Text 1
In the past, music albums were created to be played back on physical formats like records. A typical record holds only about twenty-five minutes of music on each of its shiny black sides. This forced artists and producers to think carefully about what music to include on an album and what to leave out. Today's artists don't have to worry as much about fitting their music on physical formats. For this reason, many of today's artists are making albums that are much longer than albums from decades past.
Text 2
In today's digital age, most music is created to be streamed from online services. These services remove the limitations of physical formats like records and CDs. This may be why many new albums are longer and have more songs than albums crafted for physical formats. Unfortunately, many of these longer albums suffer from a lack of focus.
Based on the texts, the author of Text 1 and the author of Text 2 would most likely agree with which statement about many new albums?
Explanation
Context: Text 1 argues that physical format constraints (records holding ~25 min per side) forced artists to be selective about what to include on albums, but today's artists make longer albums because digital formats remove those limits. Text 2 notes that streaming has freed artists from physical limits, leading to longer albums with more songs—though many suffer from lack of focus.
Answer: C) Many new albums are longer than albums generally once were.
Why? Text 1 explicitly says "many of today's artists are making albums that are much longer than albums from decades past." Text 2 says "many new albums are longer and have more songs than albums crafted for physical formats." Both texts state this directly.
Traps:
- A) More artwork than older albums → neither text discusses album artwork
- B) Sell more copies than older albums → neither text discusses sales figures
- D) Quieter than older albums → neither text discusses audio volume or production loudness