After 65 years, Is the Album Format Dying?

After 65 years, Is the Album Format Dying?

Summative Graded Unit – Ryan Borthwick

The Aim During the 6-8 minute

timeline, I will be looking into the belief that in the modern world of downloads, the classic album format that we are all familiar with is dying!

The documentary will explore the album and its current place in the world of music (along with excerpts of its great history) and more importantly, it’s future

Research I have uncovered many different opinions on the album

and its current situation and the future it faces. I have found out that The US music industry, the world's

largest market, has experienced a drop in album sales from 800m in 2002 to 316m a decade later

Some reasons for the albums loss in sales worldwide include - It was a visual experience -millions of albums were purchased because of the album artwork alone, The Demise of Record Stores, The Price - Albums used to be a bargain and most importantly, the 21st century invention called the music download!

Katy Perry’s latest album “Prism” only sold 300,000 copies in first week of release (but that was still more than the next 8 in the chart combined)!

Story Arc Start with Voxpops exploring when the “target

audience” last bought a full album Briefly State/discuss the albums recent fall in

popularity Discuss the album’s illustrious History over the

past 65 years In depth, discuss the album’s current place in

modern music/popular culture Discuss the album format’s future in the music

industry/modern world Conclusion

Style

The overall style of this package will be informative. It will explain the reasons for the album’s loss of sales and popularity. It will discuss the possible “bleak” future for the format.

However , throughout my documentary, I will try to portray a glimmer of hope for the format and highlight the fact that with increased vinyl sales (mostly thanks to the Daft Punk album “Radom Access Memories” shown above) there is still hope for the album yet in this new era for popular music.

Interviewees There are many different people who I could try and

contact to interview for this project. These are the type of people I would like to interview

–

1. A engineer/producer who have produced albums in the past 2. An accomplished musician who has made albums in the traditional format3. A expert in Music Business 4. A new upcoming musician (to find out what they think about HOW people would listen to there music in years to come)

Radio Station The radio station that the package would be made for

would be BBC Radio 1 This means that it would have to appeal to the younger

audience of Radio 1 (typically 14-29) This target audience are very used to and are capable of

using Social Media and being online. They have interests in modern chart music including a

variety of genres including Dance, Pop, EDM, Hip-Hop and Rap

The target audience of Radio 1 use informal language, so the package will have to be written in a way that will appeal to them.

“The Radio 1 Style” The style of the majority of BBC Radio 1 shows is as follows

–

Pace – The pace of Radio 1 is medium/fast. Language - The language used on the station is

mostly informal. Music- Mostly current chart music (including a

variety of genres – EDM, Pop, Hip-Hop) Topics Covered – Issues that are important to

young people all across the UK. Everything from Celebrity News to personal stories (Sunday Surgery)

The Listener

I will engage the listener by using a variety of different interviews. Including the ones listed earlier in this presentation.

I will use music heard on BBC Radio 1 that will again appeal to the listener (including music from selected albums)

Also I will use SFX where appropriate It will be a presenter led package with the

presenter’s links helping the package flow in between interview clips.

Shows that have Influenced Me A large number of Radio Shows have influenced

me Here are a few - Bob Harris Country (BBC R2 Thursday 7PM) – Country

music show broadcast on Radio 2 by broadcasting legend Bob Harris. A very informative show. He is very knowledgeable and passionate about the music he plays.

In Demand Scotland (Bauer Network 7-10PM) – The old version of the show presented by Romeo (Before 17th Feb 2014) Networked across Scotland on Bauer Network. It was full of Energy. Loads of Interviews but it still had a local feel despite being networked.

The Magazine Show My project will fit in our 1 hour long magazine show for

many reasons –

1. Our main theme is Media/Music and the topic applies to both.

2. Our radio station for our main magazine show is Radio 1 and my package will be produced for Radio 1 in the first place.

3. It fits in well with all the other the other packages in the magazine show.

Thanks For Your Attention