© Vinny Ribas
In recent years the industry has seen a dramatic move from artists occasionally releasing albums or EPs to frequently releasing singles. There are pros and cons to this. Purists, for example, argue that the whole idea of developing a project around some form of concept will become a lost art. I am not here to debate the issues. What I do want to do is point out some reasons why it can be a great strategy for independent artists and how you can best take advantage of it.
- You stay in front of your fans. In today’s saturated market, the term ‘out of sight, out of mind’ has never been more relevant. It’s critical that you stay in touch with your fans with something of value regularly.
- It creates constant anticipation. Nothing can be more valuable to developing and growing your fan base than to have people on the edge of their seats waiting for your next release.
- It’s easier to get engagement. Getting someone to talk about an entire EP or CD means they would have to listen to it all the way through. Bit getting people to listen to and talk about one just song (or view one video) is much easier.
- You get more listens. Data has shown that when an artist releases an entire CD, the songs towards the end of the project get far fewer listens than the ones at the beginning. By releasing singles you never have this challenge. All songs are equal.
- It keeps the excitement about you high. People like to see an artist’s career moving forward. Releasing singles shows that you are constantly working hard on your career. When they see progress they are much more inclined to get excited about following and supporting you.
- You get to ‘test the waters’ when experimenting with new ideas, sounds, styles etc. It’s much easier to gauge what the public like and doesn’t like to hear from you. By analyzing what has caught on and what laid flat, you get a clearer picture of what your fans want and expect from you. You can also determine how far you can deviate from that expectation without losing them.
- Your release schedule can be flexible depending on the life of each song. Some experts say release a new single monthly. Others say every 6 weeks. And other have more opinions. My thought is that it depends on the life cycle of the song. Leave yourself enough time to hype your song, release it and promote it. Ride the wave as losing as the excitement is high. But the minute you feel the excitement dying down, it’s time to start hyping your next release. This way you remain relevant and at the top of their minds.
- You can budget your production and marketing costs better. If you know you are constantly going to be releasing new songs, it’s much easier to set aside money every month for it. Having to come up with a lump sum of money to record and release a multi-song project is often prohibitive. Budgeting for one song at a time can be much more practical and manageable.
- You don’t wast time and money on ‘filler’ songs. Every big project has them, and they are basically throwaways. They are the tracks fans skip over or just son’t even remember.
- You can compile the songs into a ‘greatest hits’ CD or EP at any time.
