I’ve always been a massive album fan of albums and remember back in 1970s, before cassette tapes, this was the only way to consume music. You could go into a record store and listen to an album before buying it, but unless you heard the music on the radio or borrowed a friend’s copy, that’s the only way you could hear music.
Formats over the years have changed and of course the CD took over from vinyl and now we have streaming. This has meant a very different way to consume music and although I personally think Spotify is a disaster financially for artists, it does raise the question of whether albums are still viable in this day and age. My producer alerted me to the following video that in my view makes some really good points about this and it has really got me thinking, especially as I am in the middle of working on two very different albums and had fully intended to go down that route
As somebody who has recorded 3 albums, although I personally love the end result, my business head has to admit that this has not been the best commercially viable decision. Fortunately as I fund all my music from my other life, it doesn’t matter, but for artists and groups expecting to make a profit, the album format is in my view questionable, unless you have a solid fanbase as advocated by Frank Wilkes from Kycker on the music advice section of this site.
What’s the intention and value?
The question in my view regarding releasing an album is “what’s the intention and value of going this route?” There are all manner of considerations including how many you press and artwork considerations. If you often for a simple small run of CDRs then that’s a very different story to a lavish package which could look terrific, but be a much greater cost. Then there’s the consideration of format. I love the size of vinyl and the ability to showcase artwork, but I’ve never been a fan of the medium. I know countless artists who have lots of vinyl that can sell, but mostly only at live shows and of course those have been few and far between in recent times. A targeted specific album launch might be a great idea of course, but my point is that its really useful to consider how to deliver this medium when many people just like the idea of clicking a button for a download and its instant gratification.
Final thoughts (for now)
The Glenn video has made me review my thinking and I’m still not 100% sure of the viability. My instinct is that I love the idea of physical products, so I’ll probably go for a CD format with great artwork, but crucially these are at best gonna break even. If I put on my purely commercial head, its a non starter financially, but then that’s the case for a lot of musical activity. Its mostly a labour of love and I’m fine with that
NC