One of the largest developments in the music industry in the past 25 years has been the growth of streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. Music is instantly accessible with just a click, and playlists, curated or algorithmic, are central to the experience.

Streaming services have made listening to music more accessible, but also easier to ignore. Most listeners are not thinking about what they are listening to or who created it, let alone truly appreciating the work put into it. While this new way of listening to music has its benefits, such as increasing artists’ exposure and making music more available, it has one key drawback: the decline of the full album experience.

Playlists allow users to sort songs from any artist or album into random groups that most people shuffle play. While it can be nice to create a group of songs that you know and love, they pull songs out of context, ignoring the order and cohesion of the album.

Jim Fabian ‘26, a musician and producer, said, “Musicians put so much energy into every song, and specifically to the order of songs on an album. Every little thing, every way the songs flow into each other, was intentional and has a purpose.”

By listening to playlists alone, the listener is only getting out-of-order snippets of the artist’s true idea, greatly detracting from the level of artistry in the music. Upper School music teacher and industry professional Gilles Pugatch said, “You miss out on a lot of artistic ideas when you don’t listen to the whole album. You’re not getting the artist’s vision.”

Additionally, by only listening to the songs the listener knows well enough to put on a playlist, only the most popular songs on new albums are listened to, and the rest are forgotten. In the past, listening to every song on the album, even the so-called ‘skips,’ was a rite of passage to get to the hits. Some of the best songs are those that you might not like at first, but grow on you with each listen. Without being forced to listen to the deep-cuts, some of the best songs on an album go completely unnoticed.

Pugatch spoke on the Department of Performing Arts’ recent Great Gig performance of Prince’s iconic album, “Purple Rain.” He said “One of the deepest cuts on that album, “Computer Blue,” is a really interesting and amazing song that I don’t think you would dive into if you didn’t listen to it on the album, and you would be missing out.”

The difference between listening to playlists and whole albums is comparable to watching minute-long clips from a movie completely out of order instead of watching it in its entirety; one’s appreciation for each aspect of the art, whether it is music or a movie, is exponentially increased by its relationship to the larger picture. Just like any form of art, an album is greater than the sum of its parts, and for that reason, the next time you want to listen to some music, play an album.