Coldplay released a song today and is releasing their new album in a month.
Beyonce, Wilco and a host of other people have done surprise albums out of the blue all at once.
The popstar du jour releases single after single and you never even hear about an album.
Adele gets the press murmuring for a few weeks, and then hits us with a single and an album release date for a few weeks after.
Two things:
1. It seems like the 8 month press ramp up to an album release is going away, if it hasn’t already.
These days if an act is lucky enough to get media to pay attention, they’ve gotta deliver the tunes SOON, because three months from now (if not three minutes from now), everyone will have moved on.
While/if the press is paying attention, put out the music. Don’t string along the hype about the album without showing us some tracks.
2. No one is releasing music the same way. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.
There’s no precedent for these modern times.
The second the thought occurs to you “we have to release music this way because that’s the way it’s done”…squash it and understand that artists are taking creative liberty more than ever with how/when/where/why they release music.
You don’t have to be a part of “the way it is”. Because there is no way it is.
That’s not to say there’s not a lot of planning, vision, marketing behind all the different ways artists can release music. The truth is there’s probably more intentionality and reasoning than ever.
So…You get to come up with the plan. That is awesome and fun, and also scary and burdensome. You can’t fall back on “the way it is” anymore as an excuse to whine.
You get to come up with what you want to do, build a unique plan and make it happen.
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I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com