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Thread started 07/05/16 5:14pm

Gunsnhalen

How Long should an artist milk an album?

It's crazy too me how some artists release 5-7
Singles. And sometimes milk an album for a couple or even s few years! Why do you think the public would make a 5th or 6th single successful? When it's on an album
That's been out for over a year and they've probably heard it on there already. I always wonder how long an artist should milk an albums singles and music videos. And when they should let it go?

Think of Janet with Rhythm Nation or Bruce Springsteen with Born In The USA. They were releasing singles from the album like 2 years after it was released. Or the most extreme example in recent areas. Katy Perrys fucking Teenage dream shit 🙄 That album came out in 2010 and she was releasing singles for 3 fucking years confused

What's orgers opinions on this? How long should an artist release singles and market an album after its out?
Pistols sounded like "Fuck off," wheras The Clash sounded like "Fuck Off, but here's why.."- Thedigitialgardener

All music is shit music and no music is real- gunsnhalen

Datdonkeydick- Asherfierce

Gary Hunts Album Isn't That Good- Soulalive
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Reply #1 posted 07/05/16 7:50pm

MickyDolenz

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It doesn't make any difference to me. I don't think that happens as much anymore since physical singles are not as much of a market like pre-internet. Back then, not everyone bought the albums, only the songs they heard on the radio. A person might not have liked the first 3 or 4 singles enough to buy them, but bought single number 5. There's also the case that some singles were remixed or different than the album version like No One Is To Blame by Howard Jones. If someone bought Howard's album based on the version on the radio and video, then they might be disappointed. lol The single version was on a remix album though called Action Replay. Prince's Kiss was slightly different on 45 too. It had a little guitar riff and faded out. The album version went straight into the next song after the word "kiss". I recall Exposé put Point Of No Return, and then about a year later a newly re-recorded version was released with a different lineup, and this lineup became popular. On some albums, songs faded into each other, but the single version was just the song by itself. Then there's non-album singles. Many 1980s hip hop acts never released albums, but only had 12" maxi singles. Singles only was also common with dance music acts like Latin Freestyle and old soul singers & groups.

[Edited 7/5/16 19:50pm]

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #2 posted 07/05/16 8:29pm

daingermouz202
0

MickyDolenz said:

It doesn't make any difference to me. I don't think that happens as much anymore since physical singles are not as much of a market like pre-internet. Back then, not everyone bought the albums, only the songs they heard on the radio. A person might not have liked the first 3 or 4 singles enough to buy them, but bought single number 5. There's also the case that some singles were remixed or different than the album version like No One Is To Blame by Howard Jones. If someone bought Howard's album based on the version on the radio and video, then they might be disappointed. lol The single version was on a remix album though called Action Replay. Prince's Kiss was slightly different on 45 too. It had a little guitar riff and faded out. The album version went straight into the next song after the word "kiss". I recall Exposé put Point Of No Return, and then about a year later a newly re-recorded version was released with a different lineup, and this lineup became popular. On some albums, songs faded into each other, but the single version was just the song by itself. Then there's non-album singles. Many 1980s hip hop acts never released albums, but only had 12" maxi singles. Singles only was also common with dance music acts like Latin Freestyle and old soul singers & groups.

[Edited 7/5/16 19:50pm]



WOW, all these yrs I didn't notice the slightly different ending of Prince's "Kiss"
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Reply #3 posted 07/05/16 9:51pm

lowkey

they should milk it for as long as there is an interest from the public. if the singles are still going gold 2 years later it makes sense to keep releasing them. you mentioned rhythm nation for example, the 7th and final single was 'love will never do', that song was a smash #1 hit and the video ushered in a major change for janet. now what i dont like is when they keep releasing singles looking for a hit, that seems to be the norm in the current industry, why release 3 singles before an album.

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Reply #4 posted 07/06/16 1:06am

Chancellor

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Toni Braxton MILKED her debut Album for years..It had so many great songs that had to be released....Mariah COULD have Milked ALL of her 90's Albums but she decided to keep cranking them out like Babies............and drum-roll........The Bodyguard Soundtrack simply would not die....the 90's was the best decade for music EVER...

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Reply #5 posted 07/06/16 1:21am

Hamad

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Its the "singles" era. I would be glad to see mainstream albums that are worthy of "milking".

Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future...

Twitter: https://twitter.com/QLH82
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Reply #6 posted 07/06/16 1:22am

Chancellor

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Hamad said:

Its the "singles" era. I would be glad to see mainstream albums that are worthy of "milking".

You are 100% correct...This is the "singles" era...Every decade ushers in something different...

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Reply #7 posted 07/06/16 1:39am

NorthC

Until they squeezed the cow dry.
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Reply #8 posted 07/06/16 7:21am

MotownSubdivis
ion

For as long as humanly possible.

When you put your time, heart, soul and energy into crafting a great album you deserve to milk it for all its worth. Thriller came out in 1982, dominated 1983, continued selling and retained its dominant popularity in 1984 and just hit its ceiling some time in 1985 and quietly slid off the charts.

Even more amazing is how it managed to remain so popular and be a blockbuster album even in the midst of a slew of hot (new) artists releasing hot, earth-shattering blockbuster albums, themselves. It's not like that now where it seems acts take a number and wait their turn for their album to be the most popular and when it is, it usually doesn't last long.
[Edited 7/6/16 16:39pm]
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Reply #9 posted 07/06/16 9:50am

namepeace

MotownSubdivision said:

For as long as humanly possible. When you put your time, heart, soul and energy into crafting an great album you deserve to milk it for all its worth. Thriller came out in 1982, dominated 1983, continued selling and retained its dominant popularity in 1984 and just hit its ceiling some time in 1985 and quietly slid off the charts. Even more amazing is how it managed to remain so popular and be a blockbuster albums even in the midst of a slew of hot (new) artists releasing hot, earth-shattering blockbuster albums, themselves. It's not like that now where it seems acts take a number and wait their turn for their album to be the most popular and when it is, it usually doesn't last long.


yeahthat

Good night, sweet Prince | 7 June 1958 - 21 April 2016

Props will be withheld until the showing and proving has commenced. -- Aaron McGruder
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Reply #10 posted 07/06/16 9:59am

nextedition

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I was really happy that Janet kept releasing singles, as for every single there were amazing remixes! headbang

but anyway, albums are products, if it keeps selling why stop?

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Reply #11 posted 07/06/16 11:20am

thetimefan

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If there is enough mileage in it still then milk it to the max. But does it devalue the album as a whole and make it it a sum of its parts?.
[Edited 7/6/16 11:21am]
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Reply #12 posted 07/06/16 11:26am

Cinny

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The answer is: until the public picks up on the album (is aware and STARTS buying), and after the public is aware, once the singles lose steam (STOPS selling).

For recording artists who are prolific, this can actually be a problem.


At 2:00, you can see Madonna is asked about when the follow-up to her July 1983 debut will be released.
Madonna says the album is finished and it will be out in JUNE (1984) when her single Borderline (released February 1984) "fizzles out" as she raises her hands to pray.
Like A Virgin was not released until November 1984.


The first couple albums that came to mind were Rhythm Nation and Teenage Dream, so it is funny you mentioned them too. They did seem to last for a couple years each! biggrin To be honest, I miss the days when a great album's era could last that long.

I got really sick of certain projects (Taylor Swift's 1989) to the point where I hated an album I never owned lol

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Reply #13 posted 07/06/16 4:50pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

Cinny said:

The answer is: until the public picks up on the album (is aware and STARTS buying), and after the public is aware, once the singles lose steam (STOPS selling).

For recording artists who are prolific, this can actually be a problem.


At 2:00, you can see Madonna is asked about when the follow-up to her July 1983 debut will be released.
Madonna says the album is finished and it will be out in JUNE (1984) when her single Borderline (released February 1984) "fizzles out" as she raises her hands to pray.
Like A Virgin was not released until November 1984.



The first couple albums that came to mind were Rhythm Nation and Teenage Dream, so it is funny you mentioned them too. They did seem to last for a couple years each! biggrin To be honest, I miss the days when a great album's era could last that long.

I got really sick of certain projects (Taylor Swift's 1989) to the point where I hated an album I never owned lol

A great explanation.

Not many albums these days have popularity that's anything more than fleeting. Besides 1989 (ugh), the only other album in recent years that had a long shelf life was Adele's 21.
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Reply #14 posted 07/06/16 4:50pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

Cinny said:

The answer is: until the public picks up on the album (is aware and STARTS buying), and after the public is aware, once the singles lose steam (STOPS selling).

For recording artists who are prolific, this can actually be a problem.


At 2:00, you can see Madonna is asked about when the follow-up to her July 1983 debut will be released.
Madonna says the album is finished and it will be out in JUNE (1984) when her single Borderline (released February 1984) "fizzles out" as she raises her hands to pray.
Like A Virgin was not released until November 1984.



The first couple albums that came to mind were Rhythm Nation and Teenage Dream, so it is funny you mentioned them too. They did seem to last for a couple years each! biggrin To be honest, I miss the days when a great album's era could last that long.

I got really sick of certain projects (Taylor Swift's 1989) to the point where I hated an album I never owned lol

A great explanation.

Not many albums these days have popularity that's anything more than fleeting. Besides 1989 (ugh), the only other album in recent years that had a long shelf life was Adele's 21.
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Reply #15 posted 07/06/16 5:23pm

daingermouz202
0

I'd say depends on the album. If it's a double album and it's really good I'd say milk it.
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Reply #16 posted 07/06/16 5:31pm

728huey

avatar

Cinny said:

The answer is: until the public picks up on the album (is aware and STARTS buying), and after the public is aware, once the singles lose steam (STOPS selling).

For recording artists who are prolific, this can actually be a problem.


At 2:00, you can see Madonna is asked about when the follow-up to her July 1983 debut will be released.
Madonna says the album is finished and it will be out in JUNE (1984) when her single Borderline (released February 1984) "fizzles out" as she raises her hands to pray.
Like A Virgin was not released until November 1984.


The first couple albums that came to mind were Rhythm Nation and Teenage Dream, so it is funny you mentioned them too. They did seem to last for a couple years each! biggrin To be honest, I miss the days when a great album's era could last that long.

I got really sick of certain projects (Taylor Swift's 1989) to the point where I hated an album I never owned lol


It's interesting you mentioned Teenage Dream, because that eventually had a deluxe album release. Michael and Janet were able to milk Thriller and Rhythm Nation for all they could, but in the case of Katy Perry it was more a matter of keeping herself in the spotlight with material that wasn't considered strong enough at the time to be included in the original album or didn't necessarily fit thematically. She released the singles "Part of Me" and "Wide Awake" on the deluxe version of her album which came out a year later, and both songs became top ten hits. Nevertheless, they were heavier in theme than the rest of the album as a whole, which was intentionally light and breezy.

But Katy Perry isn't the first artist to release a deluxe edition of an album. Mariah Carey released a deluxe edition of The Emancipation of Mimi in order to release "Don't Forget About Us" as a sinngle and put an uptempo hip-hop remix of "We Belong Together" on the album. And Rihanna released a deluxe edition of Good Girl Gone Bad to release the singles "Disturbia", "Take A Bow" and "If I Never See Your Face Again" with Maroon 5, which was originally on Maroon 5's album It Won't Be Soon Before Long.

typing

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Reply #17 posted 07/06/16 5:31pm

Graycap23

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Can that work without remixes and "B" sides?

FOOLS multiply when WISE Men & Women are silent.
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Reply #18 posted 07/06/16 5:42pm

avajane

I'm not sure how the record industry works but I'm willing to bet it's the record company and management that milks an album. A creative artist, I'd imagine, would get bored playing the same music and would want to create new music.
Love is God,
God is Love
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Reply #19 posted 07/06/16 5:58pm

MickyDolenz

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avajane said:

get bored playing the same music and would want to create new music.

I wonder if Chubby Checker is tired of singing The Twist for 56 years. razz This is in June 2016


You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #20 posted 07/06/16 6:03pm

luvsexy4all

as long as their utters r intact

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Reply #21 posted 07/06/16 6:15pm

MickyDolenz

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Graycap23 said:

Can that work without remixes and "B" sides?

Other than the extended version of Billie Jean, none of the other singles from Thriller had any remixes. There were no exclusive B-sides either, unless you count instrumental versions and Can't Get Outta The Rain which is really the Part 2 of the long version of You Can't Win from The Wiz but the word "rain" is substituted for "game". Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen also had 7 singles. I think the only one that had a remix was Dancing In The Dark.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #22 posted 07/06/16 6:17pm

Graycap23

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MickyDolenz said:

Graycap23 said:

Can that work without remixes and "B" sides?

Other than the extended version of Billie Jean, none of the other singles from Thriller had any remixes. There were no exclusive B-sides either, unless you count instrumental versions and Can't Get Outta The Rain which is really the Part 2 of the long version of You Can't Win from The Wiz but the word "rain" is substituted for "game". Born In The USA by Bruce Springsteen also had 7 singles. I think the only one that had a remix was Dancing In The Dark.

I understand. I guess I was thinking more about todays standards.

FOOLS multiply when WISE Men & Women are silent.
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Reply #23 posted 07/06/16 6:17pm

mjscarousal

MotownSubdivision said:

For as long as humanly possible. When you put your time, heart, soul and energy into crafting a great album you deserve to milk it for all its worth. Thriller came out in 1982, dominated 1983, continued selling and retained its dominant popularity in 1984 and just hit its ceiling some time in 1985 and quietly slid off the charts. Even more amazing is how it managed to remain so popular and be a blockbuster album even in the midst of a slew of hot (new) artists releasing hot, earth-shattering blockbuster albums, themselves. It's not like that now where it seems acts take a number and wait their turn for their album to be the most popular and when it is, it usually doesn't last long. [Edited 7/6/16 16:39pm]

Excellent post!

And to add I also think this is because todays pop stars are not real artists. They don't write or put effort into creating their albums and only look for hot singles or buzz albums that will last for the "now" instead of making a lasting impact.

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Reply #24 posted 07/06/16 6:50pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

avajane said:

I'm not sure how the record industry works but I'm willing to bet it's the record company and management that milks an album. A creative artist, I'd imagine, would get bored playing the same music and would want to create new music.
Prince was one of those artists.

However, I will say it's not fair to imply that an act who tries to extract as much success from an album as possible isn't creative or an artist.
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Reply #25 posted 07/06/16 6:56pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

mjscarousal said:



MotownSubdivision said:


For as long as humanly possible. When you put your time, heart, soul and energy into crafting a great album you deserve to milk it for all its worth. Thriller came out in 1982, dominated 1983, continued selling and retained its dominant popularity in 1984 and just hit its ceiling some time in 1985 and quietly slid off the charts. Even more amazing is how it managed to remain so popular and be a blockbuster album even in the midst of a slew of hot (new) artists releasing hot, earth-shattering blockbuster albums, themselves. It's not like that now where it seems acts take a number and wait their turn for their album to be the most popular and when it is, it usually doesn't last long. [Edited 7/6/16 16:39pm]

Excellent post!



And to add I also think this is because todays pop stars are not real artists. They don't write or put effort into creating their albums and only look for hot singles or buzz albums that will last for the "now" instead of making a lasting impact.

yeahthat
Can't really blame them for trying to wring out every last drop of juice possible from their albums though even if most get on my nerves. Let them cash in while hey can and see how they hold up in the future compared to their predecessors.
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Reply #26 posted 07/07/16 11:39am

vainandy

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It's doesn't matter anymore since nobody makes anything good anymore. But if good stuff was still being made, I'd say do it like they did in the 1980s....no longer than a year.

Andy is a four letter word.
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