Throughout the history of recordings, the format and demands of distribution have adversely affected the production of music. The loudness war is perhaps the best known example, but music has changed in some form or other for wax cylinders, LPs and audio cassettes, but we will focus on the recent times.
Around the time of the release of Converting Vegetarians 2, Infected Mushroom noted on its studio blog that in the double CD format, the second disc tends to lose its focus. Their process is intimately tied to the limitations of the format, and even though it was released in 2015, the amount of playtime that can fit on a CD with a reasonable quality was a constraint. So they fit in 15 tracks in 80 minutes. The album was freaking perfect, but it's unfortunate that artists are forced to think about the distribution format.
Things have only gotten worse when it comes to music and video streaming apps. On spotify, neutral, mid tempo songs rise algorithmically, and get a lot of listens despite having no name artists. Many of these “artists” are influencers or social media stars who jump into the music business riding on their 15 minutes of fame. These songs are custom made to be a hit with recommendation engines. The artists do not enjoy a long shelf life, and tend to fade from memory as fast as Vine. Music critics at the New York Times refer to these albums as "Spotify core". In 2018, Liz Pelly who is an instructor at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts explored the effects that the attention economy has on music production, in an article titled "Streambait Pop". The problem, According to Pelly is that Spotify is making artists produce music that does not demand the attention of the listener. It is just streaming in the background, little more than background noise. It is not just the music streaming services that influence music, the video apps do it too. The demand for short form content means that even TikTok is influencing artists as well. Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," was released on TikTok, became the background music of choice for #yeehow cowpoke transformations, and ended up spending more than 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That is the longest that any song has stayed on top of the chart, which has been around for 75 years! In an interview with Time magazine, Lil Nas X credited TikTok for the success of the song. little more than background noise. It is not just the music streaming services that influence music, the video apps do it too. The demand for short form content means that even TikTok is influencing artists as well. Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," was released on TikTok, became the background music of choice for #yeehow cowpoke transformations, and ended up spending more than 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That is the longest that any song has stayed on top of the chart, which has been around for 75 years! In an interview with Time magazine, Lil Nas X credited TikTok for the success of the song. little more than background noise. It is not just the music streaming services that influence music, the video apps do it too. The demand for short form content means that even TikTok is influencing artists as well. Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road," was released on TikTok, became the background music of choice for #yeehow cowpoke transformations, and ended up spending more than 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That is the longest that any song has stayed on top of the chart, which has been around for 75 years! In an interview with Time magazine, Lil Nas X credited TikTok for the success of the song. became the background music of choice for #yeehow cowpoke transformations, and ended up spending more than 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That is the longest that any song has stayed on top of the chart, which has been around for 75 years! In an interview with Time magazine, Lil Nas X credited TikTok for the success of the song. became the background music of choice for #yeehow cowpoke transformations, and ended up spending more than 17 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. That is the longest that any song has stayed on top of the chart, which has been around for 75 years! In an interview with Time magazine, Lil Nas X credited TikTok for the success of the song.
There is a story that while Tansen was performing, Akbar wondered if he was hearing the best musician in the world. The emperor subsequently had an urge to listen to Tansen’s teacher, Swami Haridas. As Haridas would refuse to come to the court if invited, Akbar and Tansen listened to the master by sneaking up to him in his ashram during his morning ablutions. Akbar was so mesmerised that he could not speak for a day, and later asked Tansen how Haridas was superior. Tansen replied, “I sing for you, he sings for God”. Then there is Annapurna Devi, who rejected audiences, declined to ever record music, and stopped performing at concerts. The only recordinging in existence, was made clandestinely. Despite being one of the best musicians in the world, she practiced only in the privacy of her apartment. According to her few students, the house would get filled with the scent of sandalwood after such sessions, a sign indicating the presence of Goddess Saraswati. These stories perhaps puts into sharp contrast the memetastic music coming from TikTok that screams for your attention, or the dead music on Spotify that actively requires you to pay none. What we are seeing happening is the music equivalent of the horrific algorithmic animated videos on YouTube that kids find addictive.
Technology does not need to have an antagonistic relationship with the music. In 1981, Kraftwerk stunned the audience at Shanmukhananda hall in Mumbai by allowing their instruments to play by themselves. Steven Wilson’s 5.1 mixes are classic albums remastered for surround sound and are a triumph of digital audio.
Vexations by Erik Satie is a musical work that requires the same short piece to be performed 840 times with ever so slight variations. The entirety of this idiosyncratic work (14 hours, 35 minutes) is available on Spotify, and it is truly an unforgettable experience. The platform is ideal for distribution of such a masterpiece.
For the most part though, distribution media and formats have contributed negatively to the production of music in too many ways. It is just heartbreaking to see new distribution platforms also repeatedly breaking the integrity of the art. In an ideal world, the artists should just produce the music with the formats and platforms changing to accomodate them.