Which gives the better music experience: playlists or albums?
The accessibility of music streaming platforms nowadays has been more centered on user-friendliness. This resulted in the ability of users to gain access to different projects and singles, within the most convenient time frame. The contribution of music streaming giant, Spotify in defining the listening experience catered to the intricate demand. In individuality and personality.
Even though there is a difference between playlists and albums, this will always be a subjective topic because there is no wrong way to enjoy art. Having the access to control what you listen to has been essential in the overall scheme of the musical experience.
Which gives the better music experience: playlists or albums?
Albums: The Artist’s Direction
Defined with the complete project, albums composed records arranged by the artist’s own liking. Music is marketed as intended by the artist. Having a sense of coherence and balance within a project has been meticulously being studied in the last decade.
Seen in the likes of Tyler, the Creator‘s self-produced album Igor, and Mac Miller‘s posthumous album Circles, which both creatively covered a definite storyline throughout their course.
The listening experience intended by the musicians is highly connected to songs. Both projects exhibited a full circle, in which the protagonists in the albums defined their journey to be cyclical in nature, and escaping this cycle is up to their own power.
Playlists: An Acquired Taste
The former indicates that music’s intention in experiencing a whole project. Playlists still have their quirks and charms. First introduced as mixtapes, the compilation of tastes also provides a sense of individuality for listeners.
Since there is a part of the audience in these playlists, the music is more engaging and highly personal. Having the ability to seemingly create an album of your own by compiling different music from different artists, while having the overall feel linger throughout the compilation. This breaks the fourth wall between listeners and artists. The part of the audience introduced the music itself.
Subjectivity
As I said earlier, enjoying art is subjective and having an objective statement for people who have different tastes only shows counterproductivity from art itself. It is apples and oranges, where people can enjoy the artist’s own conduction in albums, or their own creative mind in playlists. Overall, music is just there to fill the spaces of time we want to pass, or enjoy.
