Music is an integral part of life today and with the world opening up to newer sounds and appreciating new genres of music, newer artists are stepping up to release songs via the digital platform which has made distributing music so much easier. Artists these days are releasing singles more than LP’s or EP’s and this has seen a rise in their popularity and more recognition to indie musicians.
A single is a song recording released outside of an album or as a pre-release to an album. It is usually released in different formats mainly as digital downloads or music videos to be used as a promotional tool for an album but sometimes independent artists release it to gauge public reaction to the sound they produce before releasing a full-fledged EP. This concept is also used as a tool to market the most popular song or group of songs within an album collection before its release to generate hype. A single may be one song or up to three tracks. This is the predefined norm for popular digital music players like iTunes or Spotify.
Recording and releasing singles is a great way to work out the technicalities of releasing a full-fledged album and also to prevent any issues or errors which may arise. Cost wise also singles are cheaper to record and distribute as it does not take very long to record a single. The time flexibility makes it an easier option to release new singles every few weeks or months which leads to creating a lasting impression in the audience’s mind simply by the frequency of media bytes. It also helps in formulating and executing a media plan to get maximum coverage which works in favour of the artist. It gives artists and bands the opportunity to showcase their best work and garner a fan following, while working on other material. It also allows them to display their work one single at a time without waiting for longer periods to release a whole album. This increases audience recall value as well.
Releasing singles too frequently though may lead to confusion in the minds of press and the audience and may seem like an attention seeking move without giving the time to absorb the music previously released by the same artist or band. It is also better to have few great singles than innumerable average ones. Releasing three to four singles per year is a decent number to keep your music in audience’s mind as well as getting them to look forward to it. Having said that, content today has a very short shelf life as everyday new media is being released and the Internet has bridged the gap between the audience and the artist. Releasing singles is a great way to keep the media engaged and at the same time offers the advantage of not losing the newness factor. By consistently releasing new media, the audience is also connected to the artist and social media has made direct interaction and immediate feedback possible.
Releasing singles also benefits the songwriter artistically as it allows him to showcase his work to the audience as and when he likes without the additional baggage of releasing an entire album. It also leads the artist to step up his game and bring out his best work in every single he releases as he doesn’t have the support of a set of songs to see him through audience and the critics.
This article was featured in our November 2017 issue: http://bit.ly/2AHLAj5
