Comment Forward to the past (Score 1) 250
'Albums' as such came about WAY long ago when the standard audio medium was a 78 rpm record. Generally speaking, it was one song-per side, so one disk = 2 songs. So to compile say, 10 or 12 songs by any artist, or maybe put a whole symphony into a single package, multiple disks were put into a bound book of record sleeves (literally, an 'album' of records). When technology changed and brought about 33-1/3 LPs (Long Play, for the kids out there) the same number of tracks could be put onto a single disk; when CDs came along, they just copied the current de facto standard. The idea that you have to continue to somehow package 'albums' within the context of digital distribution is absurd. Sure, bundle tracks that form parts of a coherent whole, or can be mashed-up to, say, feature all recorded versions of a song over the years, but stop forcing artists to come up with filler, and let them do their thing instead.