facts. I face alot of writer's block due to having to make the perfect verse every time. But when i just let go i usually write my best. Just go back & rephrase/edit if needed. Writing from emotion in the moment of the inspiration usually creates the best content for me. Can't consider perfection when speaking from the heart
Actual response from electrical engineers: Q - "How's the PCB design doing, is it working perfectly and ready to go?" A - "It's sufficiently not shit."
Good advice, as usual. Here are the bullet points. 1:17 Full-length albums are on their way out. 3:03 It helps you to not be a perfectionist. 4:26 It forces you to focus on your body of work. 6:34 It gives you more credibility when releasing on streaming platforms. 7:22 It forces you to grow faster.
"just release the good songs that you wrote" indicates issues with your songwriting, not the format of an album or EP. I listen to albums bc I want to be in an emotional headspace that the artist/album provides, not because I'm after some notion of objectively 'good' music. Shorter length formats are good for garnering an audience but once the fanbase is there, a lack of longer-format records feels like the artist doesn't want to offer a deeper connection to anyone who's listening.
That’s why you listen. That’s not why everyone listens. I’m sure there are artists that appease your tastes. I’d prefer to hear an artists best work. I’m not here for a “journey” I’m here to listen to tunes.
D Bo In my opinion you’re oblivious to what experiencing music is like. It’s not about a background tune you play while you smoke your weed or play in the house and scroll down with your phone, it’s about connecting emotionally with what the artist is trying to express whether his saddens, happiness, extra and gaining calmness from understanding that you’re not experiencing this alone and there’s other people with you in this journey. And that’s the great thing about actual music, not 4 chord tunes that say the same exact line the entire song with a little bit of background screams and ohs that think it’s giving the track an energy. Still, just my opinion.
scaho Lol.... so I am missing the point on something that is subjective... by definition that just doesn’t make sense. Imo you do not grasp the fact that everyone is different, NOT wrong. You are implying I am wrong because I seek something different. That makes you oblivious to the fact your opinion isn’t the only one out there and also makes you oblivious to the fact art is subjective and music is art. Therefor you cannot tell my I am oblivious to the meaning of music because the meaning is subjective to the individual listening therefor it is Not possible for me to be oblivious as it is only my interpretation that matters when I listen. I did NOT say I use it as background music. I love music. I have been sitting here writing music all day. I have spent every spare penny I have on creating a home studio so I can record my own tunes at home. That doesn’t mean music has to be some weird journey. I listen mostly to progressive metal/djent/metalcore. I do not want to listen to a 10min trip that takes 5mins to get through the intro. Sure take a minute to build.... but I’m not going to hang around all day. And the 99% of bands in the genre I devote myself too, do it exactly how I like it. Hate to be the bearer of bad news chief.... but the only one oblivious to the meaning of music is you as you do not understand that it is subjective to each individual. It’s been real bro... but school is out. Enjoy 🥴
The Emostorian (Dr Rich F-G) streaming will wipe out new comer albums to a certain degree. But albums will last for those who already have audiences. I’m repeating that from some prominent label executives and a couple Spotify playlist directors.
In some cases it has happened. I seriously got made fun of, about a week ago, for still collecting DVD's, and CD's. "You don't have this streaming channel or that streaming channel, you're lame", said the very young annoying person to me.... It just depends upon each person I suppose, and or how they were raised. If their parents were collectors, then I can see them being collectors themselves. If not, you know the rest......
Im a man who goes into the west end of London to one of the few remaining record shops every Sunday to treat myself to a cd. I will then proceed to listen to the entire album in my car or my cd walkman. This is THE way to feel a singular consistant vibe to go with a mood that we humans experience and not just chop around all over the place. Its just a better way to get off on music in my opinion. Everyone else can do what they like.
As a music artist i thought LP was my flow but when i dropped my first ep entitled “49” 2 months ago with 5 songs on it i noticed how much more fun and relaxed i was and how much i didn’t try to be a perfectionist and just let it all hang out
I remember giving the whole recording thing up 14 years ago. I came across your videos some 8 years ago and I've been writing and recording since. And it reaches people, not many but still. Thanks so much for everything Graham!
As a rapper who has struggled with extreme creative blockage due to my self conciousness and being overly critical about my music, this really makes me feel alot better. thank you
Interesting insights here. I’m currently in the process of finishing off the production of my second album after my debut came out last year. My albums tend to be around 7-8 songs long and my first album was only around 30 minutes long. I think this is a decent middle ground in this debate. Some EPs last as long as an album that length so it’s also a viable choice for release. I do agree about the song writing mechanic however. I try to keep my albums and EPs shorter in order to avoid filler tracks and bore people. In the future I’ll go back to EPs simply because writing a full album is also very draining. Love the videos, really helpful content! Have a good day!
Nicholas Ross Music yo would u be able to check out my recent film and lmk what you think? I’m looking for some feedback thank you! I’ll sub to you btw
❤ this video. It answered a question for me. Some " know it all's " I know. Trying to convince me to only drop singles. I'm mastering my first release which is a 5 song EP. I was about convinced on singles. But you reaffirmed my instincts to drop an EP. I'm gonna do singles. But everything you said about EPs is on target. I said for so long albums are finished. People not gonna listen to one artist that long.. Thank you sir. Your students are fortunate to have you. ✊
You kind of read my mind, Graham! I've been wanting, nay, obsessing over putting together an EP for 2 years now. I have about 5 songs written. Right now, the only obstacle is that I haven't finished building my home recording studio due to budget/lack of money. However, I believe this will be the year that I can finish financing this project and start teaching myself the music production process. I hope I can make my promise of putting something out by the end of the year (which I told myself last year too)!
Hey Graham, just wanna let you know that I'm an audio student at an accelerated program first institute in orlando FL. Your vidz are awesome and you've been a huge part of my continual growth as a student of all this AND an artist. Words can't describe how thankful I am of your channel !!
I was really needing this video. I've been writing my own EP for a long time now, and i got really bummed for a while, but now i'm gonna finish it and release it finally
Sent 5 of my tracks randomly to friends, the random liked crew❤️and followers on social media also consisting of Djs,record labels,as a thanks for supporting well showing an interest ... A week later a record label sent me a contract for an EP 😱 now due out feb 17th still can’t believe it ...The 5 tracks instead of maybe sending a single track could have got more notice🤔who knows ,only 2 years in a novice having fun making music creating dozens of ideas ...so faaaaar to go and muuuch to learn QUALITY thru QUANTITY 👍🏻❤️
My partner and I have been working on an EP for 10 years. We watched the music industry change dramatically in that time and it paralyzed us into making many decisions but I dont regret it. Time after time we found that just concentrating on the integrity of the music and our friendship was all that mattered.
Years... I found myself coming back to something I was working on 8 months later and I was able to not only add tremendously to it but it become a completely different song as a result but ultimately for the better and it’s almost right at where I would be happy with it.
"Let's face it, not all your songs are good" is an odd argument for creating an EP as opposed to a full album. Perhaps it's wise to ask yourself about a few other variables: What percentage of your songs are good ones and how long does it take you to write your songs? If only 10% of your songs are really good ones, but you write 100 songs in a year... dude, you have a solid 10 song album there. On the other hand, if 95% of your songs are great but you only write one song a year, then maybe an EP is not for you. What I'm saying is: Whether or not you write some iffy material isn't a reason not to make an LP, because if it were then nobody could ever justify a full LP. In fact, based on that criteria, some people barely qualify to release singles.
Red, you make some great points. I'm old-school - I come from the day of 10-song vinyl LPs. I knew a lot of people who would buy an entire album only to listen to the "single" hit song, never knowing whatever other songs - good or bad were contained therein. Also, consider the person who may purchase an LP and finds another song - other than the "hit" and just loves it. With today's technology and a group of talented prouder/recordists out there, it makes great sense to release songs as "singles" - You may find yourself releasing a single every month, but how does that hurt? An artist can put more effort into a song that has potential, and coax the "hit" from it with very little anxiety, rather than rushing an EP into release, later regretting the finished product. Today, I would encourage artists to release a single a month - 10 songs over the course of a year. That leaves time for gigging/touring, promotion, and, yes, rest.
Man... I don’t comment on many or any videos, but I just wanna say that I REALLY appreciate you and your channel! I’ve been working on my music and Studio for about 3&1/3 years and have been watching your videos since the start (most of them for 2 or more times)! And I just wanna say thanks 🙏 for what you do and how much it helps me and my music! Thanks 😊 Again!
Paco Arespacochaga Great point. Lenny Kravitz recorded “Fly away” in 10 minutes after his album was complete, his label urged him to put it on the album and it became one of his biggest hits. What sounds like “filler” to one person might be the best song to another. Just write good songs and you don’t ever have filler.
defgmx I totally agree! The first hit song I wrote “However Whichway” felt odd to put on our first album because it had a pop rock vibe. The label didn’t think it had potential and felt it was a filler. I knew it had potential. It turned out to be my band’s first hit! Cheers
@@MrPacoArespacochaga heard your song, great song btw!!! You're a perfect example of how sometimes what is considered filler can turn out to be way more. It all comes down to how you feel about
I think it’s mildly hilarious that you post this now. Like others on here, I am trying to slate an EP for 2020, but you just said everything that led me to believing an EP is the right thing to make. After one of our local bands, Carrollhood, released their second EP, I saw that sticking to the digital format and routinely releasing was still able to gain traction and a fan base as well as letting those guys stay focused on their other projects and life. I’m looking forward to releasing something but it’s definitely hard work with coordinating alone haha.
You just changed my 15 song full length into a 3 ep staged release ahahahaha Edit: Thank you for this video. This is exactly what I needed for my work!
2020 is my year and your videos are gonna get me where I need to go. Your content always to be exactly what I’m looking for. My life started THIS year and if I don’t have anything to show for my time one year from now somebody slap me.
great video, sir. there's actually this method called the "waterfall strategy". this is when artists release singles in short span of time and will eventually compile it into an album or EP. doing so can grab the attention of listeners by easing them into it but also to have a body of work they can go back to. your point of the having a collection of singles as an album is so accurate.
So glad I came across this vid. Been stuck recording one song with a buddy of mine and our time is limited throughout the week due to work and family life that I started to feel discouraged and decided I just wanted to drop it all together. This vid put things into perspective for me. Thanks
This is very inspirational advice, Graham!! Now I feel like finishing those tracks that have been sitting on my HDD for months. This goes hand-in-hand with your "Procrastination" advice
This has been my approach too, I just started writing and recording my own stuff last year and released a short EP and two singles just onto RU-vid for now. At this early stage the learning curve is so fast that it doesn't make sense to spend too long on one song. Write, record, mix, release as quickly as possible and try not to spend too much time perfecting/tweaking because you'll look back in a few months and hear loads of things you would do differently now. NEW EP OUT 1ST APRIL :0
Im currently working on my first EP and planning to post it on Spotify after my first song came out & got into the playlist of Spotify. Thank you for your advice, I feel more determined to make more music♥️♥️♥️
Grant I’m so thankful you. I just finished mixing my 1st two songs of 2029 and an EP release sounds perfect. I released an LP in 18 & 4 singles in 19. I think I’ll focus on an EP of Praise music. I’m a country singer songwriter so this is out of my comfort zone and should be a good learning experience. Thank again!
I loved when albums were 40 or so minutes long, I really found it difficult to listen to those 60 plus minute albums where the tracks towards the end sounded scrappy and unfinished. 🤔
Interesting! I'm 62 years old. I'm SUPPOSED to be set in my ways. But reading some of these comments with you all freaking out on "albums going out", I'm wondering just who the old fart really is here! I found a lot of great, eye-opening ideas here. Open your mind, relax and float upstream!!! Oh wait....I think I just stole something....
Dude. Everything you said in this video was exactly what I needed to hear. One thing I might bring up about filler songs, though, is that Cherry Pie by Warrant, was originally intended to be filler, and then it propelled them into the limelight. Yes, the singer regrets having been largely known for one song, but it still put them on the map. And I know this kind of thing is an oddity, and nearly all the time, filler is just filler, but still something to think about.
I 100% agree with this...the times we are in are not as conducive to full length albums...(unless of course you have a loyal following)..even then, if you have consistency..the impact remains relevant.
I'm finally putting music out and it's all thanks to you!!! The Broken Hearts Club is the name of my band and our first EP will be up on all digital platforms by Jan 31st.
The songs that I felt were a bit on the "filler" side are the most played songs from my last album. All the songs I liked no one seemed to really care about. Be careful with your "filler" material. I almost removed those songs from that album. So glad I didn't.
Going from releasing a single every 1-2 months to writing an ep, one big thing I’m feeling is that I’m being forgotten. Stream count way down, not the same amount of social media interaction. I’m in the dark when it comes to staying interesting to my followers while being hunkered down writing the ep. also, trying not to tease the ep a ton is difficult lol.
be a jack of all trades. maybe your fans are losing interest because you aren't switching it up..... stay true to your original style but... go bigger and better every release. BIGGER AND BETTER VIDEOS ETC
I agree about the modern listener, shorter attention spans etc. and also, that nobody needs albums with just three or four good songs, but in the past there were many bands and artists, which could produce albums with no or just one or two fillers. Show me fillers on an album by Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan or The Beatles. But nowadays you are pushed to publish more and can not wait two years until you have written 12 great songs. So better two split one good album into two good EPs.
I think you're right about releasing EPs vs albums. I usually go with the album route, but it takes much longer and you tend to become more irrelevant in the meantime while you work on an album, but if you were to release an EP, you're more likely to stay fresh in people's minds. I only release a single if I feel that a song needs to be showcased above the others on a particular album. I would say that the only downfall to releasing EPs and singles versus albums is that you're going to have to do more promoting, since you're going to be releasing more stuff regularly, which means you need to spend more time creating more cover art, creating more social posts, etc.
So many good points, I needed to hear this!!! Thanks Graham. I wanted to release my first EP this year but got a little distracted by other projects... I’ll focus on the EP first as it means the most to me.
Another thing to consider is that if your genre's audience wants physical albums, sometimes a full-length can make more sense than an EP. Printing 4 songs to a CD costs the same as if it were 8, but the sale price is pretty different between the two. Its just something to think about if you want physicals and are worried about recouping investment costs. (I know this doesn't apply to every sitation though). Anyways, great video! Keep the updates coming, so I might stay motivated to finish my album.. haha. I'm about to break open some old sessions now.
Thank you so much. I was working on my album, i have all 4 songs ready and wanted a total of 10. Now i think total of 5 are enough instead of fillers🙏🏻
you could refine your art a 100 years and there would still be room for polish! An art piece (song, painting, etc) is just a piece that went through the creative refinement iterations enough times to make it a pro piece! Sometimes it’s good to cut the chord finish and start a new one to learn more!
This is a very good video. And a bunch of this is so true. See i spent like 2 years trying to make a mixtape, and it just feels like i will never release it because I've grown so much as an artist over time, but last year in like November i said forget the project, Imma just make a 4 song ep real quick. Then come January i have a 5 track ep ready for release. And since that's happened, now my focus is to make music and drop monthly no matter how many tracks I've made in one month, it must be released before the next month. Really helps with consistency
An EP or an Album? Depends on who you ask and what are your intentions? If you want to be eligible for a Grammy entry (which leads to a nomination) you have to go by The Recording Academy rules - There is not a category for EP, only albums and they say an album is 5 songs and a total playing time of (at least)15 minutes. Some streaming platforms also consider different things in calling your EP an EP. At least one I can think of does not even have an option for EP when uploading. Yes - the times are changing and albums will turn into 6 or 8 songs for a while and it may turn into a singles only world in a few years. As a record label all of this is ever changing and even we have a hard time keeping up.
This came at a good time for me. I'm part of your vip website and decided to release 6 song ep this year....also perfection is what literally destroys me, great advice
This is your first video I’ve seen and thanks, this is the reinforcement I needed as I’ve come to the same conclusions. This year I’m making my first demo/mixtape, I plan for it to be 6 tracks, though I hope to produce/record.
Well said. I think albums are gonna be around for a good while yet though. I'm still thinking about whether to put out an EP this year or a series of singles.
Excellent point on EP projects. Yes, 12+ songs on albums is history but great for the collector. Been around for 68 years and have huge collections and never...ever listened to these albums again, many years back in the 60/70s we did. People want their playlists of their greats. . Period. On vinyl, who has a player anymore, regardless of better quality. Hopefully, better quality CDs will be made with great dynamics and lower volumes. Fab Dupont said it right on Puremix...turn up the volume, that's why there is a knob.
I've been planning on releasing an album that I've been writing by the end of the year, but I was trying to get a few more songs on it (I've only got about 6 songs). So this is extremely helpful and inspiring.
I think the problem with what is the current album format is that, since the CD became a popular format in the late 80s and 90 is that the length of the audio CD was 74 - 80 minutes max (80 minutes was really pushing the Red Book standard.. originally it was around 74 mins which is why there were a lot of longer double albums that got songs cut from the original track order when originally released on Compact Disc from an original L.P/ cassette running master), per the Red Book Specification. The longer CD playing length allowed for longer albums of 12 + songs, depending on the length of each track. I had punk CDs that used to have 20 songs on them, because of how short each track was. If you go back to the LP format, to still leave enough space per LP side so each song didn't suffer in sonic quality, you would allow 20 - 24 minutes on average per LP side. So the standard album was about 4-5 songs per side, maybe 9-10 songs on an average long play album. When I was first getting into listening to music an e.p. on average was 4 -5 songs. When I was a gigging musician in the early to mid 90s, e.p.s were popular with my peers... only because studio time was so expensive as an independent artist. Never mind what mastering cost... a lot of bands skipped mastering all together for their CD release. Plus getting CDs replicated or cassettes duplicated wasn't cheap either. If you had the budget to release a CD , you would be a very lucky individual. Cassettes were the go-to indie release. And a lot of those indie cassettes had black and white covers, sometime they were just photocopy j-cards in the tape cases. My band wanted so much to release a CD back then, but that was a lot of money to put out without even knowing if you would get stuck with 800 CDs that never sold. There are a lot of 90s bands that still have a boxes of their CDs under their beds and in the back of their closets...lol. There wasn't a lot of CD-Rs out yet, let alone CD burners. I remember one CD-R was close to $50.00 Canadian per single blank CD-R disc. There were a lot of CD readers in computers, but burners were rare. People were still installing programs and saving to 3.5 inch floppies. At the time, Compact Discs were also pressed in runs of 1000 CDs. A short time later, you could do runs of 500 Compact Discs replicated or 1000. On top of that, a lot of bands just had a one card artwork insert ( color on one side/ b&w on the reverse (4+1)) plus single sided tray card for their CD. Since printed art was gang run on offset presses, it was done in print runs of 1000. You would still be required to print 1000 covers/ CD tray inserts, even if you only wanted 500 CDs. 1000 was just the cost effective number to run printing presses. So, that was why in that era, most bands wanting a CD would only make e.p.s. To me, once you get into the range of 7 songs, that no longer is an e.p., that is almost an album, just shy of a couple of songs. The max I would consider an e.p is 6 songs. At that point there is really no reason to not just make a shorter full length album with 9 - 10 songs. You still are going to pay the same for any physical merch runs. Especially since a lot of bands are just recording themselves. I was just having this conversation recently with someone on the topic of how many songs should a person consider for an e.p. release. The consensus was 6 songs as being the sweet spot. You would have enough songs for free promos and still have the others as exclusive paid content on physical formats or digital. Where the cost saving comes in the with the e.p format in 2020 will be if you want to hire a mixing engineer or a real decent mastering engineer. Since those folks charge per song, 5- 6 songs per e.p is a where you will see a bit of cost savings compared to a full length album. And savings can be put into making physical merch or advertising. If you mix and master it yourself, then Bob is your Uncle-- you have a lot more budget and this won't be a factor of expenses you need to recoup. I also think it depends on genre and target audience as to a guide of whether to go for a single, e.p, or full length album. You have a lot of good points, Graham. And I value your opinions. Don't take what I am writing as any disrespect. But I am not sure a person can make a blanket statement on that the long play album format is dying. I really disagree that full length albums are a thing of the past. Remember that a lot of people wrote the vinyl L.P as a dead format. We all know how that turned out to not be true. Maybe for certain genres that always were based off of 3 or 4 hit singles per release, then, I agree, a full length album might not be the best ROI. Albums in the 1950s came about mostly to promote singles and usually had a lot of cover tunes mixed in or were collections of single play 45s put onto the 12 inch 33 1/3 long play format for convenience to their fans. That was the common thing in the late 50s and very early sixties. Through the mid to later 60s and 70s, the album format started to became an art form in and of itself. I still think that it is. I would never put a full length album out that was a couple of good songs and then use filler songs. That is a waste of my time, effort and money to even invest in doing. Plus I wouldn't insult any of my potential listeners by phoning an album in. You want to know what makes the most sense? Poll your fans-- if they are wanting a full length album, then give it to them. If you have an target audience that is still buying full length albums, then it makes sense to put one out. I do think E.P.s have their place in a musician's catalog though. I do like e.p.'s to introduce new fans to a band's music. It is less risk of a potential fan to invest in an e.p., if they don't know your music. I think it is a good idea for testing the market, get some cash flow and build some excitement for an eventual full album. I think it is all genre related. There were no complaints on the last double CD Iron Maiden album. That thing was brilliant. I couldn't imagine Nirvana's "Nevermind" or Nine Inch Nails' "Downward Spiral" as e.p.s ... What a tragic loss that would have been. But that is just my 5 cents... everyone else's mileage may vary.
I am going to release an EP next month and all production software I have used are totally free. Learned a lot from Graham, as well as other RU-vid channels.
in my opinion, the EP buys you time and gets you noticed. In hip hop especially, you can release a bunch of feature verses and singles to gain a buzz. That leads to releasing an EP to build an audience. After a while, fans will want a full project. If you deliver on the LP, that can take you to the next level. The LP phase is what essentially separates you from everyone else. The legends/icons/superstars, the artists in the GOAT convos, whether you agree or not, have full length LPs, full length bodies of work that have separated themselves from the rest. So I still believe LPs are very important and the only reason people aren't into them as much in today's time is because of Graham's first point. Many artists deliver on a couple songs and then repeat themselves or half ass on the rest and fans/consumers feel cheated and don't want to invest in a full project going forward. Deliver on the quality and you'll have a better chance of your fans/consumers investing into all forms of your work.
How about a 3P - middle ground between 1-single and a 6-song EP? You can release a select few of best tracks you're working on and basically be able to release music more frequently. Quality and Quantity have always been main measurements of creative output, but these day frequency of release (due to our fast-paced social media world) is as important as the balance of the quality and quantity of the songs you release.
Another point for EP over LP might be an album, at least in my opinion, needs to be more cohesive than an EP, meaning there should be a sort of common theme or story that holds the whole thing together, and that takes a lot of work in choosing which tunes to put on, and the order in which you put the tunes. An EP doesn't necessarily need that, so you're more free in your decisions.
Great advice! I still have bands coming into the studio with the "album" mentality and it makes little sense in 2020. Those days are definitely over. Smaller EPs released more often are the way to go.
I think reason number six is: making EPs (or better yet singles) allows you to somewhat take a break and tend more to your regular life, and health assuming you've been releasing 1 LP per 12 months for the last 5-6 years like some of us.
