Prince Kaybee Discusses Decline of Album Culture and Decreased Attention Span: “What a Time”
- Prince Kaybee recently spoke about the decline of album culture over the years
- The Charlotte hitmaker expressed disappointment at how albums are produced and consumed, speaking on the listener's attention span
- Briefly News spoke to a renowned rapper and music producer for some insight on the evolution of music
Source: Instagram
The ladies' favourite heartthrob, Prince Kaybee spoke about the decline of album culture and how musicians went from releasing 12 to 20-track projects to much less, due to the consumer's decreased attention span over the years.
Prince Kaybee discusses album culture
Prince Kaybee recently sparked a conversation about the evolution of album culture over the years, noting how projects are becoming shorter and shorter.
Taking to his Twitter (X) page, KaBillion ranted about the culture being "dead" and how musicians once found joy in compiling 12 to 20-track projects with the hopes of keeping the listener zoned in for an hour, but all that has changed.
PAY ATTENTION: stay informed and follow us on Google News!
Kaybee blamed the decrease in people's attention span, which, according to research by Northeastern Global News, has dropped from around two and a half minutes to around 45 seconds.
For this reason, unless you're 30-song Chris Brown, musicians find it hard to release albums longer than 15 tracks, instead releasing follow-up ("deluxe") projects to pack up their unreleased music.
Briefly News spoke to sound designer, music business consultant and member of Morafe, Towdeemac, who spoke at length about the evolution of music:
"Back in the 90s and early 2000s, the process of music creation and the rate of music consumption were relatively slow due to the tedious way of physical product development and packaging, such as having to book studio time weeks in advance or processes such as tape duplication and CD replication.
"These factors justified the slow pace of music production, the logistical intricacies of production distribution and how music outlets gatekept market access. The state of the industry abruptly underwent haphazard transformation around the rise of social media and online streaming.
"This new condition has economically affected creators and consumers to shift paradigms regarding how entertainment content is developed, packaged and accessed.
"This meant that consumers didn't have to wait months for one of their favourite musicians to release an album or wait around all day to hopefully catch their favourite song on the radio. The alternative was to buy albums in the form of tapes and CDs to access one's favourite tunes at will.
"Now, consumers can access their favourite artist's everyday life on social media, let alone just their music, and this leaves very little space for bulky offerings like complete albums.
"Although people have a concentration span to binge-watch an entire season of a series, it still stands because visuals are stronger than audio when it comes to commanding attention over a span of time.
Mzansi weighs in on Prince Kaybee's rant
Netizens discussed the Shuk Shuk hitmaker's frustrations and acknowledged the conversation surrounding listeners' attention span:
AustineMsagala said:
"Today's attention span has forced people to compile their thoughts in two lines because their paragraphs won't be read. People can't even read a paragraph because 'It's too long.'"
Cyrusmusik wrote:
"I was shocked to learn that an artist I admire recently released a 30-track album."
kinetic_muziq posted:
"We're okay with EPs."
Meanwhile, some netizens argued that nothing has changed, some blaming the decline in music quality. Towdeemac shared his thoughts with Briefly News on why that was:
"The quality of content (well-thought-out lyricism and composition) has dwindled significantly because nowadays, we work from our bedrooms. So there's no record executive on your neck about wasting studio time funds with lazy lyrics and melodies.
"Plus, the fact that you can record today and release tomorrow has also affected quality control."
Khomotso_Grey said:
"Kelvin Momo does it effortlessly."
Lesh154 wrote:
"We hip hop fans can't relate to this."
Range888888 argued:
"The product we are made to consume has declined in quality. Only Kabza gave us a high-quality album."
Prince Kaybee links up with fan
In an earlier report, Briefly News shared online reactions to Prince Kaybee shooting his shot to work with a budding artist.
The vocalist sang over one of Kaybee's latest productions, and it was only a matter of time before the producer hit him up with hopes of working together.
PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU - click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!
Source: Briefly News
