Members Karma1 Posted December 29, 2009 Members Share Posted December 29, 2009 I recently saw someone on TV saying that they were releasing a 5 song EP that would be a teaser and generate some buzz for a full length CD to follow eventually. They also said that the shorter length, lower cost EP is becoming more popular these days. Anybody have any comments on that statement? Are more people releasing EP's now? I'm working on some music with a well known recording artist in the ambient/ new age music genre and we are considering the strategy mentioned in the first sentence above. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AluminumNeck Posted December 29, 2009 Members Share Posted December 29, 2009 attention spans are the shortest they have been in decades. But LP's were the exception to the rule. EP's used to be the rule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CMS Author MikeRivers Posted December 29, 2009 CMS Author Share Posted December 29, 2009 People stopped buying CDs with 10-20 songs on them in favor of tje dollar download of a single song. The EP is something in between. If an artist has only five good songs when he needs to release a product for sale, he doesn't have to pad it with half a dozen more songs that he knows are throwaways. I've noticed in the past several weeks that a number of songs played on a college radio station that I listen to over the Internet have come from EPs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rudolf von Hagenwil Posted December 29, 2009 Members Share Posted December 29, 2009 Extended Play, Short-Play and Long-Play, are terms of the past. Years ago record companies resisted to release single songs simply because of the profit span. Today you can give us a single song, and it maybe gets digitally downloaded several hundred-thousand times, suppositional we promote the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elsongs Posted December 29, 2009 Members Share Posted December 29, 2009 attention spans are the shortest they have been in decades. But LP's were the exception to the rule. EP's used to be the rule. I'm sorry, what did you say? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff da Weasel Posted December 29, 2009 Members Share Posted December 29, 2009 The EP is, to me, a sure sign that a band wants to come out with a product but doesn't have enough songs to come out with a proper album. If they did, they would. I do not think it's a conscious effort to sell more than they would with a full album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Congoman Posted December 29, 2009 Members Share Posted December 29, 2009 The EP is, to me, a sure sign that a band wants to come out with a product but doesn't have enough songs to come out with a proper album. If they did, they would. I do not think it's a conscious effort to sell more than they would with a full album. My band has plenty of songs but not much time, and people who want our music. Our solution is to record when we can, and release every time we have 5 songs or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hard Truth Posted December 30, 2009 Members Share Posted December 30, 2009 I'm in favor of EPs. Most full length CDs are too long. I like to release EPs because it takes a year for me to get one done and I don't want to take years between releases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sventvkg Posted December 30, 2009 Members Share Posted December 30, 2009 The EP is, to me, a sure sign that a band wants to come out with a product but doesn't have enough songs to come out with a proper album. If they did, they would. I do not think it's a conscious effort to sell more than they would with a full album. I used to think this way too but I'm reevaluating that. It seems like you can get your music out directly to your fans so easily now, and if there's a demand, why not do 2-3 EP's a year instead of one album? Lefestz says albums are dead and that people should just put out one good song at a time. We live in interesting times. I'm currently trying to figure out the best way to release music as well. Might try an EP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AluminumNeck Posted December 30, 2009 Members Share Posted December 30, 2009 we went from singles or 2 songs records to 2 song records to 10 songs LP's back to singles. It is a full circle thing.Release what you want. People only typically listen to the best 2-3 songs on any given album anyways.This is evidence by the piece meal approach and sucess of itunes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ryst Posted December 30, 2009 Members Share Posted December 30, 2009 The EP is, to me, a sure sign that a band wants to come out with a product but doesn't have enough songs to come out with a proper album. If they did, they would. I do not think it's a conscious effort to sell more than they would with a full album. Completely disagree with you here about not having enough songs, Jeff. It has been said in this thread that at the attention span of the music listener is shorter than ever. I agree. I've seen it plenty. Plus I have been doing TONS of observing and researching over the last 3 years. I've talked to bands, fans, producers, engineers....a ton of different perspectives. What I see is that in order in this day and age to keep people interested is to keep them wanting more. It's silly but true. If you have a full length record, then in many cases you've already blown your proverbial load. It also depends on other factors but in general I think putting out an EP can be a very wise decision for certain musicians. If you give away 2 songs and a flyer to give fans a taste of your music, people will show up to your show (if they like it) to hear more and possibly buy an EP. It's not much different, IMO, than when restaurants give out free samples of their food to entice you to come in and pay for a meal. There is so much music out there and so many avenues to put it in that I think it's important to make sure your fans don't forget about you. You can say that if your music is good enough that they won't, but it's not always the case. I know plenty of people in the music industry that like my work and want to work with me, but if I don't go out there and constantly be in their face, they will forget about me. I've seen this with other good producers/engineers too. I don't think it's any different when you are talking about your music and your fans. Here's part of my plan. I have over 2 albums worth of material for my rock project. I will be releasing a 5 song EP very soon. I'll give away a couple songs and also include them when handing out flyers to people for my shows. When they are at the show they can buy the EP and some merch. Once the EP is done I'll also begin working on the next EP. And every week for fun I'll record a new cover song that people can download for free (a lot of different types of songs). I'll put up youtube vids of cover songs too and make a vid or 2 of my original songs. I'll also do other things to keep fans involved and to keep the project moving in a good direction (different topic). I'll play live as much as I can (smartly) and try and get a "movement" going. Now the goal here is to put out the next EP at the best time. If you are playing out a lot and people are digging your stuff then I would say every 6-8 months....maybe a year. And then record a full length when your fans demand it. That could be after one EP or a few. I think you also have to take into account what kind of band you have and what your goals are. My goals are touring, touring, touring (besides many other things). I do everything myself and I can't rely on anyone else so I think this is the best plan for me. It might not be for you but it's definitely a good option for some musicians. BTW, I'm not being real specific with some things so I apologize if it looks like I'm rambling....I'm trying not to! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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