ALBUMS ARE DEAD - My Tips for new bands

Me rambling about the current state of the music industry and what to do if you're starting a new band today. Don't get me wrong I will still put out albums simply because I love the format and I still have a passion of putting out music in the album format. What are your thoughts? Discuss! AND SUBSCRIBE SHIT!

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[OlaEnglund]

Me rambling about the current state of the music industry and what to do as a band today. Don't get me wrong I will still put out albums simply because I love the format and I still have a passion of putting out music in the album format. What are your thoughts? Discuss! AND SUBSCRIBE SHIT!

[SithuAye]

My advice for all of you out there wanting to release music. First off, make sure that the music you're making is fully reflective of you and your band as musicians and artists, and that it's something you're proud of and have fun playing. If you're releasing music to fit in with a genre or scene stereotype then chances are unless what you're making is an exceptional example of the genre, then people more than likely aren't going to be interested in it.

My second point, and this mirrors Ola's view, don't sign to a label and don't recruit a manager. They provide absolutely zero value and exist only to drain you of your money if you're at my or Ola's level in the industry.

Thirdly, like Ola says, marketing is a big factor. But when you do it, do it from a place of passion and be genuine. Don't use the 'marketing strategies' of big faceless companies or bands who have no direct connection to their fans. Engage, speak to people and share in their enthusiasm for music. Inject your personality into promoting your music. And for the love of all that's good and holy, don't directly message people asking them to check out your band.

Lastly, be patient and have a sense of perspective. You often see bands or artists explode onto the scene that seemingly come out of nowhere. But trust me, every single one of those people has put in literally years and years of work into what they do. Overnight success stories are almost non-existent in the music industry, so be prepared to sink a lot of time and effort into your music.

[aristacattejones]

Another option is releasing each song on your album as a single every 2-4 weeks until you've released them all, and then compile them as a final album. That way, you are still fresh in people's minds, but still have a complete album at the end that people can buy as physical copies if they want.

[Viper-dzkw]

I wouldn't have believed that albums are dead until this summer, I help teach a music related summer camp and the kids were taking a break from playing their instruments and were playing a game of jeopardy one of the questions was "name an artist and one of their albums" half of the kids responded with "what's an album?" It was a really surreal experience

[MoodAmbient]

Great speech. The censorship sound is annoying though. Censorship is also dead.

[cleftturnip]

Albums mean more to me than youtube channels.

[OlettaLiano]

I started to think out of the box, but the donuts were inside the box.

[Songofwyrd]

Everyone sounds super sad and depressed because who honestly gets into music as an art form / form of expression to make social media content?

[Ekinox]

As a music fan, I have no interest in the way musician are prostituting over the internet. I want a good album.

[BaenaCarcosa]

I've been saying this for soooo long! So happy to see you share the same thoughts

[death-metalhead]

I still love and buy physical albums... I'm just 21. I just hate it when music is released just as singles for the sake of releasing it. Sure that marketing is really important nowadays but I don't even listen to bands that only release singles...

[Kamijin]

By far, the most straight up and direct way of describing the current state of the music industry. Ola basically said it best. It's all about marketing, presentation and streaming. The market is over saturated and people are burning cash to make an album with little to no return.

Most musicians I notice are not releasing anything beyond 4 tracks due to cost. Singles and EPs are the norm now. Amazing how things have changed.. Sigh

[ThrashingBasskill]

I studied media sciences and if I would have to sum up the current media consumption behaviour in a dark way..
it's like a drug you start to get used to.
That's why you need more and more new stuff to get one dopamine kick after the other. An Album used to be something to get excited for, to listen too 1000 times and to get a long lasting kick out of it because the market was not saturated. Now the mindset is like an addict, too unfocused, too jumpy, too damaged to enjoy one thing to it's fullest. The newsfeed on facebook and the 1000 subscriptions are like a conveyor band shoving one kick after another into your brain. Market researchers already noticed a "subscription fatigue". All this happens in a cacophony of screams for attention, where you have to stand out from the ones that want to stand out from the mainstream... (this got darker than I intentioned).

[BentAnat]

You're not the only one saying it, Ola.
But you ARE probably the "biggest" one saying it. Music nowadays is a large chunk of marketing that's more important than ever...

[AndriyVasylenko]

Brilliant video! Another thing I would like to point out is that now music is often on the shoulders of single musicians. Those “lone warriors” compose, record, promote everything themselves, in the meantime doing videos, day-jobs, and caring about family. This is why making full-length albums is impractical and exhausting for them. Collaborations push it faster, but still...I am even not talking about making good money by selling music. It’s become charity by fans. Young boys write me all the time asking to give an opinion on their music. They full of time and hope, and even giving a dollar on Bandcamp could encourage them to KEEP WRITING MUSIC, to take this craft several decades further. Which is important, I believe.

[diegofelipebarrero]

Being harsh and all, but you only speak the truth. I´ve never thought of it that way of being constanly uploading videos and being on people´s faces all the time, but looking at it that way, that´s how I hooked up on your channel and music, you were ALWAYS on my Youtube homepage. Smart marketing and tips for upcoming musicians. Thank you Ola.

[PabloDupret]

Olá Ola, you said it all. No jokes today. I’m depressed.

[mljones]

Great stuff Ola. As strictly a consumer of music I like listening to a whole album... I like to think a complete album tells a story (with some bands, some bands no) but can totally see your viewpoint as an artist. Makes complete sense.

[modelbass]

Having heard your views in the past on the state of the music into totally agree. I am 49 and back when I was younger it was all about the record deal. Now it doesn't matter. Excellent video.

[manny]

This is true. I'm an entertainment attorney. Labels have been trying to push people into overall deals for precisely this reason.
They recognize that revenue streams are far more diverse than just album sales now.

It makes more sense to release singles on Spotify/Apple Music etc and ex post lumping them into a collection you want to call an album.

The old days where people sat around waiting for their favorite band to release a new album are long gone.

One note though, definitely eventually re-bundle your singles as an album though. Search algorithms and payouts are slightly better on them ultimately because that part of the business hasn't entirely caught up with how people consume music now.