There's a reason why musicians are called "artists." We create something that is moving and meaningful out of nothing. It's nothing short of magic. But in the age of streaming, one of the most fullfilling creative endeavors, the full length album, seems to be recieving it's last rights.
The art of the album can be akin to birthing a child (and I know, I've had two!) It's emotional, painful, joyful, exciting, stressful, and a shit-ton of hard work. But when you're on the other side, it is one of the most inspiring and satisfying moments in your creative life.
"Creating an album is one of the most inspiring and satisfying moments in our creative lives."
The challenge for many artists is the need to post content, content, and more content. So envision this: You work for months writing, budgeting, planning, recording, editing, and mixing your album and finally the day has come for it's release. You put it out into the world and your fans adore it. You get some radio play, maybe a few placements, but after a few weeks (maybe a month if you're lucky) your fans say "what else you got?" But you just spend $15,000 making a record! You don't "got" anything else! Music lovers have become used to being able to access millions of songs every day without giving thought to the logistics, planning, and money that went in to creating them.
So how do we keep pursuing this deep form of creative expression in the age of streaming? What do we do when our fans want more and more from us but we have limited resources?
Break Out Every Song Into It's Own Release
Traditionally, artists and labels would choose 2 or 3 songs to release as singles before the full album release to tease the full-length album. But what you end up with is 2 or 3 bops with a whole bunch of filler. The trick is to treat every song on your album like it's own release.
"The trick is to treat every song on your album like it's own release."
Let's say you're album has 10 songs and you choose 2 singles. Each release cycle runs about 3 weeks so between your three releases (the 2 singles and the full length album) you've got 9 weeks worth of content to promote across your channels. 9 weeks of increased engagement, something exciting to share, and something to talk about to your fans before they get bored and want more.
Now let's say you're releasing your 10-song album but you release one song at a time with all the accompanying content - music videos, photography, behind-the-scenes footage, lo-fi acoustic versions, the story behind the song. If you release a new song every 3 weeks, that's 30 weeks worth of content. That's more than half a year! 30 weeks of increased engagement, something exciting to share, and something to talk about to your fans before they get bored and want more. That's a whole lot better than 9 weeks, right?
Now, the other plus side of releaseing your music this way is that you can still create a beautiful and thoughtfully made album. You can still record all 10 songs in one session so they sound cohesive. If you're working on a concept album (an album where all the songs go together to tell a story or elicit a certain fealling), it's even better because your fans will have 30 weeks to go on this journey with you. They'll want to keep coming back for more.
The one downside to this approach is that there can be no filler. No weak songs. No throw aways. Every single song on the album has to hit. But as artists, why would we want to create filler anyway?
About Elisa
When Garth Brooks invites you on stage to play a song, you play a song! Elisa met Garth when she attended a talk he and Trisha Yearwood were giving at Harvard in Cambridge, Massachusetts. After asking her name, and what kind of music she plays, he invited her on stage to play a song. After the performance, Garth gave her his guitar (the one she plays with now) and told her to sing her heart out. And that's what she's been doing ever since.
Her most recent album album "Baptized By Fire," was produced by Caleb Gilbreath (Brett Eldredge, Mandi Sagal) and Eddie Bayers (Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson), and tells the story of redemption through love, family, and faith.
Nominated for two BMAs for Country Artist of the Year, a New England Music Award for Country Artist of the Year, and referred to as "Boston's Honky Tonk Queen" and "one of the best original country acts in New England," she has been featured on The Bull, Country 102.5, and indie radio stations across the country and around the world. She's headlined and performed at festivals throughout New England, performed on Boston local television, and she has been featured in WBUR's the ARTery, HarvardEd Magazine, and international and domestic music blogs.
