The Best Music Release Strategy In 2024 (Single Vs Album)

When it comes to releasing music, timing is everything.

Singles and Albums both have merits, but knowing when to use each as part of a wider strategy is key.

So today I'm going to break down when to use each to further your music career.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments 👇

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Let's work together on your music.

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👇 ABOUT ME:
Hey! I’m Damian Keyes and I've worked with musicians every day of my life for the past 20 years. The internet is de ply untrusting understandably and here is my background so you can have the full picture.

When I was 18, I was signed to a major label and at 23 I co-founded a Music University in Europe called BIMM (valued at $300M). I’m also a bass player, I’ve played for a number of artists including Eric Clapton, Alanis Morrisette and Billy Cobham. I initially retired at 30, but realised that life gets boring if you’re not building!

I have always been in-between the music industry and education which is how I ended up building my YouTube channel - I’ve been teaching artists how to release music long before it was a ‘niche’! I now educate artists around the world with my Academy, YouTube channel and Social Agency.

It’s great to meet you and looking forward to working together on your music!

[marekwinski]

Singles promote the artist, but the artist promote the album. Brilliant👌

[CondeVaro]

Maybe it's just me, but I see the waterfall release as the perfect solution. You unveil your album track after track, telling your story bit after bit, keeping suspense but also giving constant value

[benny_bisquits]

I have been following the waterfall strategy for my latest record. I have put out three songs so far, constantly growing the numbers and now I’m set to put out the full record. The way I approached it was to put out the songs that I could advertise best, trying to boost the numbers so by the time my full record comes out, the tracks already have a lot of momentum behind them. I am trying to find that balance of putting myself out there to be heard while also trying to put it out for me. It’s a hard balance to achieve at times. Thanks as always Damo for all your encouragement throughout the process 🙏

[Freedomstudio]

I couldn't agree more. The first thing I did as a solo artist was release a full-length album. It was a monumental failure because i had no momentum. If I could go back, I would absolutely have done singles.

[Keenodnb]

You pretty much nailed this. Needed it today, thank you :)

[FrozenByFire]

Thanks again for keeping these to 10 minutes instead of 30. Good stuff.

[guythegoth]

This is such a lovely, concise delineation of art and commerce. They can both use the same craft to different ends, and you can create art to fit commerce, but they're not the same. The internal, creative need to communicate and the external need to sell are difficult to integrate emotionally.

[Santanero_soundscape]

Videos are great! Been out of the game for 15years and just decided to start writing and recording again. Released a single last week and excited to have accomplished that but I watch these videos to maybe get to a larger audience. Great stuff!

[techrubicon]

I completely agree! I'm just releasing 9 singles, that's one single every two weeks over the summer starting on 1st of June, under the brand URBAN SOUL COLLIDER in case anyone is interested. I'm doing this mainly because my genre is commercial dance music, so I need it out there over the summer and to saturate the market with my awesome sound. I could release an album with an extra 20 minutes after all the singles are out there. But I am happy with getting the music out there consistently.

[Dustin_SkySmith]

You are definatly the best content creator on modern music release strategies. Another great video 👏

[zacwaremusic]

Traditionally, an album was a collection of singles and you released all your singles and then when you had enough hits, you released an album of those hits. I think Bob Dylan was one of the first people to release an album of songs that people hadn’t heard before as singles

[izzsi]

Great video, thanks! I am finding it harder to see the point of albums at all (and I know so many people feel the opposite to this!) Just one song can tell a story, without it needing to be part of 9 other songs on an album (in my view). Besides all the known social media benefits of releasing just singles (possibility of getting on Spotify playlists increased every time/continually creating social media content for promo etc) I see the benefit being that it helps the artist portray how they're feeling at that brief point in time with no pressure to relate a further 8 songs to it over the course of say, the next year. The story they have to tell with one song might not always intertwine with 9 other songs. Anyway I'm just airing my thoughts & wondered if others felt this way. :-) I'm finding it harder to see any reason why albums are necessary in today's age (unless you want to put out merch and LPs/CDs). Does anyone else think that singles might possibly be the new way to go? If you release a single say, every 1 or 2 months, you'll still basically have enough to tour with after a year or 2 if that's your aim, you just don't have to scoop all the songs up into one album cover with one title :-) The tour is just for your name in general, and not one specific album. The only real problems I see with singles only is maybe "flooding". Does anyone else share these thoughts?

[SouhailEntertainment]

Introduction: Timing is Everything - 00:00
Historical Context of Albums - 00:31
Single vs. Album Debate - 01:01
The Advantages of Releasing Singles - 01:57
Challenges of Releasing Albums - 02:56
When to Release an Album - 04:23
Common Misconceptions About Albums - 05:52
The Role of Physical Copies in Music Releases - 08:29
Conclusion: The Importance of Momentum and Timing - 09:26

[kevinmkraft]

You've addressed some major questions I've had for awhile now, as I prepare to release my own music. Thank you!

[Chiosford]

As a music art, you really inspire me sm🫶❤️

[Peanut_Butter_Jelly_Jam]

Releasing a few singles that build up to the release of the full album feels like the most natural path. Whether or not that works depends a lot on how much you can get those singles (and eventual album) in front of people.

[stevelanemusic]

Yes. Brilliant. Gracias. 🙏🏼 I’m releasing singles then the album after every single and accompanying video has been released. New Classic Rock is my genre. 👍🏼 Thanks Mr Keys. 👍🏼 Love your content. Have for quite a while.

[RonCheatwood]

Hi Damian I am getting ready to release a song that I believe is going to go VIRAL! Recorded it in October in Louisiana. This is my 1st time going in a studio and coming out with a song I believe to be a hit. Guarantee you and millions of other are going to love my song. I am sure you heard that before but I am confident in my song. Producing video and EPK this week. I have been following your strategies since the beginning of my journey. I am i love all your advise! I chose to do singles and was glad to see this video.
Thank you so much
Captain Ron Cheatwood

[Manbiteszombie]

I get what your saying in this video, for our band we're a concept band that write and performs songs about survivors of a zombie apocalypse, throughout the album we tell those stories and it fits together with the dialogue and makes sense (Think of Jeff Waynes War of the Worlds but with Zombies, thats what we're striving for) . A single on its own for us can lack a bit of context, people have no idea what it's about because they don't have the back story and it just comes across as a bit weird. Unless we write that single to be more self contained. It's something we've been struggling with promoting across the Spotify generation.

[flamindigo]

I didn't think much of the strategy. But, that was the best review of taylor shift I've ever heard.