We live in a unique time in the music industry. Fans consume music in a completely different way than they ever have. With the emergence of Spotify, Apple Music, Pandora, Tidal and a plethora of other options, listeners now have an incredible worldwide music library at their fingertips. With that change has come behavior differences, with artists trying to get on elite playlists, crank up their streaming counts, focusing on singles to promote. It almost seems like the concept of an album is taking a backseat to the idea of constantly pushing forward new content on a regular basis to keep a fanbase engaged. And that leaves every band and musician with a decision to make: how do I want to produce my music?

Engaging with Consistent Content

When releasing music in this format, most musicians talk about their new “single” that they have released. While this is technically correct, the reason is artists use this regular release of music to keep listeners and followers engaged. This puts the objective on incrementally growing an audience, instead of depending on an album to carry the load for a year (or more). By going with this small bite-sized approach, a lot of risk is reduced in the event the record is a flop (not to mention the reduced cost of a single). This creates a short feedback loop, so as soon as music is released the artist knows what does and does not work. This means that even the bad songs can teach you something. Now you can see what resonates with your audience: melodically, style, lyrical, emotional. As you grow in your sound, style and production quality, you can quickly put your best foot forward with this constant input from your fans.

As that content keeps coming your fanbase can grow incrementally with you as they come to expect new music on a regular basis. This creates a constant level of excitement since your audience will be anticipating each new song. The result is a focused level of songwriting knowing that each song has the power to grow your musical brand, thus avoiding the “throwaway” song that can appear in the middle of an album when no one is sure what else to put in there. This pushes your creativity into new territory and again allows you that quick feedback on what kinds of music works for the audience you are cultivating. Finally, and this is subtle, but when you release each record as a single you can apply for each one to be placed on Spotify playlists. If all your music is in a long album, Spotify will only allow for you to apply for placement of a single song.

The Case for the Album

While it might seem obvious from the above that you want to go with single records to get the most impact for streaming, there are reasons to go pursue that full-length album you’ve been dreaming of. One of those is income. While streaming is where a lot of money has been going, the royalties for those plays are incredibly small and it takes a lot of streams to make a measurable impact for the artist. However, if you are a musician or band who plays live shows in your city (or maybe even does some touring) then there can be a lot of money to be made in merchandise sales. A lot of times new fans that discover a band live will want to buy something right then. While t-shirts and buttons are certainly a component of those sales, the best thing to offer them is some actual music. The format may be vary from artist to artist (vinyl, CD, download card), but an EP or full-length album is incredibly beneficial, both financially and for locking that fan in. And then with that music out in the wild they become an instant ambassador for your music as they play it for their friends. Streaming on Spotify still feels like a very personal experience, but a vinyl record on a nice home stereo or a CD in the car is still a communal event.

Let’s be honest, here. This is about making great music that we are proud of. An album is an opportunity to weave a tapestry of continual storytelling over multiple songs. If you can get the engagement from your fans, you can take them on a roller coaster of emotions that is hard to do in a single record setting. There is ultimately something very satisfying about pulling together a theme of music that speaks to our growth and art in a more complex and subtle way. It may not make the most commercial or financial sense. But who said art always had to be those thing.

Whether you decide to release constant content or go the full-length album route, there is an incredible opportunity these days to get your music in front of new fans worldwide. It ultimately comes down to what you personally want to achieve with your music. Whether you want to make singles or release larger projects, feel free to reach out to us at Forge Audio Productions to find out how we can help make a record you are proud to release.