In the olden days, your average musicians worked like this: Write a bunch of songs, get in the recording studio, pick the best 12-15 for an album, release the single(s) to radio, go on tour, repeat every 1-2 years.
That worked perfectly well for the time. Then came the internet. MP3s. 400 channels of cable television, on demand movies, Netflix, Wii, satellite TV, cellphones, iPhones, Myspace, Facebook…
The good news was that artists could now make their music available to anyone on the planet. The bad news was that they discovered there were millions others just like them – and they were competing for attention not only against other musicians, but against the entire array of entertainment options in a digital world.
Does the traditional album release cycle still work for new musicians in this environment? Does it make sense anymore to plop 40 minutes of content every 12 months and expect anyone to remember them the next time around?
Post-Napster and Pre-iTunes, many complained that the album just wasn’t a good value anymore. Spend 15 bucks on a plastic disc to get maybe one to two songs worth listening too. Again, is the lesson here to continue releasing music in such large chunks?
Duke Long and I discussed these issues. We looked at the pop music business in the 1950s and 60s and the electronic music business today – artists work on releasing singles or short EP’s every few months. We thought this model is far more practical in the online era than the album model, so we came up with the idea of releasing 3-4 songs every 3-4 months.
Turns out we weren’t the only ones to come up with this.
The authors of the New Rockstar Philosophy had exactly the same idea and even gave it a name – the 3P. And as I discuss over at GrindEFX, many others are starting to use this model, even the major record labels to some extent.
It’s better for Free Marconi – we can concentrate on consistently coming up with a small number of really great songs rather than trying to fill an album up. And it’s better for our listeners – it keeps them engaged.
We’re not saying the album is dead, like some have. It just doesn’t make sense as the default container for music anymore.
Food for thought, the next 3p is currently being hashed out in the studio as we speak. Anyone interested in a sneak preview, give me a shout.
?I can’t wait. I’d love a sneak peak. When’s it coming out? January?
Sooner than that hopefully! And see, if you would have become a member of the site, you would have gotten 5 points for that comment.
?Yes – my guess is it will be here just in time for Black Friday, or White Monday…
?LOL
AND… whoever is posting from Duke Long’s home away from home, PSU, you could have logged-in with your facebook, twitter, google or tons of other ways, and let us see your smiling face. It’s fast, simple and safe as we don’t save any personal info. Give it shot, earn some point and keep the music free!
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