Single vs EP vs Album

[raymondh]

Hi everyone - interested in your thoughts on this one....

In the digital, streaming, instant-gratification world, does the old physical concepts of EPs and albums mean anything?

If I load up an album of music on Spotify or Bandcamp, I almost invariably find that the first track gets most plays and a diminishing scale of plays for the subsequent tracks.
I don't think it's because the first track is any better than the others, and in fact the whole album was generally arranged to create a greater story where the album builds up from track to track etc.

Back in the day when I would go spend money on a physical CD or Vinyl album, I had 'skin in the game' after spending my money, so if the first track didn't appeal, I was invested to listening to the rest of the tracks fully. And with the old radio gram, I couldn't be bothered getting off the couch to skip tracks , and how many albums have we all bought that we didn't enjoy first time around but after repeated plays, some of them became our favourites!

As an experiment, I recently made a 'continuous mix' album where I stitched together multiple tracks, added bridges etc to keep the continuity. (watch out Jarre ) The whole thing runs for 40 minutes and to my delight I found a number of people have played the whole thing through without skipping! In a way it was a single, albeit a long one!

And with the concept of playlists, do people really ever play albums as they were intended any more, or do they select the songs they like and add to their playlists?

On the other hand, I have more conversations where friends talk about their favourite albums, than their favourite songs!

So....

What do you folks thing, either from your perspectives as producers, or consumers of music. Is it better to have infrequent albums loaded onto streaming services or more regular uploading of singles ?

[eusti]

Interesting questions...

Somewhat related: I still listen to albums that I buy on Bandcamp on my music player... I'm not too into the Bandcamp app as I cannot delete songs or repeat songs / the album... Maybe it's just me, but I feel the consistency of albums had gone downhill... Band where I used to like whole albums don't seem to deliver that standard any longer... Or maybe I'm just not willing to put up with stuff that I don't get into fast enough any longer...

Sorry, if this doesn't really help! I personally wouldn't listen to a 40 minute long song thingie... That is just not how I roll...

D.

[pushedbutton]

The future is ringtones...no wait, it's notification sounds.

[MannequinRaces]

I’m still in love with albums. But... listening mostly digitally now I skip around a lot and the experience isn’t the same as when I’d buy CDs and listen to them as soon as I got home. Back then it was an event. Now with the advent of streaming I feel the ease in which I can listen to new music the experience is somewhat watered down. Still love going to concerts and am looking forward to them resuming.

[guitfnky]

I think about this a lot. I’m a self-described “album guy”, and I don’t understand the appeal of the single, even in our current time. playlists are okay for finding new artists, but once I hear something I like, I find the album and listen to that.

the album is how I make the ultimate determination as to whether the artist is actually worthwhile for me—if I don’t like (or at least feel a good chance that I WILL like) probably at least 80% of the album, it’s pretty likely I won’t listen to it again. there are SO MANY GREAT MUSICIANS out in the world, I don’t get why people would want to skip all over the place, instead of hearing the music in context with the rest of the release (album). I feel like I could never find a real sense of satisfaction if I listened that way.

I was actually planning on doing a video to discuss this at some point, if you can believe it.

[PhillipOrdonez]

Most albums only have a couple of good songs. The rest is mostly fillers. Most artists/bands only have a couple of good songs anyway.

I'll listen to a long DJ set if the DJ is good and I have the time, gladly, but not an album...

[MannequinRaces]

Just goes to show different strokes for different folks. And that's okay!

[EdwardKiy]

An interesting topic. I think an album is a vessel for narrative. It's still good for it and it is also a display of finesse. However, if it's something like an assortment of dance tracks or of pieces unrelated musically, it would make no sense to have them as an album just for the sake of having an album, and EP/Single would be the way to go in terms of marketing.

[Zac]

I think the concept of album listening is still only alive for the generations that grew up without streaming. There will be a minority of dedicated album listeners but from being in other people's cars and homes most people are skip freaks. I recently spent 20 mins in a car with an old friend (he's 48) and didn't get to listen to more than a minute of one song. I was pulling my hair out!

[guitfnky]

Most albums only have a couple of good songs. The rest is mostly fillers. Most artists/bands only have a couple of good songs anyway.

this is true. and exactly why I don’t understand why people waste time listening to artists like that. there are too many good, consistent artists out there to waste time sitting through substandard albums to find one or two decent songs.

[guitfnky]

I think the concept of album listening is still only alive for the generations that grew up without streaming. There will be a minority of dedicated album listeners but from being in other people's cars and homes most people are skip freaks. I recently spent 20 mins in a car with an old friend (he's 48) and didn't get to listen to more than a minute of one song. I was pulling my hair out!

just reading that gave me anxiety. that’s so irritating.

[pushedbutton]

before social media an album gave listeners a better understanding of personality and it was a rare way to feel connected to the artists. These days we're saturated with opinions and know probably too much about the people who make the songs we live our lives too.
If you want an essay about what the chord progression in track 4 means and how it was inspired by the drummers goldfish, Eric, you can probably find it.
To make your music feel special and stand out the best antidote to the current situation is to release 20 seconds of music then retire forever.
Buying an album these days is more about supporting the artist than actually listening to the album. Being a successful musician these days is almost a collaborative effort with your fanbase. We've reached a point where music is just an extension of social media merch.
To answer the question, if you're thinking of making an album think about why it's an album and not a collection of singles. What ties it together to make it a collection?
In practice the process is just the same, make music. If it goes together put it together, if it stands alone release it as a single. It's not likely that you'll have a liner approach to creating music so work on as many songs as you want to until you've got something you want to share.
If your aim is to wait until the album is done the chances are you'll have over 50 projects floating about until a coherent set of songs comes together. In my opinion the idea of 'working on an album' can be toxic to your workflow. Work on music, if an album comes out of it then that's your product. Don't limit your creativity by worrying about how track x sounds after track y but if it comes together then great.

[guitfnky]

before social media an album gave listeners a better understanding of personality and it was a rare way to feel connected to the artists. These days we're saturated with opinions and know probably too much about the people who make the songs we live our lives too.
If you want an essay about what the chord progression in track 4 means and how it was inspired by the drummers goldfish, Eric, you can probably find it.
To make your music feel special and stand out the best antidote to the current situation is to release 20 seconds of music then retire forever.
Buying an album these days is more about supporting the artist than actually listening to the album. Being a successful musician these days is almost a collaborative effort with your fanbase. We've reached a point where music is just an extension of social media merch.
To answer the question, if you're thinking of making an album think about why it's an album and not a collection of singles. What ties it together to make it a collection?
In practice the process is just the same, make music. If it goes together put it together, if it stands alone release it as a single. It's not likely that you'll have a liner approach to creating music so work on as many songs as you want to until you've got something you want to share.
If your aim is to wait until the album is done the chances are you'll have over 50 projects floating about until a coherent set of songs comes together. In my opinion the idea of 'working on an album' can be toxic to your workflow. Work on music, if an album comes out of it then that's your product. Don't limit your creativity by worrying about how track x sounds after track y but if it comes together then great.

wow, that’s cynical. you’re not wrong, but damn that’s depressing.

I finished my first album recently, which will be released soon, and it took a looong time to do, but it’s been really rewarding. I didn’t worry about crafting the track order until after I had everything done. I would agree it’s not a great approach to be thinking about how your album will flow during the process of writing it, in most cases. figuring out how to put songs in a coherent order is a different kind of process, which can be interesting and fun in its own right.

[Rising Night Wave]

i personaly think that matters: story of the release. so that many songs.