Is the album dead?

I largely agree with this, but have mixed feelings about it. As a child of the decades when albums were still popular, it pains me to see the format going to the grave. Then again, I always hated album filler!

"Doug Pullen of ElPasoTimes.com recently conducted an interview with The Cult frontman Ian Astbury. A few excerpts from the chat follow. On the current state of rock music: "Rock 'n' roll now is pretty much in the garbage. It's barely alive. Everybody has taken from it. Nobody has given back. There are a very few who have given back. It's a very selfish occupation. A lot of people never really returned. That's why we have a lot of pastiche and we have a lot of artists who are never involved beyond their sophomore albums. It's a travesty."
"There will be no new album. I don't think we'll ever see a Cult album. Albums are dead. The format is dead. iTunes destroyed albums. The whole idea of an album. Albums were established in the '70s and '80s and into the '90s, but they've been dead for a long time. Nobody buys albums. It's been proven. It's an arcane format, as much as the 78 rpm or writing sheet music for an orchestra. It's an old form and, for me, it's much more about if we have a great song we really believe in, then we'll record it and release it."

"For me, the idea of making albums is dead. The idea of spending a year and a half in the studio arguing over agendas and trying to fit into a format that's settled before we started the creative process (is unappealing)."

Story.