Nonsense

The man who discovered Oasis, founded Creation records, and championed indie bands from My Bloody Valentine to Teenage Fanclub, has sounded the death knell for the single. Alan McGee said the format will soon be obsolete, unable to compete with the meteoric rise in downloading.

Source

What an idiot. The exact opposite is happening - we are entering a new era of the single. It's the album that's dead. People want to get exactly the songs they want - they don't want the filler. That's why downloaded is so popular. You bring up the band's songs, listen to samples of each, then download just those songs you like. No more buying a whole album for just one or two great songs.

I'm thinking bands will devolve back to their approach from the 60s. Rather than trying to come up with an entire album's worth of songs every year - they'll be recording three or four songs every six months or so - releasing them singly or in pairs.

Under the current model, the increased storage capability of the CD over the old vinyl album means that bands have to come up with 14 to 18 songs almost every 12 to 18 months. Most bands just don't have that much to say.

Embracing the classic singles approach, a band will only be coming up with six to eight songs a year - but released individually every six to eight weeks. They can concentrate on writing and producing great songs - and leave the filler behind.

Ask any Insufferable Music Snob - the golden age of any band that's been around since the 60s is going to be their time in the singles era. That's a good thing...