It's interesting to look back on, the birth and death of Album Oriented Rock. It made sense when Led Zeppelin forbid singles in the European & American markets, to force people to give the entire album a chance and really get the feel for the wide breadth of what that band was trying to do musically. It certainly was a big part of their success.
But now that we've had a few decades of bands all doing increasingly derivative work, there's less and less of a point, because while there are plenty of good tunes scattered about, every band isn't developing some new & unfamiliar approach to music the listener has to sink into an entire album to grasp & fully enjoy, especially in the current era-rehash pop. Bands today are stuck releasing albums in Led Zeppelin & Pink Floyd format, without being anything like Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd.
Smart production houses & self-publishers pare down & save operating costs, by cutting the filler, producing singles, and saving everyone a lot of time and money.
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