So this is an interesting question that came to my head that’s worth talking about.
Spend enough time in visual kei and you’re bound to come across a band that’s released a song on an omnibus, otherwise known as a collection album from various artists. But those types of albums have all but ceased to be produced as of late. I was chatting with @blacktooth and the last one he can remember is the Yougenkyou series (which was very good).
So why do you think that omnibus albums are no longer popular within visual kei? Is it the shift to digital distribution? Is it a change among listening habits of fans? Is it something else?
Also feel free to use this topic to talk about all the badass collection albums out there. Some of mine are the HOLD YOUR KEY series and that Matina collection that was re-released last year. What are yours?
Very fitting thread, I just received a Yougenkyou vol today
I would think digital distribution is the main culprit. People don’t really rely on formats like this anymore for exposure to new music, without having to commit to a single artist release. Magazines also don’t seem to carry any kind of sampler anymore, but maybe some type of collectible, like a flexidisc by a single artist.
The latest collection albums (other than the aforementioned one) I bought were not VK, but a series of vinyls, filled with local artists of different genres during the lock down periods to support the local barscene.
It’s definitely because of digital distribution.
If they innovate with omnibus releases with unreleased tracks, booklets, etc. it could work again. Although the cost would be high and it wouldn’t be worth it.
It’s a shame, thanks to the omnibus releases we can get to know more bands. One release I loved was Marginal Structure.
Digital distribution is a culprit, but I think it may also be due to the companies that typically put these out shifting to just putting on lives instead of bothering with a physical release (like Hysteric Media Zone).
Due to the nature of the scene, people follow individual bands rather than live series or magazines. Unless bands release exclusive tracks on the Omnibuses, there really is no incentive for people to buy them.
Agreed with the theory that it’s due to digital distribution. The way we consume music has changed quite a bit and sampling the work of any artist is just a few clicks away. Visual kei has only come this far in this regard in the last couple of years so I often think of how discovering music has changed for me as a listener recently and I’m glad I can actually listen to new music on a release schedule. Algorithmic recommendations and smart shuffle have replaced the omnibus I think.
In a media ecosystem dominated by physical and printed formats, distributed in CD shops and mail orders, the omnibus album is a win-win for labels and artists alike. For labels, the omnibus is a sample platter that markets their rosters in the hopes of boosting sales. For artists, inclusion on a release with more well-known bands helps people discover them. Labels that did this well developed a cohesive identity and reputation for their rosters, like Matina and Key Party.
And of course there’s a third winner: the listener. Just like I prowl the aisles of Costco in search of free samples, I love grabbing a new-to-me omnibus in the hopes of finding something new. And usually I am attracted to an omnibus based on band or label recognition, but funnily enough the tracks from bands I know rarely end up being my favorites on these.
I’m not sure if we assign more historical significance these days, whether by virtue of our disconnection over time or space from visual kei. One of my favorites is the legendary Emergency Express series. I’ve learned so much about the history and evolution of 90s vk from listening to these chronologically and it just feels like these contributed to the rise in popularity of the scene. But did they actually?
Interestingly, the omnibus seems to have been largely succeeded by label-curated playlists on streaming platforms. I see this for a lot of western labels, but I can’t think of many examples from Japanese labels. @GreatNorthernVK has a GreatNorthernPoint—visual kei fans do typically default to favorite bands more than anything else. Today’s media ecosystem is defined by everything being available and on-demand (and not necessarily having to pay for everything you listen to). It’s much easier to pick a band or two and focus on depth rather than breadth. Perhaps labels are aware and cater to this particular type of fan. I dunno.
To me this always seemed like a way to popularize smaller bands by putting 1 or 2 songs from better known acts that serve as some pulling force, so as there are not nearly as much new band it just doesn’t make sense.
Is it just a playlist though? I feel that an omnibus provides something physical that elevates it beyond a playlist. A playlist on streaming services can be modified at any time but a CD is fixed view into the past.
I make a lot of playlists for our trade-offs, and while some of the ones that I’ve gotten are really good, I’ve never felt the same kind of magic from them that I get from a collection album.
I think you imply something personal into something that doesn’t contain it by design.
Omnibuses made sense before 2010ish. Many bands could get exposure to people who couldn’t have listened to them. I remember omnibuses from visual kei , I remember omnibuses from emo and metalcore. That was literally how I got exposed to certain bands back then.
Now this is not necessary because recommendation algorithms completely replaced this mechanic
Aren’t recommendations from algorithms personal and based off your listening/viewing history too? I think it’s fair to say both can have a projection of something personal that doesn’t contain it by design, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there!
An omnibus is a physical album, complete with packaging, booklets, photo books, maybe some lithographs, etc. Unless artists are distributing hi-res PDFs of their concept art like Wintersun did for Time II, we undoubtedly lost that in the transition from omnibus to playlists.
Also, since anyone can create a playlist now artists have a new problem, which is really the same problem just packaged up and sold differently. When everyone can be a curator and anyone can create a playlist, how do you separate the wheat from the chaff? How do you cut through and make sure your song on your playlist is the one? With an omnibus there was sometimes consistency, as if you know the same group of people were responsible for curation.
…and then you have releases like Hell Drawing which were just consistently bad, but still, consistency!
this is perfectly put! another thing to take into account about them is that there are always going to be bands just not on streaming services, or spread across a bunch of them with no rhyme or reason.
it’s really unfortunate that these have fallen out of style, as i am someone who still primarily buys compilations as a way to discover new music. i consistently find bands or musicians that just aren’t anywhere else.
it’s also deeply frustrating, like @blacktooth + @GreatNorthernVK were talking about, the ‘evolution’ of fandom priority being specific rather than broad. i have never been a visual kei fan with ‘brand loyalty,’ so the landscape seems to have left a lot of us behind!
also, wouldn’t these things sometimes have interstitials that are messages from the bands (versus the entire comment CDs)? that’s always fun!
Omnibus album are still really popular in indie EDM spaces. a few of them only actually ever get avaible for payed download, yet there even like that the complication system works good enough to be continued.
I’m surprised that starwave (which seems to be losing bands faster than recruiting them at this moment) does not do a regular omnibus thing… they do collab singles, so it would be the next expected thing from them.
I feel like the era of mid-size indie labels that did that sort of productions is gone and it’s not the digital space to blame (look at how many digital releases nazare puts out compared to physical scene), bands tend to be managed by boutique labels which never carry more than 5 active units at once or do everything on their own now.
I can see some form of split releases coming back eventually with bands that perform together releasing live-only split EPs or maybe an album worth of different stuff, given that VK recycles its trends after putting them on very long breaks.
