Albums vs. Singles: Which should you release?
A release strategy can make or break the success of your music, so it’s important to know what will be best for you. Here’s a guide to releasing albums vs. singles…
by CHRIS ROBLEY of DIY Musician
Should you release one song at a time? Or a whole album?
Music trends are always shifting, and over the past hundred years various formats have vied for dominance: Singles, EPs, LPs, and so forth.
The ongoing question: Is it more effective to release larger or smaller collections of songs? Well let’s look at how the debate plays out in 2022.
The benefits of albums are:
- They’re a milestone, showing a bigger evolution in your musical career
- It’s easier to get press/PR coverage
- You can sell CDs or vinyl
- You have more musical material from which to draw design inspo, create merch items, etc.
- Higher visibility in many streaming platform discographies
- More music marketing opportunities
The benefit of singles are:
- There’s less pressure, so you can have more fun and experiment with new styles and collaborators
- Streamlined music production process can be cheaper and quicker
- Digital-only provides speed to market and greater testing/flexibility
- They’re the natural fit for getting on playlists
- Concentrating on one song at a time can help focus your marketing efforts
- More frequent releases can boost algorithmic streaming activity
So which music format is best?
Honestly, it’s a false dilemma, based on some very 20th-Century considerations.
You can do both. It’s easy to do both. There’s benefits to both. And as long as you find the right balance, you SHOULD release both albums and singles.
Right now at CD Baby, it’s just $4.99 to release your next album or single.
Chris Robley is the Editor of CD Baby’s DIY Musician Blog. I write Beatlesque indie-pop songs that’ve been praised by No Depression, KCRW, The LA Times, & others. My poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, & more. I live in Maine and like peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, a little too much.