p2pnet - rss feed: Bands told ‘album tracks’
The record labels apparently want artists to put fewer tracks on albums.
The ‘news’ comes from the LA Times and is in turn inspired by Sony’s view on album length, "mentioned by Sony Corp. of America chief Howard Stringer at a corporate presentation in New York two weeks ago" and which is "quickly becoming the buzz among artist representatives and rival labels," says the newspaper here
However, it’s an old, old story. Having to buy a ton of junk tracks to get one or two decent songs was, of course, one of the reasons people turned to the Net for their music in the first place.
The record buying public has been complaining about this for years but it wasn’t until Napster arrived on the scene that they were able to do anything about it - ie, select the songs they wanted without being loaded down with dross.
But this seems to be news to the labels
"There’s been a tendency to overload CDs because the technology permits it," Sony US president Don Ienner is quoted as saying.
But how putting fewer songs on CDs without a similar, and significant, reduction in the price of a given album is not, apparently, something Ienner is addressing, although, "We all should be concerned about giving music buyers good value, whether they’re getting eight, 10 or 20 songs".
Right. So where was Ienner while music lovers have been asking for exactly that? Why this sudden appreciation of something that’s been evident for decades?
But the story quotes "One major label chief who has been nudging acts to release fewer songs per album, and who spoke on condition of anonymity" as saying consumer demands for lower prices have "increased the pressure on the labels to reduce studio recording costs. ‘If people want records for less, he said, "you’ve got to figure out a way to make them for less’."
