Every Friday at 12:01am, a slew of new music releases hit the marketplace. Many artists work countless hours on projects and are ready to unveil them for mass consumption. On any given week there could be three or more high profile releases from various mainstream artists not including releases from up and comers. Whether it's Apple Music or Spotify, fans will be able to hear it all.
However, (I’m being honest here) I can’t keep up with it all. It's too much, man. I love music as much as the next person but I am burnt out from all these releases in such a short time span. Right now music is produced, recorded, and released more than ever before because the cost and barriers are lower than ever. It feels like there's a great deal of pressure to be up to date and knowledgeable about music and provide commentary on all of it. I know I am guilty of this practice and most likely you are too.
This growing trend is something that I’m noticing with consumers and the industry alike. In the past month alone, I have heard State of the Culture panelist, Scottie Beam talk about it. I have heard Parks from The Joe Budden Podcast talk about it. I have heard the guys from Dead End Hip Hop talk about it. This tweet from perfectly sums it up.
The effect of this is oversaturation of the music marketplace. Plenty of solid projects get lost in the shuffle. Artists don’t get a chance to champion their art. Nowadays, projects don’t get a chance to breathe and get their legs underneath them before getting tossed to the side by the public for something new in this generation. An album/project that was released a month ago is considered old by the masses. The word “classic” has lost its meaning when describing albums. The quality of the music is cheapened and devalued. Artists are working double or triple time just to keep up with the demand. I foresee the longevity of artists getting shorter and shorter over the years.
Maybe I am just talking out loud and yearning for the good old days, but I can’t help but wonder if all of this access is hampering artists in the long term.