Got to talking to someone the other day and we got into a conversation, which got me thinking.

With MP3 sites (Itunes, MusicMatch, Napster etc...) you can easily go through any artists repetroire and select only the songs you want. Hell a few months ago I selected five cds that I had aquired due to one or two songs I liked, and re-recorded just the ones I wanted onto one CD. Also with the Mp3players the trend seems to be huge playlists and not so much albums.

So my question is in the foreseeable future is there the possibility the ability to select certain songs only, going to force the death of the album? Why listen to 7 songs you don't like for maybe 3 you do?

So my question is in the foreseeable future is there the possibility the ability to select certain songs only, going to force the death of the album? Why listen to 7 songs you don't like for maybe 3 you do?
Because my collections must be complete.

Because my collections must be complete.
Same.

I believe that somewhere along the way, you'll listen to the entire CD and find that those songs that you once despised are actually pretty good. MP3's are just the CD's/vinyls/8-tracks/records/victrolas of our time.

Back in the days of 78's and 45's, you were only buying one, and sometimes two, songs at a time. LP's didnt exist. All thats happening with MP3's and MP4a's is history repeating itself.

It is true music evolution. We have come from 8 track to cassette to vinyl to CD to mp3 to mp4. It is just more evolved ways of listening to music in a safer way. I am not sure about you but I would rather my music last forever rather then like the old 8 tracks and cassettes that break down and die a slow and painful death. I also own roughly 300 records and have found almost all of them on CD. ; ) You can also find most of the really old stuff on cd's now or down load it in mp3 format. It is not dead just better.

I believe that somewhere along the way, you'll listen to the entire CD and find that those songs that you once despised are actually pretty good. MP3's are just the CD's/vinyls/8-tracks/records/victrolas of our time.

Actually you have a very good point. More than once I bought an album and hated it. It would be shelved, then once out of boredom I pulled it and listened to it. Suddenly it was fantastic. So perhaps it is just the natural evolution like you've all said. Just an intriguing thought.

Originally posted by Pendragon
Actually you have a very good point. More than once I bought an album and hated it. It would be shelved, then once out of boredom I pulled it and listened to it. Suddenly it was fantastic. So perhaps it is just the natural evolution like you've all said. Just an intriguing thought.
It's happened to me on several occasions. Sometimes as your music tastes change, you begin liking the songs you once hated or thought were just thrown together at lightning speed by the band or artist. MP3's are just the way to listen to music now...until the next piece of technology comes along.

It is true music evolution. We have come from 8 track to cassette to vinyl to CD to mp3 to mp4. It is just more evolved ways of listening to music in a safer way. I am not sure about you but I would rather my music last forever rather then like the old 8 tracks and cassettes that break down and die a slow and painful death. I also own roughly 300 records and have found almost all of them on CD. ; ) You can also find most of the really old stuff on Cd's now or down load it in mp3 format. It is not dead just better.

Music in the new formats will last as long as there is an application that can read them, but one knows how the industry goes, they will find a way to get people to buy their music all over again...

All I know is I get most of my music through mp3's. However, if I find that I have downloaded two or more songs from the same album I'll usually buy that CD.