Monday, September 1, 2014

Skid Row and The Future of Album Releases

Yes, Skid Row is still around. After the departure of Sebastian Bach the band found a new vocalist in Johnny Solinger, who has now been in the band longer than Sebastian was. When I first discovered this fact it was by accident. I picked up the album "Thick Skin" and was so disappointed that it was not Sebastian singing. I really disliked the new sound the band had. But after listening to it a few times I fell in love with it. So since then I've become a Johnny Solinger fan. Now that we've established that, lets discuss why I've labeled this "...and the future of album releases."

In 2013 Skid Row released the EP "United World Rebellion: Chapter One," followed up in July 2014 by another EP "Rise of the Damnation Army -- United World Rebellion: Chapter Two." Why is this important? Well one, they are full of great songs, and two, I am willing to bet that we start to see a shift in recorded music from releasing full length albums to bands releasing smaller EPs at shorter intervals. The way musicians (or rather record companies) sell music is by having a hit single on the radio, YouTube,  etc. But as has almost always been the case, most albums only have one single. So in today's iTunes and Amazon mp3 fueled music scene, only the single is being downloaded. The rest of the album is losing money. That is why it only makes sense that EPs are the future. Like Skid Row, and also a reunited Ugly Kid Joe in 2013, did by concentrating on making a few REALLY good songs to release and not worrying about so called "filler" songs to round out an entire album. This way, especially in pop music, an artist is only worried about recording a couple great songs that make money every 12 months or sooner. More people will be willing to buy or download the entire EP if the last one was pure gold, then release a new EP of 3 or 4 songs 8 months later and they will purchase those ones as well. It is also a way for artists to try that weird avant-garde phase they all go through; don't alienate fans with an entire album of terrible music, just try a few songs out and if it bombs you go back to the old sound. New bands will still have to release entire debut and sophomore albums for touring purposes, but after that they can hop on that EP gravy train.

1 comment:

  1. Another insightful observation about releasing smaller EPs more often. See you next week for Behemoth and Cannibal Corpse!

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