What do you suppose is the design thesis behind Spectral Evolution’s 12 tracks on CD condensed to 1 on streaming? A distrust of gapless playback to render the work as intended? Or a rigid preference for any section not to be heard out of context in a playlist? Something else? It saddens me to consider artists with album-length tracks only being paid some fraction of $.003 per album listen. Rafael Toral is not alone, here. I’ve noted a few albums released as one track recently.
Yea so he says “I wanted to make 100% sure the integrity of the listening experience was kept, with no gaps or hiccups. The CD is the only medium that allows for separate track markers not interrupting the audio.”
This is an important dilemma. I just checked and on Spotify it’s one track as well (I’d only streamed on Bandcamp, and of course bought the CD). Unlike, say, The Neck’s latest, I can actually imagine individual tracks from Spectral Evolution on a playlist or otherwise shuffled. Toral seems inclined towards longer tracks — the last two records on Room40 were three and one tracks IIRC. I doubt streaming numbers are particularly significant for an artist like that, so an aesthetic choice it must be. But the question remains yes why break it up into 12 on the CD? I’m inclined to ask him now. Will let you know.
What do you suppose is the design thesis behind Spectral Evolution’s 12 tracks on CD condensed to 1 on streaming? A distrust of gapless playback to render the work as intended? Or a rigid preference for any section not to be heard out of context in a playlist? Something else? It saddens me to consider artists with album-length tracks only being paid some fraction of $.003 per album listen. Rafael Toral is not alone, here. I’ve noted a few albums released as one track recently.
Yea so he says “I wanted to make 100% sure the integrity of the listening experience was kept, with no gaps or hiccups. The CD is the only medium that allows for separate track markers not interrupting the audio.”
I admire that.
This is an important dilemma. I just checked and on Spotify it’s one track as well (I’d only streamed on Bandcamp, and of course bought the CD). Unlike, say, The Neck’s latest, I can actually imagine individual tracks from Spectral Evolution on a playlist or otherwise shuffled. Toral seems inclined towards longer tracks — the last two records on Room40 were three and one tracks IIRC. I doubt streaming numbers are particularly significant for an artist like that, so an aesthetic choice it must be. But the question remains yes why break it up into 12 on the CD? I’m inclined to ask him now. Will let you know.