Albums vs Songs

[wendylou]

I have mostly released albums of songs, and only occasionally singles. Comparatively, it's more expensive for me to distribute singles versus albums. So I have been choosing to release albums for that reason and also because I'm old school and that was what most artists did: create a body of work as an album. But today it's a different world. Most people don't consume albums, and everything is a la carte via streaming services. I would be distributing way more music if I only released singles, but then it would cost way more than releasing songs as albums.

How many of you just focus on singles these days? Do you think it's time to forget traditional album releases?

[selig]

I'm like you, raised on albums and the magic they hold. Singles were 'promotion' for the album back in that time.

[raymondh]

Unless I'm alone in the car, I never get the continuous time to listen to an album. Between work and family life the short bursts of opportunity to listen to music make it more practical to either listen to singles, or albums that are collections of singles (as opposed to a journey designed to be listened to in one sitting).

Equally, if I had more time on my hands, I'd much rather sit back and be absorbed into a full album. PF Dark side of the Moon, Jeff Wayne's War of the Worlds, TD Tangram, Jarre Concerts in China,...

Dammit, I need to make time

[Jackjackdaw]

I like Albums and E.P.s. I like to get into an artist’s head a bit if I’m into them. That said , if I was looking to build an audience today I would release songs individually and regularly with play through videos on social media.

[QVprod]

Singles don’t have to be more expensive. I know subscription is a bad word amongst these parts these days but services like Distrokid (there are several) are much better for consistent single releases than say a CDBaby or Tunecore. You could always still compile into an album later and some services allow you an option to keep in stores should your subscription fail.

[littlejam]

hello,

i'll throw my ring into the hat:

movie soundtracks
2 types
the songs
and the instrumental stuff (ost (the score))

i'm working on movies and the dominant factor to writing the words
is the music i'm listening to

so i make long play lists
and it's neat when the same song shows up in multiple stories / verses

my mom took my brother and i to a pink floyd laser light show
at popejoy hall in alb, nm

very simple lasers in 1979
but the sound was so surreal
before surround sound

and 20 years later
friends and i are listening to dark side of the moon
on the roof of the house at sunrise above the sandia mountains

cheers and eat well,

j

[fullforce]

I'm like you, raised on albums and the magic they hold. Singles were 'promotion' for the album back in that time.

This might be true, but not every album is top notch. There's also "fillers" which are mediocre tracks, and the singles are abused to sell the album, trying to trick you into thinking every song is great.

[TritoneAddiction]

As long as an album doesn't have a bunch of fillers I'm all for albums.
I kind of miss the days when I used to absorb full albums more often. I still listen to full albums, but sadly it happens less these days.

[NMHindman]

A 'body of music' also allows the additional creative element of a theme or common thread running throughout, so that each song is complemented by the others accompanying it. Music distribution today is all about singles, no doubt; streaming is going to chop-up any album one releases anyway; that's simple reality. Beethoven and Mozart would gain no traction today with their symphonies never heard in whole. If you want distribution, -singles. If your emphasis is on the creative aspect of a body of work and you're willing to sacrifice popularity, -albums.

Even in the past, I always admired artists like Peter Gabriel who cared less about commercial incentive, and made us wait a few years for their next incredible album.

[selig]

I'm like you, raised on albums and the magic they hold. Singles were 'promotion' for the album back in that time.

This might be true, but not every album is top notch. There's also "fillers" which are mediocre tracks, and the singles are abused to sell the album, trying to trick you into thinking every song is great.

So true. And likewise, not every single is top notch. Even a single with a slamming chorus can have a ‘filler’ mediocre verse, trying to trick you into thinking the entire song is great. And also likewise, not every band is top notch and one album can be great and the others mediocre, etc…

I think we’re on the same page here…

[mcatalao]

Comparatively, it's more expensive for me to distribute singles versus albums. (...)
How many of you just focus on singles these days? Do you think it's time to forget traditional album releases?

With whom do you distribute? I use distrokid for my 2 projects and the annual fee doesn't change for amount of Albuns or singles. Maybe you're just using the wrong distributing aggregator?

Anyway, IMHO, the album is a story telling device with songs and is an important concept for me. So I like to wait till i have enogh songs for an album (actually i usually wait to have enough songs for 2 albuns, at least 20 and some more half finished, and start develope the album concept). I might release a couple of singles, but just to tease the album.

[MuttReason]

My kids think I'm weird because every time I come across a new artist, I go onto Spotify and listen to the artist's albums in the order in which they were recorded (ie the oldest release first) and I listen to the tracks on each album in the order in which they are set out in the album (you know, like the artist intended...). I love it... best way to get into any artist from scratch IMO. And that's quite apart from albums with tracks that flow into each other and are intended to tell a story (Pink Floyd etc) that can sound really disjointed out of sequence.

Reason the kids think I'm weird is because they only ever listen to, and share, playlists. The playlist isn't just a mixtape (remember them, dubbing from one cassette player to another? sigh....) with favourites pulled from specific albums, the playlist is pretty much everything, and who 'curates' it (hate that word) is as important as what's on it. Different world really.

But hey, all good, it's all music still and people get a bunch of pleasure from it still, so no worries.

To wendylou's question, I think the main factor here is that Spotify (and all social media) algorithms favour artists that upload new content frequently and constantly over artists that have big gaps in time between new uploads. You're more likely to appear in weekly recommended lists if you release a new single every fortnight or so than if you release an album 2 or 3 times a year. It's one of the reasons why so many excellent musicians end up as YouTubers cranking out product reviews and tutorials all the time... got to keep the social media beast fed every week or risk losing out in the black box algorithmic rankings....

[wendylou]

Comparatively, it's more expensive for me to distribute singles versus albums. (...)
How many of you just focus on singles these days? Do you think it's time to forget traditional album releases?

With whom do you distribute? I use distrokid for my 2 projects and the annual fee doesn't change for amount of Albuns or singles. Maybe you're just using the wrong distributing aggregator?

I use CD Baby Pro. I dropped Tunecore long ago after my subscription ran out and they were still selling my stuff on Amazon and would not take it down. Took me forever to resolve that mess. So with CD Baby, yeah, a single is a bit pricey compared to distributing as an album..