Louder: How Much Is an Album Worth in 2020?

August 21, 2020

By Caryn Ganz

Pop Music Editor

An obvious statement: The act of purchasing music used to be far more attached to handling money. But in a new critic’s notebook, Jon Caramanica looks at how two relatively recent developments — streaming detaching albums and songs from a specific dollar value and major artists tacking albums onto lucrative merch sales to earn more and game the charts — are combining to change the way we see the value of the actual album. “What, if anything, is an album truly worth in 2020?” he asks. “Depends on the business model.”

Plus: a wonderful trio of profiles. Marcus J. Moore on the British saxophonist Nubya Garcia, a heralded member of London’s buzzing jazz scene who is stepping out with her first full album, “Source”; Jeremy Gordon on Secret Machines, the New York band known for its explosive live shows, returning after the death of one of its three members with its first album in over a decade; and Lindsay Zoladz on Alicia Bognanno, who reimagined her indie-rock band Bully as a solo project, wrote songs for the Courtney Love-esque character in the movie “Her Smell" and is speaking frankly about having bipolar II disorder.

If you missed the news that there were two arrests in the 2002 killing of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay, do not skip our story. And after years living under a conservatorship overseeing her personal well-being and finances, Britney Spears has requested some changes: Joe Coscarelli explains.

Continue reading the main story

How Much Is an Album Worth in 2020: $3.49? $77? $1,000? Maybe $0

It depends who’s selling. As some artists release records that feel like footnotes to bigger businesses, others double down on their value.

By Jon Caramanica

THE CRITICS, POPCAST & PLAYLIST

the playlist

Mariah Carey Calls for Action, and 12 More New Songs

Hear tracks by Phoenix, Angel Olsen, Bebel Gilberto and others.

By Jon Pareles, Jon Caramanica, Giovanni Russonello and Lindsay Zoladz

album review

Bright Eyes’ Summertime Sadness

Conor Oberst’s band returns with its first new album in nine years, “Down in the Weeds Where the World Once Was,” an LP that tempers despair with battered optimism.

By Lindsay Zoladz

critic’s pick

Dia Beacon Reopens With a Sonic Boom

The D.J. Carl Craig’s basement “club” shows the affinity between minimal art and techno music. It’s an after-party for the Covid age, minus the sweat.

By Jason Farago

critic’s notebook

At D.N.C., Billie Eilish’s ‘Future’ Meets Jennifer Hudson’s ‘Classic’

Hudson is the institution-approved star, Eilish the stylist with the heart of a classicist. Both brought something worth savoring to a different kind of arena.

By Wesley Morris

The Music Lost to Coronavirus, Part 1

Remembering Joe Diffie, Mona Foot and DJ Black N Mild.

Continue reading the main story

Nubya Garcia, Tapping Into the Past to Make Jazz for a New Generation

The British saxophonist has made a big impact on London’s buzzing scene. Now she’s releasing her first full-length album, “Source.”

By Marcus J. Moore

Ryan Lowry for The New York Times

Secret Machines Are Back. So Much Has Changed.

The New York City band known for explosive live shows went on hiatus in 2010 and lost a member to lymphoma in 2013. A new album finds them in a new rock landscape.

By Jeremy Gordon

Kristine Potter for The New York Times

Bully’s Alicia Bognanno Is Revealing Herself, One Rock Song at a Time

The singer, songwriter and guitarist writes frankly about having bipolar II disorder on “Sugaregg,” the first album she’s made as a solo project.

By Lindsay Zoladz

Conor Oberst’s Week: Listening to ‘Moby-Dick’ and Watching Not-So-Dark TV

The musician is in Omaha, preparing to release the first Bright Eyes album in nine years as quarantine days blur one into another.

By Jeremy Gordon

Continue reading the main story

2 Are Charged in Killing of Jam Master Jay, Hip-Hop Pioneer

The two men had long been suspects in the 2002 killing of the D.J., a member of the group Run-DMC.

By Ashley Southall, Mihir Zaveri and Alan Feuer

Britney Spears Seeking Substantial Changes to Conservatorship

The singer has lived under a complex court arrangement since 2008, but in a new filing, her lawyer says the singer no longer wants her father in charge.

By Joe Coscarelli

Lizzo Notches a Win in ‘Truth Hurts’ Copyright Case

A judge ruled that just because a group of songwriters worked on one “DNA test” song with Lizzo doesn’t mean they have a claim to another.

By Ben Sisario

the charts

Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s Raunchy ‘WAP’ Rockets to No. 1

The rappers’ single debuts at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 while Taylor Swift earns a third consecutive week leading the Top 200.

By Ben Sisario

dealbook newsletter

TikTok Makes a Deal (Not That One)

As the Chinese-owned app negotiates its potential sale, it is signing a different sort of deal.

OBITUARIES

Steve Grossman, Hired as a Teenager by Miles Davis, Dies at 69

He was just 18 when Davis recruited him to play saxophone in his band. He went on to play with Elvin Jones, and to lead his own groups.

By Julia Carmel

Billy Goldenberg, TV, Movie and Stage Composer, Dies at 84

He worked with Steven Spielberg, Barbra Streisand and Elvis Presley, wrote the theme music to many familiar series and accompanied Nichols and May and Bea Arthur on Broadway.

By Richard Sandomir

Julian Bream, Maestro of Guitar and Lute, Dies at 87

It could be argued that he, even more than Andrés Segovia, established the guitar’s credibility as a serious solo instrument.

By Allan Kozinn

MOVIES

Magdalena Wosinska for The New York Times

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter Party On With Bill and Ted

Dude, the actors are friends in real life and did have excellent adventures on the first two films in the series. Now they’re back onscreen together in the long-awaited follow-up.

By Dave Itzkoff

critic’s pick