Joe Levy
Music editor, Rolling Stone
Yes. Kids have no interest or training in buying CDs. The music industry will soon realize this, and out of economic necessity they'll refocus on selling hits, karaoke versions of hits, ring tones, and IM callout hooks. Will kids pay a quarter for 10 seconds of Justin Timberlake? Absolutely, and it'll make record companies very happy and parents very miserable.
Ann Powers
Senior curator, Experience Music Project; author, Weird Like Us: My Bohemian America
Some artists I talk to don't like the life schedule that albums tie them to - spend 6 months creating a product, hit the road for a year supporting it. Ultimately, I think every artist will want to create works of different sizes. The next Kelly Clarkson may do a single a month for iTunes instead of a cobbled-together album of pop product. It's gonna be challenging for Billboard, that's for sure.
Robert Christgau
Senior editor and chief music critic, The Village Voice
One never knows, does one, but to me the idea that the album is "a dying art form" seems balmy - and the saner theory that it's an obsolescent cash cow only computes if you assume the music business equals a few major record labels. But even assuming an unlikely worst case for the record biz, mega and indie, let's say this: For as long as artists tour, they'll peddle song collections with the rest of the merch, and those collections will be conceived as artfully as the artists possibly can.
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