The move is likely to be perceived as threatening the long-term survival of the album and will be met with horror from die-hard rock lovers.

The album has long been seen as a forum for experimentation for bands that had the luxury of choosing 12 or so tracks, not all of which would have been tried and tested with the listening public by being released first on a single. The Beatles released Yesterday on an album in Britain; it was never produced on a single in Britain. Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven was also never aired before it was released in an album.

In addition, at the back of every artist’s mind in the lead-up to their next album release is the notion that this might be their Sgt Pepper’s.

However, a great many albums by major artists only have three good tracks on them anyway, something that happens for a variety of reasons. Some bands get so fazed by the notion of following up a hit album that a kind of creative paralysis sets in. If The Stone Roses, for instance, had the option of following up their seminal eponymous album with a succession of song “clusters”, it might have served to focus their minds and avoid the massive disappointment that greeted their Second Coming album.

Very few new bands will admit to such problems. That may account for why Warners’ e-label is focusing primarily on new acts and “legacy brands” (the nice term invented to describe acts like Cher and David Crosby, whose profile is way in excess of people’s desire to buy entire albums by them).

Should we sympathise? It depends on the band. Ten years ago, when New Order released their dodgy Republic album, fans were held to ransom: to get its three or four decent tracks, they would have had to endure six or seven of pure filler. When the group released their recent Waiting For The Siren’s Call set, things had changed. We could just spend £3.16 downloading the good ones from the iTunes store.

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