What is an album?
It used to be something you bought in a store as an encoded plastic disc. Then it became a sequence of 1s and 0s you downloaded to your local hard drive. Now, it is increasingly something you stream from the cloud. And with the latest evolution, the very idea of an album as a finished, permanent collection of songs is being undermined before our eyes.
Since the release of Kanye West's "The Life of Pablo" on February 14th on the music streaming service Tidal, Kanye has reportedly updated the album multiple times. There was no way for listeners to know that this had happened, other than to discover the changes organically, and earlier versions of the album are no longer available. There is no indication of when the modifications will stop, if ever; in theory the album could keep changing forever, one song after another, until the latest product bares no resemblance to the original one. One continuously evolving entity. If it's the journey that matters and not the destination, Kanye has invited his audience to continuously observe his journey, with no promise of a destination.
What could a truly "evergreen" album look like? Or a book, or a painting? It could start as sketches, outlines, basic beats, and then over time take on more structure and polish. It could switch directions suddenly, losing huge pieces and gaining new ones overnight. It could disappear completely. It could be different to every person who listened to it. As Kanye tweeted, it could be a "living breathing changing creative expression."
It used to be something you bought in a store as an encoded plastic disc. Then it became a sequence of 1s and 0s you downloaded to your local hard drive. Now, it is increasingly something you stream from the cloud. And with the latest evolution, the very idea of an album as a finished, permanent collection of songs is being undermined before our eyes.
Since the release of Kanye West's "The Life of Pablo" on February 14th on the music streaming service Tidal, Kanye has reportedly updated the album multiple times. There was no way for listeners to know that this had happened, other than to discover the changes organically, and earlier versions of the album are no longer available. There is no indication of when the modifications will stop, if ever; in theory the album could keep changing forever, one song after another, until the latest product bares no resemblance to the original one. One continuously evolving entity. If it's the journey that matters and not the destination, Kanye has invited his audience to continuously observe his journey, with no promise of a destination.
What could a truly "evergreen" album look like? Or a book, or a painting? It could start as sketches, outlines, basic beats, and then over time take on more structure and polish. It could switch directions suddenly, losing huge pieces and gaining new ones overnight. It could disappear completely. It could be different to every person who listened to it. As Kanye tweeted, it could be a "living breathing changing creative expression."
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