When I first started doing "Acoustic Workshop", my folk music radio program ten years ago, I would receive on average about 4 or 5 submissions a month from artists seeking airplay. I would listen to every cut on every album and generally would play a few cuts over the next month or two from about 60 to 70% of them. It certainly took at least 5 or 6 cuts per album to get the general "feel" of the recording. Currently I receive probably 20 to 25 CDs per month and the percentage of those that I find interesting enough to play on air would be closer to 20%. There are probably a number of reasons why this is so, and I'm sure some are purely personal. As a rule, the quality of production and packaging is uniformly high, and generally the artists themselves for the most part are competent or better. Perhaps I've been so close to music for so many years that I'm a trifle jaded, but I hear so little that seems inspired, or really original and generally after 60 seconds of the first cut, I know what the rest of the album will be like. Women singer-songwriters tend to be so strongly influenced by one or two successful artists (Ani DiFranco, or Loreena McKinnett for example) that by the second or third cut the "influence" is all that I really can hear. Other strong influences are Joni Mitchell, Mary Chapin Carpenter, and more recently Alison Krauss. Nuthin' wrong with those folks, but I'd rather hear the originals. The "Dylan", Neil Young and John Prine influences come through very strongly on a lot of the recordings by male singer songwriters. Albums by Celtic (style) bands have now become so numerous that it is truly difficult to tell one from another - and adding an African or south American (or bluegrass) feel to a Celtic band helps only on rare occasions. Once again, perhaps I've just heard too much music....but maybe not. I think the majority of the newer songwriters don't listen to enough varied music before they start to compose - and rush that first CD out. At one of the city's open stages I see so many young performers who can barely make an "F" chord already singing their young life stories to totally uncritical audiences comprised of OTHER performers.
The end result for me, is perhaps I now just don't have the time to wade through 20 totally derivative (though probably pleasant) albums to find that one by a young artist who may have the potential to be really something one day.
If every new artist that wanted airplay sent me their very BEST song on a one track CD, I think I'd be able to get into it a little more and probably a higher percentage would get that airplay.
Some albums (by songwriters) still jump out at you though. One that comes to mind is "Annie Mae's Wedding Album" by the Toronto band "Slowpoke". However if I were BUYING albums by original songwriters today, I think I'd be tempted to go with the "one song from this, and one song from that, and another from this...etc.

I think that on rare occasions a new artist is strong enough to sustain real interest over a whole album, but for the most part I hear a lot of filler, and I guess that's why I've gotten somewhat jaded. There ARE gems but I just don't have as much time to hunt for them.