to release an album or e.p.?

stateofflux

Hi, just wanted some opinions on this.

i am planning on recording an e.p. of about 6 tracks for a proper release (no band, just solo side project job with no gigs planned) but ive noticed the majority of irish publications only review albums...im starting to think about adding a couple of extra tracks and calling it an album now as i dont see a point in a release if i cant get any serious reviews.

Splinters

stateofflux wrote: »

i dont see a point in a release if i cant get any serious reviews.

Thats unfortunate. Would you not see putting out music you've worked hard on and care about as being reason enough for a release?

Denalihighway

all the rules have changed dude.

most terms like 'albums' etc are associated with traditional and often antiquated record-company type approaches.

what's stopping u calling it an album anyway? its got 6 tracks - so what?

Swedish House Mafia apparently blew the roof off at Coachella there and (at least AFAIK) they haven't released a proper album yet.

also, i've no idea why anyone would be obsessed with reviews. Good or bad they're just someone's opinion. You should be more worried about getting people to listen to your music.

IamtheWalrus

Don't add 2 tracks for the sake of it. Don't dilute the quality for the sake of it. Don't call it anything - it's a 6 track collection of music. The album is dying.

Best of luck.

PaulBrewer

Not picking a fight but ....

When did a 'serious review' become a goal ?

When I were a kid changing the world was what it was about

stateofflux

thanks for the opinions guys. i dont really want to be adding tracks for the sake of it.
but looking around the irish music scene now, it still looks to me like gaining status via irish media album reviews helps build profile and opens doors....but i could be wrong

krd

PaulBrewer wrote: »

When did a 'serious review' become a goal ?

When I were a kid changing the world was what it was about

Kids these days.....Their lack of ambition is staggering.

Though I will say, if you want something professionally recorded, you pay a professional.

And if you want something "professionally" reviewed, you need to pay another professional. Pm me.......And if you don't like it. Sorry kids, this is the Big Smoke, and that's how it works in this town....It's not friggin Galway.

If you want "attention", you have to budget 50% for the recording, 50% for the "marketing".

PaulBrewer

Post of the day !

Denalihighway

...so it doesn't sound like we're just lecturing you...

what we're trying to say is look further than a few paper hacks to build your profile. Reviews make me want to puke half the time.

- get a good, original (not you playing guitar) video together and you've got something with the potential to go viral or something a blogger can embed. without radioplay, a video can be your single-type fanfare and is critical given peoples' obsession with Youtube nowadays
- on that subject focus on bloggers who might give you some airplay
- put some interesting boutique merchandise together
- listen to good advice (www.musicthinktank.com/ http://www.lefsetz.com/ - to name but two)

etc etc

don't think like a record company. look where it's got them.

pinksoir

Yeah, read the Lefsetz Letter. I can't recommend it enough.

Building your profile through stuff like what Denalihighway mentioned is all well and good (and great advice btw), but it's nothing if you can't blow people away live. Concentrate on that and the rest will come with time.

Denalihighway

pinksoir wrote: »

Yeah, read the Lefsetz Letter. I can't recommend it enough.

Building your profile through stuff like what Denalihighway mentioned is all well and good (and great advice btw), but it's nothing if you can't blow people away live. Concentrate on that and the rest will come with time.

i wouldn't necessarily agree with that either to be honest.

I definitely think you that if you are playing live you should blow people away. I'm not saying don't concentrate on your live show - if you plan on gigging then you should be great live.

But its far from being the first cog in the chain. I think (and from what I see, it seems to be the case) a band has far more potential of growing a fanbase with great recordings and a marketing strategy than gigging themselves to death.

A band can't gig everywhere - especially when they're starting out, so the vast amount of initial fans are being introduced via internet/radio etc. You've got to be super slick on this side of things. Some people may never get to see the bands they love for whatever reason, but it won't stop them being rabid fans.

Edit
PS...Lefsetz is kinda sailing close to the wind these days huh?? still love it though...

pinksoir

That's a fair point. Obviously the songs are what's important.

Though, it's a lot easier to make a great record than it is to then be able to represent it well live. There's a ton of acts that have good records but the live show is way below par (MGMT). Or even bands that have great videos but are again, awful live (OK Go).

I just think that it's a much better approach to be great live and then have a slick campaign, great videos etc etc than to try and catch up with your hype. I wouldn't for a minute recommend relying just on your live act to draw people in, but I would recommend working to be as good as you can be and being able to represent your songs live, before you put yourself up for scrutiny. A big killer of an act is if they suck live.

I really like Lefsetz. I don't agree with everything he says and I certainly don't share his taste in music, but he's a wise dude. I think his stuff of late has been pretty entertaining! Telling it like it is.

TelePaul

If Astral Weeks was an EP, what 2 songs would you cut? Personally, I miss the concept of an Album as a comprehensive body of work.

Denalihighway

lots of people do. but its also very much a record industry legacy model for me. contemporise man!

The label says "come to us then we":

- decide what kind of band you're gonna be
- what your album is gonna sound like
- make sure your album is a comprehensive body of work so no-one is offended.

it's the reason why the industry hasn't been interested in countless good bands over the years who don't want to have a 'sound' etc. I really hate that sh*t. all the artists who have excited me over the years have been people who surprise you.

i do admit i very much like concept albums though...