I’m always excited when an artist I love drops a new album. The anticipation builds from the moment they announce it or release a single. When it finally drops, there’s nothing like putting in your wired (because wired is definitely better for deep listening) headphones, laying back, and really letting all the sounds hit you. My. favorite type of album is when it tells a story, from the beginning to the end, it feels like we made a journey. However, it seems like the concept of an album rollout and era is becoming less popular. I have just a few notes.
I’m a firm believer that not all, but many roads lead back to Beyoncé. In the case of an album rollout, this is also the case. In 2013, Beyonce surpised released her self-titled album. No singles or promotion. She also released it on a Friday, which at the time was uncommon. This eventually led to the official release date of new music shifting from Monday to Friday.
Since the release of her self-titled project, Beyonce has transitioned to less convential album rollouts, and many artsts have begun to follow suit. However, these same artists are not finding the same commerical success that Beyonce has, mainly because they don’t have the following or relevance to do so. Beyonce can do what she does because she put in the work for so many years prior, and most people seem to forget that.
There are many artists who are now becoming “singles artists”, meaning they release back-to-back singles and maybe an EP, but not a full-length project. While this may favor today’s trends business-wise, artistically, it’s very detrimental. Full-length projects show an artist’s personality and put together a cohesive body of work. There are so many songs that I love that weren’t singles, but album cuts. It’s where they can dive into the music the most without worrying about commercial performance.
Now there is a different side to this coin. Many artists these days are independent because they want as much creative control over their music and brand as possible, which is perfectly understandable. Why wouldn’t a creative want to be able to create freely? The downside to being independent, however, you’re doing many things on your own. Paying for things like studio sessions, music videos, performances, and many other things out of your own pocket. Creating an album is expensive. A lot of artists just don’t have the bandwidth to do that, especially when they’re first starting out. So, several singles may be the way to go from a financial aspect.
Something else potentially contributing to the downfall of albums is attention spans. With the rise of TikTok and reels on Instagram, short-form content is becoming more and more popular. Videos above one minute are less likely to go viral. This mentality is seeping into the music business. Songs are becoming inherently shorter. Most songs now are three minutes or less, and have even started to do away with a bridge. Everything is becoming shorter because people can’t focus for extended periods of time, and it’s affecting art. I could go into a whole spiel about chart data and how that’s being affected by streaming, but that’s a conversation for another day.
Leave a Reply