Something I said on ILM yesterday.

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Which nobody addressed - the thread was moving fast and this was a tangent.

I can think of two long-term marketing triumphs for the record industry. The former possibly accidental (but probably not), the latter definitely on purpose. First is the promotion of the album as a format and the repackaging of popular music as non-disposable. Second (linked to the first) is the promotion and success of the CD format as a way to buy old music as well as new.

It's the level of accident I'm interested in really. The move to album format, the move away from disposability - when did these happen (I know that in the UK 1969 was the year album sales overtook single sales), and how proactive or reactive were the record labels in this?

Comments

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

This is more instinct than fact, but I also wanted to toss this in (following on Frank's comment above): remember that the Beatles US and UK releases were different up until 1966 or so, surely the moment when they and their label got together and said "Hey, this is not just about whatever 10-14 songs we can squeeze onto 12 inches of vinyl, but rather THESE 10-14 songs..." Part of that is artistic intent, obviously, but it also means you have to conceptualize the album itself as a product and not just bonus tracks added to a single.