The Future Album

Beck’s last album, Guero, gave the music industry a different way to think about what an album could be. It was “something to be heard, seen, and reconstituted by audience and artist alike.” By creating a series of different versions- visual, alternative, listener changeable- people are able to interact with the music. For Beck, the new potential for an album’s form continues to evolve. He feels that artists should approach making an album by embracing the existing technology.

Cover art has always been important to him (he has a strong art background), and he feels that album visuals have been devalued since more people are listening to music on their computers. Beck has been inspired to change this. He has been experimenting with ideas for his next album, like replacing album art with pop-up motion graphics. He would also have customizable cover art, so no two copies are the same. This would be accomplished by creating various sets of stickers available for the listener to interact with and create their own cover.

Another version of his new album would be viewable on Internet sites like YouTube. For this, he has filmed a series of homemade videos for each of the songs. He hopes that this visual version will add to the experience of listening to the album. Not all music labels would let their artists have so much control over approaches and distribution of their music- maybe technology is changing this model.

Beck isn’t the only one experimenting. Tom Gibbons and Josh Koppel, feeling that there was more to music than the music, missed being able to read lyrics and album notes and look at photos (as I do). Last year they created TuneBooks, a QuickTime multimedia file with lyrics, credits, photos and videos that can be downloaded along with an album. The hope is to revive sales of albums, instead of just singles, through the use of digital art for music. More work for designers!

Technology seems to be driving development of new ways to experience music, especially in album form, and that seems like a good thing. As one who has an iPod nano in my backpack and numerous vinyl LPs in my basement, I embrace the changes while appreciating the substantialness and visuality of the old.

WIRED, September 2006.