ADITI SARAWAGI
THE RISE OF
ARTISTS
RELEASING
SINGLES IN INDIA
Music is an integral part of life today and with the
world opening up to newer sounds and appreciating
new genres of music, newer artists are stepping up
to release songs via the digital platform which has
made distributing music so much easier. Artists these
days are releasing singles more than LP’s or EP’s
and this has seen a rise in their popularity and more
recognition to indie musicians.
A single is a song recording released outside of
an album or as a pre-release to an album. It is
usually released in different formats mainly as
digital downloads or music videos to be used as
a promotional tool for an album but sometimes
independent artists release it to gauge public
reaction to the sound they produce before releasing
a full-fledged EP. This concept is also used as a tool
to market the most popular song or group of songs
within an album collection before its release to
generate hype. A single may be one song or up to three
tracks. This is the predefined norm for popular digital
music players like iTunes or Spotify.
Recording and releasing singles is a great way to work
out the technicalities of releasing a full-fledged album
and also to prevent any issues or errors which may
arise. Cost wise also singles are cheaper to record and
distribute as it does not take very long to record a
single. The time flexibility makes it an easier option
to release new singles every few weeks or months
which leads to creating a lasting impression in the
audience’s mind simply by the frequency of media
bytes. It also helps in formulating and executing a
media plan to get maximum coverage which works
in favour of the artist. It gives artists and bands the
opportunity to showcase their best work and garner
a fan following, while working on other material. It
also allows them to display their work one single at a
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time without waiting for
longer periods to release
a whole album. This increases
audience recall value as well.
Releasing singles too
frequently though may
lead to confusion in the
minds of press and the
audience and may seem
like an attention seeking
move without giving the
time to absorb the music previously
released by the same artist or band. It is
also better to have few great singles than
innumerable average ones. Releasing three
to four singles per year is a decent number to
keep your music in audience’s mind as well as
getting them to look forward to it. Having said
that, content today has a very short shelf life as
everyday new media is being released and the
Internet has bridged the gap between the audience
and the artist. Releasing singles is a great way to
keep the media engaged and at the same time offers
the advantage of not losing the newness factor. By
consistently releasing new media, the audience is
also connected to the artist and social media has made
direct interaction and immediate feedback possible.
Releasing singles also benefits the songwriter
artistically as it allows him to showcase his work
to the audience as and when he likes without the
additional baggage of releasing an entire album. It
also leads the artist to step up his game and bring out
his best work in every single he releases as he doesn’t
have the support of a set of songs to see him through
audience and the critics.