The last few comments in this thread have me thinking about the future of the album in modern music. Is the concept of an album still relevant in a day and age when people want to buy single songs? I don't know a whole lot about the history of recorded music, but I am reasonably sure that the single came first (on 78RPM and 45RPM records) and the album came later (on "LP" records.) If I'm wrong about this, then please correct me.

Anyway, one of the reasons I've heard cited for artists not wanting songs to be downloaded individually is a fear that the whole idea of an album as an artform will go the way of the 8-track tape. This begs the question: How many albums really have a cohesive musical or lyrical theme these days? And even for albums which don't have a discernable theme, is the idea of combining and arranging songs on an album a good idea from an artistic point of view? Clearly, some songs on an album are going to be hits, and others aren't. Will the disappearance of the album hurt music in the long run by putting even more pressure on musicians to make "hit" records? The album allows musicians to "sneak in" some more experimental songs which might not have as much hit potential... With people buying individual songs, are record comapnies going to waste time recording and producing individual songs that might not sell?

This is, to me, a very interesting concept. Were albums just an outgrowth of the physical limitations of the distribution media (records, tapes, CDs) or do they serve another artistic purpose? And as a follow-up, do the record companies and musicians actually have a point when they show a reluctance to sell songs as individual units, rather than as albums? Of course singles have been available at an inflated price for a long time on tape and CD, but with things like Apple's iTunes, it seems there's a coup going on where listeners want individual songs cheap. Is this good for music?