The format for music release has been (for decades) to release a single or two as a teaser and then to release a full album containing the initial teasers. The demos were always a part of the album, and the album was the main thing or the big release. This is what years of hype had built up to for each artist.
That way of doing things may be on the way out, and we are already seeing a lot of artists forgo the album format for something a bit different.
The problem with releasing an album every few years is that an artist would have the potential to lose the fanbase in between. They may move on to other artists and the stagnant artist may no longer be relevant between releases. Staying socially and culturally relevant is incredibly important to today’s artists, which is why the album format doesn’t really work as well as it used to. It can work great for artists who have been around for a long time and who will always have multitudes of fans no matter how long the wait is between albums. The younger, newer artists, however, have to stay engaged with their fanbase if they are not going to lose any momentum.
What we have seen happen is artists release a steady stream of content instead of a single album every so often. Keeping a stream of music flowing to the public ensures that interest is high and that fans are engaged. It ensures that there isn’t a chance for the artist to lose a lot of fans since they no longer have to wait so long between releases. It helps artists to stay at the height of their cultural relevance and to stay in the public eye for longer.
The album format will always be useful for the established artists, but for the lesser known artists, it is important that they have an edge over the competition and not be drowned out in the steady release of music coming out of the industry. If a new artist is struggling to get recognition and cultural clout, then the worst thing they can do is just stay quiet for a long time while everyone is talking about all of their competition. By releasing song after song without the wait, they have an opportunity to build their name brand steadily.
A lot of record labels are still trying to hold onto the album format, since that is what they are used to, but times are changing and many artists are breaking free on their own, independent of the labels. They can do things their own way, as we have seen time and again from artists that get their start on YouTube or that move to a music platform like that instead of staying with a record label. There is a definite push nowadays for artists to keep on releasing smaller projects rather than to constantly build to a big one, and that’s creating some fresh variety in the industry.