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The Best Music Release Strategy In 2024 (Single Vs Album)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2024
- When it comes to releasing music, timing is everything.
Singles and Albums both have merits, but knowing when to use each as part of a wider strategy is key.
So today I'm going to break down when to use each to further your music career.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments 👇
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Hey! I’m Damian Keyes and I've worked with musicians every day of my life for the past 20 years. The internet is de ply untrusting understandably and here is my background so you can have the full picture.
When I was 18, I was signed to a major label and at 23 I co-founded a Music University in Europe called BIMM (valued at $300M). I’m also a bass player, I’ve played for a number of artists including Eric Clapton, Alanis Morrisette and Billy Cobham. I initially retired at 30, but realised that life gets boring if you’re not building!
I have always been in-between the music industry and education which is how I ended up building my TH-cam channel - I’ve been teaching artists how to release music long before it was a ‘niche’! I now educate artists around the world with my Academy, TH-cam channel and Social Agency.
It’s great to meet you and looking forward to working together on your music!
Singles promote the artist, but the artist promote the album. Brilliant👌
Thanks so much dude, really appreciate you watching and commenting, means a lot 😊😊
Or bullshit?
Maybe it's just me, but I see the waterfall release as the perfect solution. You unveil your album track after track, telling your story bit after bit, keeping suspense but also giving constant value
100%
I’m takin this route ❤
Thanks again for keeping these to 10 minutes instead of 30. Good stuff.
Yes lmao, don’t want him to become the next Adam Ivy
I have been following the waterfall strategy for my latest record. I have put out three songs so far, constantly growing the numbers and now I’m set to put out the full record. The way I approached it was to put out the songs that I could advertise best , trying to boost the numbers so by the time my full record comes out , the tracks already have a lot of momentum behind them. I am trying to find that balance of putting myself out there to be heard while also trying to put it out for me. It’s a hard balance to achieve at times. Thanks as always Damo for all your encouragement throughout the process 🙏
Appreciate you, I like that you are working on both the strategy and ensuring you’re own needs are met. Keep building and experimenting and when something starts to work, go all in 😊😊
Videos are great! Been out of the game for 15years and just decided to start writing and recording again. Released a single last week and excited to have accomplished that but I watch these videos to maybe get to a larger audience. Great stuff!
This is such a lovely, concise delineation of art and commerce. They can both use the same craft to different ends, and you can create art to fit commerce, but they're not the same. The internal, creative need to communicate and the external need to sell are difficult to integrate emotionally.
You are definatly the best content creator on modern music release strategies. Another great video 👏
Hi Damian I am getting ready to release a song that I believe is going to go VIRAL! Recorded it in October in Louisiana. This is my 1st time going in a studio and coming out with a song I believe to be a hit. Guarantee you and millions of other are going to love my song. I am sure you heard that before but I am confident in my song. Producing video and EPK this week. I have been following your strategies since the beginning of my journey. I am i love all your advise! I chose to do singles and was glad to see this video.
Thank you so much
Captain Ron Cheatwood
Yes. Brilliant. Gracias. 🙏🏼 I’m releasing singles then the album after every single and accompanying video has been released. New Classic Rock is my genre. 👍🏼 Thanks Mr Keys. 👍🏼 Love your content. Have for quite a while.
Thanks so much Steve, appreciate you, keep smashing it! 🙂🙂
You've addressed some major questions I've had for awhile now, as I prepare to release my own music. Thank you!
Thanks Kevin, really appreciate this 🙂🙂
Damian - great take. I’d say my only concern is people can’t really listen to me as a collective whole unless I have an album. If I have an album or EP, they can hear everything, all at once. if it’s just a single, maybe they come to my profile, stream it, don’t like it, and are gone. Idk, that’s my biggest worry about an album (and I’m an artist with
I release singles on Spotify and then make a video version that I put on TH-cam. So every track from my album has 2 different audio versions and one is in video format too.
You pretty much nailed this. Needed it today, thank you :)
Such a great take. Can’t wait for more videos!
Releasing a few singles that build up to the release of the full album feels like the most natural path. Whether or not that works depends a lot on how much you can get those singles (and eventual album) in front of people.
Can you make a video series analysing what an artist did great e.g., Artemas and what they are doing that hinders their growth e.g., Zara Larsson (though big, always been saying she wants to do stadiums) but has been stagnant for years.
I can defo do my best on this, let me have a think about how i can make that into a YT video. Thanks for the idea 🙂🙂
upvoted
I would like to hear your advice on things like Black Metal. As a BM artist I don’t want to saturate an audience. Cause I want a supply and demand for physical media.
So we limit our physical.
But if you are Cradle Of Filth, your exposure can be greater than if you are Xasthur.
Cause the fans of both bands are incredibly different. Even though they are basically in the same genre.
In BM once your CREDIBILITY is gone, you can’t get it back.
Good question and I agree different genres (especially sub genres) require slightly different strategies. While I am not that experienced with Black Metal, a lot of the music I listen to is metal (old and new).
I would say supplying for physical is a great idea. Many artists wait until music has been released instead of capitalizing on momentum as albums can be released even if the songs aren't digitally released.
What I would say is you will have a gut instinct for what your audience wants and what you are able to give them. Just make sure you are releasing music for them using the best strategies and not for ego or narrative and you will win! 🙂🤘
@@DamianKeyes that was a great answer. Nuance in style and process is what keeps everything interesting. But fundamentals remain.
Nuff said. God bless you cat!
SOLI DEO GLORIA
(To The Glory Of God Alone)
Father, Son & Holy Spirit
-Ronnie
As a music art, you really inspire me sm🫶❤️
I really appreciate that, thank you so much 🙂❤️
I completely agree! I'm just releasing 9 singles, that's one single every two weeks over the summer starting on 1st of June, under the brand URBAN SOUL COLLIDER in case anyone is interested. I'm doing this mainly because my genre is commercial dance music, so I need it out there over the summer and to saturate the market with my awesome sound. I could release an album with an extra 20 minutes after all the singles are out there. But I am happy with getting the music out there consistently.
Love this one, I’ll go check it out, thank you 😊😊
I get what your saying in this video , for our band we're a concept band that write and performs songs about survivors of a zombie apocalypse , throughout the album we tell those stories and it fits together with the dialogue and makes sense (Think of Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds but with Zombies, thats what we're striving for) . A single on its own for us can lack a bit of context , people have no idea what it's about because they don't have the back story and it just comes across as a bit weird. Unless we write that single to be more self contained. It's something we've been struggling with promoting across the Spotify generation.
I'm currently working on my first EP and I plan to release my first single friday next week followed by two more singles roughly six weeks apart. I am not a professionell musician though. My goal is to get something out for people to listen to and then hopefully start touring a bit. It is also just a dream coming true.
I wanted to do a full album at first but at this point it is just too time and money consuming. 🙈
Still love the album format, personally and I still listen to records (digitally) front to back. Though i think most people dont listen to music that way anymore.
Well said mate! People need to hear this
Really useful video as always. I started my project before learning this stuff and my first release was an 8 song album. I was not expecting virality as I had no audience but I think it gave me a good bit of breathing room and a good jumpstart to my online presence as I could promote each song from it without having to spend the time writing them. The other useful thing about it is that when I made the album I had no time constraints as it was before anyone knew me. I don't know if I would do that again, or if it would work for everyone, but it's an interesting strategy to consider.
Love it, appreciate this, thank you 😊😊
These videos are always fantastic, thank you so much for continuing to do them. My only wish is that they could be more genre centric every now and again. What works for Nic D might not work for an alternative rock/grunge artist or punk and metal bands (yep, totally talking about myself here!)
I hear what he's saying.
Everyone knows about Beyoncè's groundbreaking surprise self-titled album. Before it dropped there were alot of singles released albeit haphazardly before it. She was testing the waters.
Singles promote the artist, the artist promotes the album..... Genius, noted.
Appreciate that, thank you Andrus! 🙂🙂
Introduction: Timing is Everything - 00:00
Historical Context of Albums - 00:31
Single vs. Album Debate - 01:01
The Advantages of Releasing Singles - 01:57
Challenges of Releasing Albums - 02:56
When to Release an Album - 04:23
Common Misconceptions About Albums - 05:52
The Role of Physical Copies in Music Releases - 08:29
Conclusion: The Importance of Momentum and Timing - 09:26
Should you or should you not have the song already out on platforms while you're promoting it? I feel like there's benefits to not having it out while promoting it such as: feedback from fans, building excitement around release date, suspense, etc. However, on the flip side, if you don't have it out and you're promoting it (via social media content) people aren't going to be able to go and stream it if they end up liking a snippet.
That’s always the issue… only thing I can say is promote snippets and then release like 2 days later then go hard but the issue with social media now days is that they want longer videos to get views now so it’s hard to get views on short content now and surprisingly, nobody is talking about it
Love your videos man! Always very helpful as an independent artist. Here’s to releasing more music 🍻
Thanks Noah, really appreciate that 🙂🙂
Great video i have a album all done and ready to go but not sure what to first single/album so this vid helps a lot. Cheers mate
Thank you for this ❤
Thank you so much Will. Your new track sounds great!
@@DamianKeyes thanks sm
Hi Damien, I'm debating this subject a lot lately cause I just mastered 3 orginal songs ( and 2 covers not mixed and mastered yet). One of the singles is coming out real soon so.. following your tips and learning as I go.
As always, you make a good point. For me I think part of the issue of album vs single is recording and mixing costs, gathering the musicians, rehearsals, and so on. All of the effort just to record a song is a waste of time and money cause getting everything set for one single only it's a pain. Even in our case that we can record ourselves to save some coin. Yeah, it's about optimization...I think it makes a lot of sense recording, let's say, about 5 songs minimum, and then manage those releases as singles maybe. Then only produce the album physically as part of your merch almost..and if it makes sense (that's the part I'm not convinced yet by the way).- cause as you said the momentum for the singles is about novelty, and the same songs printed on CD's (they're practically dead anyway) don't do much on that regard. Again, it might make sense as building a phisical catalog for selling with your merch and advertising as such. Does it makes sense?
Hey Damo, would love to know what you think of this approach? I record albums, I put everything into that process, *BUT* I think about this process as stockpiling singles, batching. When it comes to release, I focus on each song separately and intently with maximum effort around a unique single release and promo. I release over half the songs on the album separately, *before* the album comes out. Any thoughts on this approach?
Peter Gabriel has a great idea for his new album. He released a new single every full moon. It generated a lot of interest and lots of people bought the album. I am not a huge fan of streaming. I love CDs. My feeling has always been not to put any singles out on Spotify and then let the audience buy into the music by buying a CD or a hi quality download. Ive always generated the best income from that - under the notion that if I uploaded to spotify, people would get it for free and I wouldnt make a crumb for it. The amount of money I make isnt much per year, but its about the same as I would getting 6 million streams a year on Spotify. Id never get that on Spotify I dont think....
Thoughts?
You have just got a Like and new Subscriber 🙌🏾
The video makes clear sense
That timing joke off the rip though hahaha
always blessing us with insight on this conversation
I really appreciate this, thank you so much. Let's make the rest of this year a big one!! 🙂🙂
I am saving this video to watch it as soon as I can
Appreciate this, thank you so much 🙂🙂
Do you have information about albums vs singles consumption over the years? Which one has been more relevant throught history and what are people more geared towards at this day and age? That would be an interesting topic to explore.
You are right that would be interesting, let me see what i can dig up. The industry has definietly taken a big shift towards singles however it would be interesting to see it in data form 🙂🙂
Traditionally, an album was a collection of singles and you released all your singles and then when you had enough hits, you released an album of those hits. I think Bob Dylan was one of the first people to release an album of songs that people hadn’t heard before as singles
Excellent video. Thank you. Answered exactly what I wanted to know. Question: do you know on Spotify, or whatever channel, if I release a single and then include it on the later album release, can you merge the plays into one track so that the single with all the plays translates with cover art etc to the album?
I’m in a duo, we released 3 singles and promoted e them on some and nothing really has happened, some mentions but not a lot, plays on Spotify under 1000. Then 2 weeks ago we released our debut album, and we suddenly got a lot of mentions and it just received 6 out of 6 stars.
I came into the music business very recently with the AI music evolution. So many of my fellow AI music creators are jumping on posting about their albums, some of them with as much as 3. Listening to experts tells me we still have a lot to learn. I wanted to get mine out around summer once I’ve mastered enough tracks but now I’m thinking the focus should be on building to a million streams first.
Love this comment. Don't forget your music is there to promote you and not the other way around. You have time and you can use the music to build your community but you are the hero however many tracks you push out to start with 🙂🙂
@@DamianKeyes Righteous! I’ve been following you since Day 1 of research! Appreciate the quick response 🥰
Appreciate you 🙂🙂
What do you think of releasing a song a week but posting demos and using the audience like an a&r guy for what works. And then posting fully recorded songs every like 6 weeks?
I like the idea of releasing singles of the album before the album release. If the album has 10 songs release 7 of the songs as singles, and the other three only come with the album. That way the singles build excitement for the album.
Yeah sounds good and think about how you can give even more excitement to the engagement audience who want the album early (possibly in physical) before its fully released. Drip feeding an album is a strategy that works if done well 🙂🙂
@@DamianKeyes Thanks for all of your great advice! Our band is currently in the process of releasing a concept album in exactly that manner. You’ll need the full album for the story, but we’re releasing singles first.
What are your thoughts on maximising a 15 track album release over 2-3 years? Doable? Advisable? How do you do it? :) Thank you btw for everything
Thanks so much Joshua, appreciate that!
I think 2-3 years would be a struggle especially if all the songs were out on Spotify. If you were doing individual singles you could push that to a year I think if you had interesting socials and promo.
I defo think it helps momentum when something starts to fly if you have options, so I wouldn’t plan too far in advance but instead start working on using the music to build yourself as an artist and then pivot depending on what does and doesn’t work. I tend to think about 12 months at a time because social media and promo can change in a heartbeat depending on what happens with a platform or consumption habits 😊😊
@@DamianKeyes Sorry, I did mean rolling out individual singles before releasing an album. 8 singles over 2 years too little to build momentum/success? what would you advise i do since i want this debut album to do well (and hence want to maximise the roll out as much as possible)
I say doable! Look at Griff, Dua Lipa, Angèle, RAYE ... all took about 3 years before releasing their debut man!
To add to that, Dua Lipa released 27 track debut album with half of it being singles so that's always an idea 😂
@@joshuarodriguez5986 yeah I reckon 8 singles over a period but keep the strategy flexible as if something working do it more and if it’s not experiment with it but don’t dwell for ages 😊😊
My daughter has just released her debut single. She has a goal to eventually release an album but I already thought it was a bad idea. Only us old folk listen to albums. And albums from select artists like Billie Eilish and Taylor Swift but for artists at the end of the scale, kids only listen to playlists. My daughter herself rarely listens to an album. She'll just tell Alexa to play X artist.
Well played! Your gut instinct was right. Albums are great for artists who can use them to maximise but for growth and discovery it’s all about singles and consistent regular releases 😊😊
What are your thoughts on releasing an album and doing a lot of singles so you can streamline the content and the promotion around the same project?
I'm currently doing my album with 8 singles before, seems to work quite well :)
Thank you.
So not sure if it’s a good way to go but I released a physical CD 5/4 and now I’m releasing singles from the CD…
I did 3 previous singles and now have 8 more to go.
Hey, I've got a question. Is it possible to release an album step by step on Spotify and Apple Music? So 1 song each and every month. So after a year the album is released completely.
what if you can't who you are in a single, or maybe the song chosen to represent and display what your band is in terms of music, style, image is a bad choice. What if the other songs in the album may give the audience what you're really looking forward to?
I only do albums on my 10th! Its a indulgence I know, but at the end of the day Im happy. Isn't that what its all about?
@Damian Keyes , Thanks for the info, it's much appreciated! I was wondering, from a small Artist like me, if you have say 10 singles and some of them are different versions from the original (say short Radio edits, maye a track or 2 that maybe you weren't too thrilled with), should you pull them off DSP's to only keep your highest quality tracks? Also if so, would these ever go on a Album or keep them off? Thanks, cheers!
So how many singles should you put out before you release an album
What if we just completed a live album then kicked a member out? Should we stretch the release or just drop it all and be done with him? We have plenty more music to record and release as singles.
just release 8-10 singles and songs and then compile them into an album, right?
You have so much knowledge and I appreciate this video! I do hope you can maybe help me with this.
Probably 2 weird questions to ask that may be off topic but let's say I have a 3-word artist name. Can my album cover have my artist name in acronyms? Example, the artist's name is "The Best Music", can the cover art be "TBM"?
Also, my second question. Apologies... but I keep researching online and can't seem to find the answer to this, but if I make a single with 3 songs. Can the cover art for it have whatever name title I'd like? Or does it have to be one of the singles title names on it? I would highly appreciate it!
I tend to think about an album as a piece of art. And a piece from the heart… I think about a beginning middle and end. That’s why I have 150 followers 😂
Hello Damian,
The band I’m managing is thinking of putting out a compilation record of all singles released in the last three years.
Do you think this “album” would be able to give those songs a second life?
Many thanks for your videos; your tips on practicing the show and on the perfect setlist have helped the band tremendously. 💪🏻
Hey dude,
That's defo a cool idea and can give these assets a new lease of life as they are released. Have a think about how to maximize this in terms of possibly some physical merch with new artwork, some merch and an excuse to start making more content around each of the songs. Also make sure you have all of the ISRC codes for the DSP's like Spotify so you have collected data and not lots of versions of the same songs on the platforms unless you want that. Love this idea! Nice work 🙂🙂
Sound like Richard Hammond
Do you think releasing 5 singles from a 10 song album if it’s your first release would be too much? Ideally you could devote 40-50 days of promo to each single with the release being somewhere in the middle.
No i think thats a good amount and a good strategy as long as you can keep promoting when the album is out and start planning what is next (whether it's touring, more music and more socials etc). I think 5-6 weeks of promotion is good. Also don't forget with each new single you can keep promoting old material to vary up your content and marketing efforts. Good strategy, keep smashing it! 🙂🙂
Taylor caught some strays
What do you do if all your music fails and you can't afford promotion? Like my most recent release, it's doing very poorly, even compared to previous releases, but it's probably my best production. Also I've released an album before and the production quality was terrible, but i got some streams despite this, but my best songs didn't get any plays because they were overshadowed by the fact that somehow my worst tracks were the one popping up on peoples radar, and i shouldn't have put them on there
Album:
bcuz my preachy msgs need to be surrounded by context.
bcuz I love the idea of a theme party.
bcuz I'm planning on releasing 113 songs in the next 5 yrs, and... .... like a expiry date on a milk carton.....I have to do this quick. If it's all singles, then it looks like a disorganized restaurant menu.
bcuz I come across strong.....strong like Jack Nicholson....and it's never served me well....the entertainment industry might be my only hope...only place I belong. Guts, glory, _____.
bcuz I can....ego yes, pls do. Go big or go home....my dad always said. Does Andrew Tate come with that contract? Well then I'm not signing it. Boy put me in the same room with him and I'll change the whole music game with those Swedish guys. Nichlas "Session Studio" is just the start. I'd hire escorts to do the deed, my marriage to him would be strictly a political one. Like a villian on the outside, and a heart of gold on the inside, enjoying her palace. I wouldn't just stop at music;)
bcuz ppl prefer long form rather than short form................on second thought.....it might be just us two.
Damian is like this Aries man attracted to young energy, a need for speed, whereas I'm methodical. I do enjoy the friendly banter. He prefers Singles yes, whereas, I'm like the Varies with my hands in my lap ".....AlllBum".
I do appreciate our differences, in fact, Mr. Keyes would be the best music manager for me, bcuz he is everything I am not.
Ying and yang.
He'd be the "bad cop" to my whole existence, my whole plan. Treacherous. I'm in the middle of hiring a music manager right now, 3 of them actually, I'm quite a handful. Just look at my To-do List. Not ego reasons, buz I'm a mess, these managers are needed before I even start.
There not even 'music managers', like actual managers of my personal life. I got issues.
I would disagree with Mr. Keyes most of the time, for my own sanity, shutting the door to the patio while he's talking, but that's what would 'push me'.
"work that a**"......................he's so right.
"you wouldn't belieeeve, how many ppl mess this up"........................he's so right.
"say YOUR NAME.....You've been on stage for 30mins.......Steve Martin moment with the hot dog buns......whAT is YOUR NAME"..........................he's so right.
Damo the legend
Is there something to be said about preferring to release albums instead of singles because there is more chance to have press and reviews around it? I’ve heard that before and I don’t know how true it is.
I think there might be certain on/offline editorial that like albums however it depends if the pros of potential editorial outweighs the benefits of singles and discovery 😊😊
Need some real help. In a band with several singles online. Our band got several songs removed from Spotify. I recently learned that a band member paid a third party to get our songs on different playlists on Spotify. I am a little confused about how to rectify this. Do I need to re-release all the singles?
Thats a nightmare. You will need to upload them again which will mean no data but at least you can start again from scratch. If you have any problems (which you hopefully won’t) you can get a new ISRC and it will think it’s a new song.
The other thing I would do first is talk to Spotify customer service and see if they can put them back up. I have seen several artists have songs replaced after getting removed. Hope this helps 😊😊
I feel like releasing singles isn't working for me. LOL!
Can't you release 5 or 6 singles and then issue an album with 10 tracks that includes those 5 or 6 singles? Best of both worlds and the album has enough new tracks to promote as new. 😅
It takes me an albums length of time to get a single out, so no conflict there😂😂
😂 Perfect a plan with no draw backs! Appreciate you! 🙂🙂
Ok…so how do you get to 1 million monthly listeners? It seems like a step is missing
Yeah it’s not a 1 size fits all video as there is so much in that question. Hopefully my TH-cam channel helps with a lot of that and for real in depth strategies and education as well as support you can check out www.dk-mba.com
Personally I think I'm nervous about releasing on Spotify... Just for the simple fact if I gain traction really fast and with my history of no listeners and if it spikes up I'll get flagged for fraudulent streams and then I'd lose all of my music because Spotify wants to be a dickhead... I'm considering releasing everywhere else except Spotify....
I'm curious about the number of independent artists who actually have 1M listeners every month.
I would say in terms of how many artists there are on Spotify it’s not that many however I do think there are a lot artists who are in this category and making decent money 😊😊
@@DamianKeyes Thank you for the reply! I'm really interested in understanding the art of building a listener base.
Most artists I listen to release one or two songs before droppin a album, is that a bad strategy? (Idk if that is said as I am still watchin but question popped in my head)
Great question, I would suggest the more singles you can put out to get discovery is better. Albums are great for monetization when you have the audience. Don't forget you can make physical albums even if all f the songs haven't been released yet. That will excite an audience to get it early on CD or vinyl before everyone else. Hope this helps 🙂🙂
@@DamianKeyes Okay! I'm workin on my 1st song ever rn, I hope I can finish it soon :)
In that case, go all in on singles, that is where you can do the most amount of damage when it comes to discovery. Keep pushing visuals and build your community. Good luck, I'm here to help!
@@DamianKeyes Okay! :) Thank you
👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼
Nobody tell me no AI was involved in these 31 new Taylor tracks.
Why criticize Taylor Swift? You are supposed to be teaching people how to be successful in the music industry. She is the gold standard, albeit at a much higher level than the people you are working with. A lot can be learned from her. When you get to be as successful as she is, you can release the same song 33 times and your fans will love it. And her fans obviously do as evidenced by the sales numbers she is generating. Obviously you would not recommend that for somebody starting out. But you should not criticize it when you get to that level. You are being snarky. Methinks doth protest too much.
Sorry this offended you, I love Taylor in general although I don’t think she has smashed it with this album (personal opinion). You are right though, when someone is as famous as her they can do what they like 😊
Disagree - when you put out an album you get validated and get more opportunities than with a single.
who cares? the only people making real money in music are the top charting artists. just do whatever you want
That’s not actually true( there are plenty of artists who make money from music that aren’t in pop. The key is how you wrap it up and how you look after people. There is a lot of money to be made if that’s your goal