Interestingly enough, I never was a singles or albums listener all the way up to high school. Never really gave a **** about what was on radio and I didn't really have that much of a grasp on why albums were interesting either. And then I discovered progressive rock as a freshman: turned me into an albums guy almost overnight, and then other genres became fair game after that.
For me, music is an investment in more ways than one. You figure out what genres really push your good buttons at some point so that's where you really put your energy, focus, etc. People tend to specialize whether they're aware of it or not.
However, there's still a bit more to it. One of the biggest differences between singles and album-oriented people is like when you go to the ocean: you'll have people who might walk along the beach and sunbathe, and then you'll get fewer folks (but still a lot) who rush out there and snorkel/dive. Some people want to explore greater depths and some people are content with admiring the surface from afar. Like anything else, some folks care more about music on the whole than others do.
Looking forward to following this journal though DJ. Keep up the good work!