2014 appears to be the year for industry navel-gazing about the future of the album, with execs and pundits chipping in from all sides. Apple may have played a significant role in unbundling the album in the first place with its iTunes store, but one of its senior iTunes execs says it remains committed to the format. Asked by The Guardian about the impact of Beyoncé’s last album, with its surprise release but also its video for every song, senior director of iTunes International Oliver Schusser said this: “We were incredibly proud of the Beyoncé promotion, but it all starts with a great product. It’s a very strong album, with very strong videos: a really attractive package that was actually priced relatively highly. I actually agree: it has made people think again about the future of the album. Creatively, we really believe in albums, but that doesn’t say we don’t believe in giving customers the choice to buy songs as they want. But as a creative concept, I think albums have actually been quite strong over the past year.”
Tools: platforms to help you reach new audiences
Tools: Kaiber
In the year or so since its launch, AI startup Kaiber has been making waves,…