Albums or Playlists?
 

It should come as no surprise to anyone to say that playlists are now at least seemingly more popular than albums. Playlists allow for listener engagement, as they are painstakingly curated, like a DJs cratedigging for their club mix... or maybe not so much, just favorite songs tossed together to listen to on shuffle.

Personally, I love listening to albums. I adore music.- but frankly, I love it so much, it can become a chore to keep up with. I want to save and analyze each and every new release, and there are SO many new releases every week, even in just one genre, that's it's basically impossible. I would have to quit my job and drop out to listen to JUST all the good metal that was released this year, and as much as I'd like to, I don't have the time.

And that's where playlists come in. Playlists are low-pressure. I can turn on whatever Spotify is recommending, or a playlist made by a friend, or even my own, and just skip what I'm not feeling whenever I want. The songs aren't (usually) necessary to get a feel of a greater whole. Playlists are comfortable. It's also super fun (for me) to make playlists based on a certain theme or sound, and see all the different kinds of songs and genres I can put together and still end up with a coherent end product.

So, what about you? Have you joined the transition to playlist listening? Or are you still all albums all the time?

I occasionally throw on the My Mix last.fm radio, but apart from that it's albums all the way. I've tried out my Spotify daily mixes and they were decent but I wasn't too into them.

Focusing on albums closes me out on some single-based artists, but that's the only downside I see to it.

I usually throw a bunch of tunes in a playlist, then hit shuffle. It keeps things exciting and mysterious seeing what the next track is gonna be, then getting all excited when it's a favorite and not just a 'kind-of' favorite. There are a lot of albums that require a full listen to fully realize the artists intent too though. It's a mix of both for me.

For me, decades of owning albums, but making playlists for friends,
lovers, and, in general, car listening has been the way to go.
Also, my work in radio has been naturally playlist-based, so there's that.
I wish I had the time to make weekly Mixcloud mixes because I'm
always marking down (on paper and in my head) ideas for new ones,
but other projects await and Mixcloud has to wait a few weeks at a time.
The album ownership is going by the wayside for me these days except
for mostly special packaging goodies.

Albums for me. I'm too indecisive when I listen to playlists. At least with albums I'm listening to one artist I already like. I do like playlists tho but I rarely listen to them over albums.

I have my carpod playlist for driving, but other than that I mostly listen to full albums (work, studying/writing, general chilling)

I suppose pre-drinking or parties would be playlist time too but I don't have spotify so I usually leave that responsibility to someone else

Albums only.
I want to really delve into an artist's world when listening to music.

I have lots of playlists for moods and for playing in the record shop but I'm generally an album person.

Pretty much only albums these days. I'll have a lot of fun making Spotify playlists, but I end up not using them. I just really like that focused experience of an album, where the music will already have been curated by the artist to have variety and flow, and consistent mixing style. Playlists just don't give me that experience of a bigger work that has larger scale than the individual song.

I might skip a song or start in the middle of an album, depending on how I feel. I don't feel like I have to hear the whole thing every single time.

Both equally for me I think. Prefer albums but love curating playlists for myself and others.