Visual album

A visual album is a type of concept album in which the album is accompanied by a feature-length film or individual music videos for every song. Usually, the film, or "visuals", emphasize the album's overall theme and serve as the "visual vehicle" that enhances the experience.[1]

Though music films and videos accompanying albums are not new in popular culture, the term achieved prominence in modern usage after the release of American singer-songwriter Beyoncé's 2013 self-titled album.[2][3] Prior to Beyoncé, she had also released music videos for thirteen tracks from her second studio album B'Day (2006); all videos were included in B'Day Anthology Video Album (2007).[4][5] Jonna Lee's project iamamiwhoami is said to have been promoting the "audio-visual album" format since 2009,[6] and the band Animal Collective had similarly earlier described their experimental 2010 album ODDSAC as a "visual record".[7]

  1. ^ Krishnamurthy, Chaitra (October 22, 2022). "Midnights is Taylor Swift's first visual album with a series of music movies". HITC. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  2. ^ Danton, Eric R. (December 13, 2013). "Surprise: There's a New Beyonce Album". Rolling Stone. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  3. ^ "How Beyoncé turned herself into a pop god". Vox Media. August 15, 2022. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  4. ^ Gonzalez, Alex (September 4, 2021). "Beyonce's 'B'Day' Turns 15: Collaborators Remember the Music, Moves and Visuals". Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  5. ^ "Beyonce releases 'B'Day' video album". USA Today. Gannett Company. April 5, 2007. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  6. ^ "iamamiwhoami - Blue". DIY. November 9, 2014. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  7. ^ "Hey, It's an Animal Collective Film Project Quasi-Update". Pitchfork. December 4, 2008. Retrieved January 23, 2023.