Hi there -

An article over on Fast Company asks today whether Spotify killed the album box set. Granted, that's a clickbait gem of a headline, but in reality there are some solid points being made in the piece that I feel speak to some of the things I was talking about last week, specifically around new music formats.

I think for some time everyone has viewed any evolution of the music format as something that might be indulged but only under great duress. It's also something that requires unilateral buy-in in order to take off. Either we all do it, or no one does.

Consider the climate around this topic at present though, and I'd argue the conditions have never been more favourable.

Admittedly, the current topic is more around how artists get paid more fairly and I think in general people interpret the recent comments from Lucian Grainge as relating more to how artists get paid than by the formats they are played on.

To me though, it is all part of the same mix. Streaming is an attention economy. We are in an attention recession. Ironically, this is why box sets are so prevalent now: labels (and artists) are realising they're a solid sell to a certain demographic (most likely older middle-aged men with higher disposable income, if I'm stereotyping).

But imagine a new format that might further enrich the music and the stories around it. As the article notes, Apple's iTunes LP took this approach, but 1) it was proprietary, thus failing on my point about universal access, and 2) it was costly and awkward to create an LP for just the one store.

I'm very aware that the average music punter is probably happy enough with Spotify, potentially seeing it as a slightly smarter take on commercial radio. However what I think a lot more people are coming around to is this notion that you could earn a lot more from a lot less people if the product carried far more inherent value.

Lucian Grainge spoke of "fewer cultural moments that fans can collectively share, all of which undermines the creativity and development of artists and their music that the platforms were, in part, designed to foster.”

One might argue that what is required to address that is not a change to streaming remuneration systems, but a whole new format that better places value at the heart of the product, not just convenience.

Have a great evening,

D.

🎶 written whilst listening to Mr Mitch's "Techno Dancehall 3". I *love* a great mixtape, and this is up there among the best. As the name implies, this plots a course through a kind of techno-meets-dancehall hybrid that is heavy as hell and absolutely incredible. Essential listening!