Pre-Grammys, album forms are fluid, streaming grows
Ahead of the 2017 Grammys, the form of an album continues to change and streaming services continue to dominate music. Beyonc茅 has received the most Grammy nominations with nine.
Beyonc茅 appears in 'Lemonade.'
Courtesy of Parkwood Entertainment
In today鈥檚 music world, the definition of an album is continuing to morph and streaming services are increasing in popularity. And industry leaders embracing these shifts hope to be recognized at the Grammys, which air Feb. 12.聽
Beyonc茅, who leads with nine Grammy nods, provided one of the industry鈥檚 most-talked-about recent works with 鈥淟emonade,鈥� an album that included an HBO film. Some reviewers saw the movie as an essential accompaniment. After the film aired, the album was made available on Tidal, the streaming service that Beyonc茅 co-owns with her husband, Jay Z. The visual album concept was also seen with rapper Frank Ocean鈥檚 work 鈥淓ndless,鈥� a 45-minute video that included 18 songs and was streamed through Apple Music.
Ken Zambello, who teaches vocal ensembles and the history of rock music at Boston鈥檚 Berklee College of Music, is reminded of the MTV era when the presentation of music was similarly reinvented. He sees the visual element as a way for artists to further express their message to listeners. 鈥淲hen an artist started putting lyrics on albums and giving the listener more information, I think it sort of helped the whole popularity of what they鈥檙e doing...,鈥� Professor Zambello says. 鈥淭o me, this is just the 21st-century version.鈥�
As for where fans found Beyonc茅 and Mr. Ocean鈥檚 work, streaming services continued to attract new listeners. The Recording Industry Association of America reported that during the first half of 2016, revenue from streaming grew 57.4 percent, lifting revenue growth for the music industry as a whole. Services like Spotify, Apple Music, and others fight to appear on listeners鈥� playlists and often score exclusives with artists, as when rapper Drake鈥檚 work 鈥淰iews鈥� was briefly exclusive to Apple Music.聽
Zambello says music companies need to catch up if they haven鈥檛 already. 鈥淢ajor record companies that have not jumped on board coordinating that [release on streaming services], they鈥檒l start to lose influence,鈥� he says.