"The first collection of records to be called an "album" was Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, released in April 1909 as a four-disc set by Odeon Records." (Wikipedia, "album")

One century later: what will become of the 'album' in the near future? Album was born when the object called album was invented. Since the album as an object doesn't exist in the future, or seldom exists, there won't be albums as passage obligé for all musicians. Thus, the album term should remain as a special format, chosen for a very special reason (like an artistic reason). It will be probably the reign of songs, solitary songs instead of albums. More Patrick Hernandez in the future. This is for industry. Art should be more creative about new formats. I imagine an album of 200 songs, for instance. Or 69.