Singles VS Album as a debut release
An Independent musician’s point of view of the indecisiveness of the developing music industry.
Let me start off by saying: I have no intentions to give any number of proofs or any of that, only to give a simple and clear explanation about my decision.
The fact is, in the last couple of years the development of the music industry has been incredible!
It all started with the end of the CD era and the comeback of Vinyls. These days we can’t ignore the increase in music streaming, which takes a huge part in our life.
Here’s a story to clarify what I’m saying: two years ago I moved from Israel to live in Boston MA. In my first day in America, I got myself a new cellphone, and after doing that (and opening a bank account), the first application I downloaded to my phone was Spotify. That’s how the “Way into the global music industry” seemed to be in my eyes in 2016 as an indie rock musician. The reason for that was that every article I had read in Hebrew or English in 2016, mentioned “Spotify” in one way or another (while it wasn’t available to use in Israel until March 2018). These days I use streaming all the time. When I’m cooking, taking the train, writing stuff, and even while sleeping!

Like Gary Vaynerchuk says, “The game has changed”. We’re dealing with a new era and as one of many of indie musician out there I’m trying to take advantage of these recent and future changes and to adjust myself in order to make the best out of it for me and for the “Stereo-Tips” (IG/thestereotips). And by saying “The Best,” I’m talking about taking advantage of music streaming benefits to build a fan-base, and a strong one at that! Something that will give you a bump as a musician right into the heart of the music industry, if you play the game right and espicially if you aim there.
The instinct of most of us artists is to make an album, but let’s think about it for a second from the business perspective only. Except concept albums, is there any other reason for a new band or an artist to make an album as a debut release in 2018?
Don’t get me wrong, before you get angry with me, when I first asked myself this question two years ago it was in favor of making an album. To be honest, I was making an album. Twelve songs with an extra track to be the 13th.
One day after a conversation with Or Vengle, who is the second hemistich of “The Stereo-Tips,” we started thinking about what we were doing, and the bigger question, why were we doing it?
My cellphone was filled with albums of Oasis, Muse, Radiohead, Queen, Led Zeppelin and more, and I realized that in 2017 I didn’t have any new albums from new bands after 2015. I don’t have any music that is not a single from new bands after 2015; on the other hand, I had plenty of new singles from the same genre which I discovered thanks to streaming music, Spotify playlists, and other features (of course, it’s individual for each person’s taste of music and genre).
Now think about it, how many new albums (those released in the last 3 years) have you listened to in the past week? Now think further. How many albums have you listened to in the past week in the same genre that you’re creating? If the answer is more than 1–2 don’t let what I’m writing affect you. But I can bet that more than 80% of you answered “none.”
I truly believe that the reason for this is because people are losing patience! You need to win your crowd’s love as fast as you can if you want to succeed in the new-age of the industry.
Ask yourself, as indie musicians who doesn’t have a label backing them with their first release ever — What will give you the best profit for your needs and goals? A bunch of singles or an album?
Now, I’m not saying you need to lie to yourself and do something you don’t believe in. The only thing I am saying is to ask yourself; How is this album or single going to help me get to my goal in the best way? And does the crowd you want to attract to your music will have the patience to listen to the whole thing?
If you have answers for these questions, you’re on the right track. If you believe each one of your songs is a hit and believe in your music, maybe you should start releasing singles first and then make it an album a few months later to pop it back up again. And of course the most important question is, what do you and your music stands for, and what is the best way to show it to the world?
