Changing How I Listen

I like to listen to entire albums. I think there's an artistic message in the whole that in created from all the songs a group put onto a single disc. Even with digital downloads, I prefer to buy the whole album rather than single tracks.

I noticed last year that the young folks couldn't care less about listening to an album all the way through. It's all playlists compiled from similar (and sonetimes not-so-similar) artists. Temporary albums of their own making that they listen to for a few days, then trash and start a new one.

Now I find that I'm cherry-picking tracks from artists. I'm becoming a singles guy.

I've downloaded various tracks by the Rosebuds, Neko Case, the Raconteurs and Fiona Apple. Some Sufjan Stevens and some Arcade Fire, but I stop short of getting the entire album. Has digital music finally changed me? Am I better for it? The juxtaposition of singles paired on a playlist can create pleasing effects -- like going from a New Pornographers song to a Neko Case track. Similar and very different.

But will I miss out on the artists complete message? And is the artist's intended more important than the one I create with an assembled playlist?