked like itcould have beenanicebreaker The 2011concept album was positionedas In2007, Radioheadfans were given MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA • • • • • calling himself whenthealbumwas released) was just seven the 2018release earlier in January 2018. Though at theother endof thescale, set by ’s 24-track, 106-minute Culture IIafew months for end-to-end listening. Indoingsoitfollowed ablueprint that would saturate theplaylists, thansomething designed was more aboutgivinghisfans alarge collection of tracks in June 2018with playlist’ Drake – creative expression’. after release, describingitas ‘a living, breathing, changing, service Tidal, 2)West continuedto make changes to thealbum two key reasons: 1)Itwas released exclusively onstreaming typically controversial mediabuild upbutstood outmost for Kanye West – ‘growing pains’ phaseof streaming. services. Oneof anumberof albumsthat didsoduringthis streaming onsales, thealbumwas windowed from streaming album megahits. Inorder to mitigate thepotential impact of numbers, illustrating that itwas still possible to have global hugely successful 2011album21andwent onto sellinvast Adele – Shkreli isunable to pay a$7.4 millionfine. ruling thealbumcould bepossessedby USau-thorities if Shkreli.businessman Martin Following aMarch 2018court with itsonly copy millionto sellingfor now disgraced $2 album that becamethemost ex-pensive albuminhistory, Wu-Tang Clan– films.short positioned asa ‘visual album’, accompaniedby aseriesof announcement butstill debuting at numberone; 2)being was notable for two things: 1)beingreleased withoutprior Beyoncé – seven songs, we don’t really needto bedoingthemusic”. tracks, withtherapper stating,“Man, ifwe can’t killyou in

More Life 25 Scorpion : Beyoncé: Adele’s third studio albumin2015followed her Life of Pablo - 22 - Once Upona Time inShaolin: Ye : , Drake ‘carpet-bombed’ streaming services Scorpion Following onfrom his2017 ‘album asa by Kanye West (that iswhat hewas still

Beyoncé’s eponymous 2011album , a25-track, 90-minute opusthat : Kanye’s 2016albumfollowed a A2015double MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA creativity. The inaugural National Album Day, which took place a conceptual bodyof work that gives expression to theirmusic , singers andperformers still valuethelong play as Artist Voices like that, really them into turns abeautiful journey.” that iswhat analbummeansto me. All songsstanding together it’s more thanjust amoment, butawhole chapter of alife. And through time, watching itchange andgrow. Album after album– of exploring allthedifferent corners of acreative mind. And, emotions, anddifferent sidesof aheart, andamind. It’s away whole adventure, taken through different sounds, to take abreak from it. To listen to awhole story, andbeona only asoundtrack to amomentof your life, butalsoachance andproducer, Aurora adds: “The albumis, for me, younger are artists alsoenthusiastic. Norwegian singer/ You placedtheneedle down –itwas aritual.” checked outthe sleeve to discover whowas onit, whowrote it. friends, you openeditup, andthere was asmellto thevinyl. You thing: you stood inline, you bought it, you invited abunch of of timewhere therelease of anew albumwas animportant millennial generation isbuyingalbumsagain. I’m from aperiod nature to connect themsomehow. It’s really neat that thispost- format. It’s hard for meto simply write twelve songs. It’s inmy very hard for meto dosomething that didn’t follow thealbum A sentimentendorsed by Rock iconAlice Cooper: “It would be craft.” the albumremains theultimate expression of thesongwriter’s The way we engage withmusicmay bechanging, butfor me as itwas thefirst to bringhometheemotional power of . ‘Why?’ –asongthat hasbecomeareal anthemfor me, not least Chapman’s self-titled début. Itfeatured theincredibly powerful had to pick one, the albumthat most inspired mewas Tracy ‘Freewheelin’’, andErykah Badu’s ‘’s Gun’, although, ifI I was growing up, like MarvinGaye’s ‘What’s GoingOn’, Dylan’s vividly remember beingexcited by somany classicalbumsas Sony Music/RCA recording Paloma artist Faith, for one, said: “I of thealbumtoimportance them, andto theirpeers also. of ambassadors artists of allages andgenres reinforcing the on October 13th2018bore testimony this, withabroad range - 23 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA have to take inallthetracks inorder andlisten to itasawhole if you only read onechapter, it’s thesamewithanalbum. You chapter. Andjust asyou wouldn’t appreciate reading abook a lot like reading areally good book. Each songisitsown appeal of thealbum: “In away, listening to agreat albumis While Holly Ross of The Lovely Eggsconveys theessential love itsomuch.” The albumistimeless andstands forever, andthisiswhy I that was never yours to beginwithbutby theendit’s allyours. Between: “Listening to analbumcantake you onajourney bagged another No.1 withhersophomore albumAlways In As doesWarner Atlantic UKartist, Jess Glynne, whorecently to really appreciate what itisthat makes analbumspecial.” - 24 - MIDiAresearch.com -2- THE FUTURE - 25 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA entity. From Apple’s originaliTunes ecosystem through to digital haseffectively fused retail andformat into thesame in albumconsumption trends asformats. Infact, theriseof Shifts intheretail landscapehave played asstrong arole The Evolving Role of Retailers • segments: The outlook for albumretailing canbedividedinto two key them to follow consumerdemandmore thanever. more creative freedom and, even more importantly, enables out by musicrights holders. Itisamodelthat gives retailers they shapetheformats themselves withintheparameters laid created by third consumerelectronics party companies, now solution. Whereas inprevious eras retailers sold formats acquisition, collection andplayback into oneend-to-end streaming servicesnow, digitalmusicservicescombine market segmenthasalot more untapped opportunity physical editionsof albumsare onesuch outlet. This through which to express theirmusicalidentity. Premium collections, many musicfans are looking for amedium replaced by ever changing playlists andunwieldy cloud shift to streaming. Withphysical musiccollections being spend. Vinyl’s resurgence isanatural consequenceof the & Casino For example, theArctic Monkey’s transactional spend, rising higherfor many releases. favourite artists. Vinyl represents 25% of physical album buying high-quality, premium physical editionsof their special editionsandvinyl. Superfans are increasingly One of thebiggrowth areas over recent years hasbeen alike. However, thephysical goes opportunity much further. customer basefor physical retailers andonlineretailers physical formats andwillthusremain along-term album Physical: vehicles for merchandise. albums have found anew lease of life, essentially as In thismost developed of streaming markets, physical BTS, creating multiple editionreleases withdifferent gifts. J-Pop playbook andapplying themto K-Pop like artists Korean musiccompanieshadstarted takingtipsfrom the strange happened –physical revenues grew 53%. Savvy Korea is a mature streaming market, but in 2017 something to seestreaming accountfor 50%of allrevenues. South globally to record amillionsubscribers andone of thefirst within it. Take thecase of SouthKorea. Itisthefirst market saw vinyl accountingfor 53%of transactional Older consumers are likely to continueto value - 26 -

Tranquility BaseHotel MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA • should look like. an evidence basefor what thenext generation of albums user data around theseformat-stretching albumsto build streaming serviceswillharvest andanalyse every ounceof the existing albumformat. Duringthisperiod, thesmart be led by innovative pushingtheboundarieswithin artists retailers, alike. labelsandartists Near-term change will innovation andexperimentation willberequired from However, to capitaliseuponthisopportunity, significant – until/ifanew format emerges –willbe instreaming. a finite shelf life, the longer-term digital future for albums Digital: albums. aficionados can still bedrawn outinlarge numbers for and thegrowth of vinyl sales have illustrated that music environment still applies. Additionally, Record Store Day with album-delivered merchandise inapeakstreaming notwithstanding, theprinciple of engagingsuperfans so well to theUK–burgeoning successof BTS While the J-Pop andK-Pop modelmay not translate Working ontheassumption that thedownload has - 27 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA to thenew willbeinexorable. Asthetransition progresses, world willcontinueto co-exist for sometime, but theshift at acrossroads. Aswithalltransitions, theold andnew Mid-way through itstransition phase, thealbumfindsitself New Models what they want to say.” mean to artists. Itsolidifies themasartists, anditsolidifies has changed… butwhat hasn’t changed iswhat albums The way people consumeisreflective of how theirbehaviour of an ‘album’ butis still loved by theaudience thesameway. And that doesn’t necessarily fitwiththetraditional concept That’s how quickly hisaudience wants to consumehismusic. Thug might release a new every two to three months. “The albumstill meansalot to theartist. like Anartist Young Atlantic’s Jacqueline Eyewe further explains: tracks, while others will still opt for thetraditional album. As collections of tracks, somemight opt for asuccessionof the streaming era. Somemight opt for other ways to release the industry well for decades, butthat needsto evolve in album hasbeenthedefault option, anapproach that served album isthebest fit for theirnext release. Untilnow, the questioning onacase-by-case basiswhether atraditional often inconjunction withtheirlabelsandmanagement, – butwe willalsolikely seeabroader trend of artists, most these changes willbedefined by genre –more onthat below changes inhow themselves artists view albums. Many of Against thebackdrop of theseformat shifts, we willsee younger fan bases, takingaleaf outof the J-Pop playbook. The sameapproach may alsoprove useful for Pop acts with for delivering highqualitymerchandise to fans. discerning within theapproach of usingspecialeditionsasa vehicle be donewithspecialeditions, much of which canbeframed however rest ontheirlaurels. There issomuch more that can fans becomesever stronger. Retailers andlabelsshould not streaming world, the casefor physical products for super over thesameperiod. Aspreviously discussed, inapeak- In contrast, vinyl andspecialeditionCDsshould fare well already gone withinfive. out withinten years, witharound half of theexisting market aged-listener-friendly willlikely artists have largely played and albumdownload for opportunity mainstream, middle- more tightly focused than itisalready becoming. The CD the addressable market for traditional albumswillbecome - 28 - MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA • • innovation willoccurwithinstreaming environments: this meta context, theseare three key ways inwhich we thinkalbum tell astory, asacanvas onwhich they canpainttheirvision. Within to thetraditional albumformat, favouring itsabilityto allow themto Equally though, there whowillremain willbesomeartists wholly loyal a hat’ approach infavour of building sustained interest over a updated socialfeeds. But, imagineswapping that ‘rabbit outof release campaigncanget lost inthemaelstrom of perpetually difficult and, most pertinently, ever more expensive. So, asingle marketing landscape, cuttingthrough theclutter isever more to necessarily bereleased allat once. Infact, intoday’s congested andmarketingin nurturing bodiesof work butthat nolonger need such asspecialist dancelabelsetc. Labelswillstill want to invest add upacross an entire label’s roster –other thanfor exceptions the economicsof marketing just onetrack versus analbumdonot single tracks, however, isnot aviable option for most labels, as operate, thismodeltoo will evolve. Switching from albumsto marketing campaignsstill dominate theway labelsandartists Scheduling freedom: innovation onwards. of audaciousthis sort thinkingiswhat willhelppushalbum evolving albumisunlikely to catch onwithmainstream audiences, releases andsoon. Though Kanye West’s concept of theever- tracks isdiscarded, everything isfair game: shorter songs, shorter there. Oncethenow-hypothetical constraint of aset numberof concerted release campaign. Experimentation isunlikely to stop Culture II performance. So, expect more releases like playlist exposure, thusimproving anartist’s overall streaming from to start finish. Thetactic hasthecrucial benefit ofincreasing dip inandoutof, rather thanto belistened to asacreative whole, a large selection of tracks that fans canadd to collections and recognising thevalueinusingalbumreleases asaway to deliver Format stretching: in reinvigorating albumlistening onstreaming services. work for allartists, butfor others itcould bethemissingingredient at theendof theproject.” Ofcourse, thechapter approach may not building theircampaigns withthealbumbecomingpunctuation the punctuation at theendof aproject. People are going to start Company’s CEO Martin Talbot: “The albumisalmost becoming of thisthinkingisalready happening, asnoted by theOfficial Chart rather thansimply another adcompeting for their attention. Some perceiving themarketing aschapters inaconnected narrative, be anengaged audience listening outfor thenext instalment, period of time, withalbumsreleased iteratively. The result could that essentially ‘carpet-bomb’ streaming servicesover a - 29 - Asmallbutgrowing bodyof are artists Although albumrelease schedules and Scorpion andMigos’s

MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA • desired end.” concept orsyntax, anddorealise there are many means to that fans inacollective bodyof work. Don’t get hunguponthe album “ of thealbumasameansto anend; which isto engage by ’s WillPage: The underlying ethos of allof theseapproaches iswell synthesised whether that befrequent track bundles – EPs for thoseof a rather thanarulebook, anything andeverything ispossible, Once therelease schedule isthought of asablankcanvas experimentation withrelease schedules should not stop there. album unbundling, butnow, finally, thetimeisright. However, It isnot anew idea. The isawash withDIY on articles streams of course meansextra revenue, butother models experiences neednot simply beresource draining efforts, extra needs intheage of the ‘always-on’ fan. centric Andartist with afew singles inbetween doesoften not meet consumer of investment isrisingallthetime. Analbumevery year ortwo Nonethless, engaged audiences needinvestment, andtheprice already fret they are takinguptoo much of theirartists’ time. course, creating regular content istimeconsumingand labels established would artists bewell advisedto take note. Of that outon YouTube, such asHannah Trigwell. More not follow theapproach, except for anew generation of artists native creators like Zoella andDanTDM, butmost do artists each other. YouTube’s channel structure works really well for music, not just theplacesthey share photos andmessage stream of content for theirfans intheplacesthey listen to tooand artists needto putmore effort increating asteady the fault doesnot solely liewiththestreaming services. Labels counts, andApple Music’s Connect never really got going. But experiences.artist-centric Following onSpotify anartist hardly great irony isthat streaming ispushingaway from, not towards in itsmany guises presents amyriadof opportunities. The other thanthealbum. Now, nosuch excuse exists. The Internet large-scale meansof delivering centricexperience anartist experience. Intheanalogue era there simply was not any other essence of what analbumis, isitsrole centric asanartist experiences:Artist-centric Corsten’s concept albumBlueprint. through socialsharing–amodeldeployed in2017withFerry vintage,certain half analbumat atime, orunlocking tracks revenue streams. SupaPass andGigRev cantransform theminto incremental like subscription artist apps from thelikes of Disciple Media, - 30 - Perhaps thesingle most important MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA accelerate, shapingthespeedby inturn which different demographics andgenres. Such trends are going to been growing diversity inalbumconsumption across One of therecurring themesthroughout thisreport has Genre Outlooks • • • • genres respond to thealbum’s changing future: usual’ approach would berisky. them. However, atemptation to fall into a ‘business as create albumsandtheirfans willcontinueto listen to strands, will, for thenext few years, continueto want to old andnew, right across the genre’s varioussub- thealbum isthehomeofand inturn Rock. Rock acts Rock: mega single. an effective way of pushingbeyond theconfines of the interview artist with asupporting –may prove to be led content bundles –e.g. acouple of musicvideos social stars filling young fans’ social feeds. Visually- in thegrowing pressure to compete withnon-music acts isalready widely understood butwillintensify of thebrandThe importance equityof superstar Pop towards bigsingles, andagrowing focus onvisuals. meeting thosefans’ expectations willmost likely skew pop acts aimedat younger audiences, thecasefor to draw any universal conclusions, butfor mainstream Pop: of thislistening. the likes of Soundcloud and Mixcloud will pick up much on how to process royalties for single stream DJmixes, genre butuntilstreaming servicesget abetter handle are aminority. Compilation mixes are astaple of the exceptions, butasashare of total they Danceartists often astep . There are of course very notable artists, withthestretch to acohesive bodyof work streaming. Most fare Danceartists far better assingles : evolving thecreative construct. to deliver maximumexposure for rather artists thanon focused onplaying to thestrengths of theplatforms, streaming environments, butexpect itto bestrongly the experimentation willcontinueto take placein to domost to pushforward innovation. Most of challenge accepted wisdoms, HipHopwillcontinue Hip Hop: The sheerdiversity of thePop genre makes ithard Inmany respects, Rock isthehomeof thealbum, Dancewas always apoor fit for albumson - 31 - The genre that isalready doingmost to

MIDiAresearch.com BPI ERA MIDiA • • already withtheirown comearmed ideasof what aRock emerge for thisnext generation of Rock fans may well emerge. Itmay well prove though, that thebandsthat most probably asthelatest Gen Z wave of Rock fans longer-term outlook willinevitably beshapedby streaming, As much asthenear-term future may look secure, the more persuading thanfans of other genres. the boundaries, many of theiraudiences willneedalittle long ago. While new may artists have anappetite for testing with listening dominated by collections of musiccreated indefinitely. Theseare already largely retrospective genres, and Classicalwilllikely retain theiralbumaudiences Other genres: up thebaton. there islittle signthat anext generation iswaiting to pick will becomeprogressively less engaged withmusicand comfortable familiarity. Butthesealready older musicfans play ontheCDincarandjust listening, building with thealbumstructure. Their fans are usedto pressing more massmarket consumers have theleast needto mess /MOR: album should be. - 32 - More specialist genres like Jazz, Blues Mainstream acts targeting older, MIDiAresearch.com but to exceed them, to thinkof thealbumasaframework for tastes. Itistimeto not just meet musicfans expectations multiple ways of meeting musicfans diverse needsand a future defined not by asingle path butinstead onewith to break outof its format defined constraints andpursue at 70years young, thealbumhasafantastic opportunity We are far beyond thestage of back turning the clock. But most of thenew realities of musicconsumption. alikeand artists needto thinkabouthow they canmake the storytelling andthe albumstill plays that crucial role. Labels within them. People are still engrossed by longer-form many of which give audiences multiple, customisable choices Now they have anunprecedented choice of listening options, radio because they were theonly choices available to them. the distribution era everyone listened to singles, albumsor previous periodhave musicfans hadsomuch control. In must change too to keep paceandrelevance. Never inany as are musicfan behaviours andpreferences andthealbum disappearing any timesoon. However, theworld ischanging, super fans meansthat thealbumneednot worry about that there remain loyal basesof mainstream older fans and industry withdistinction duringitsanalogue era. The fact terminal decline. The traditional albumformat served the change butthat doesnot have to meanbeinglocked into transition isclear. The albumfindsitself at theepicentre of rate andtheevidence for anindustry-changing format is transforming musicconsumption at an ever-accelerating The albumhasalong andrich history. Streaming, however, Conclusions bringing artists andfansbringing artists even closer together. - 33 -

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