Traversing the Music Industry: The Dependency of an Album’s Release
______
A Senior Thesis
Presented to
The Faculty of the Department of Music Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology
The University of the Arts
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In partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
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By
Justin Bertrand
May, 2020
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For an ever-evolving environment, such as the music industry, it becomes difficult to define factors for generating success especially in regards to a record’s release. This is due to aspects such as distribution, marketing and the artist’s overall intention with the record. The current oversaturation of the music marketplace creates a sense of instability leaving the need for order. Accordingly, with the advancement of technology, templates for releasing music have been formed with tweaks implemented coinciding with each new standard within pop culture’s evolution. However, the caveat for release templates is the unification of the saturated market.
With each release being delivered to the public through similar means, there is little to no differentiation between releases other than perhaps the brand itself. Additionally, albums that generate the most “noise” upon release often do so without necessarily following the industry standard. Whether it be Kanye West or Bon Iver, artists have proven that successful releases are not limited to one avenue of traction as album success is dependent on the targeted consumer and not the structure of the release itself. Release templates may prove to be successful on average, however, this is due to the forceful nature they impose by placing walls of promotion in front of consumers in order to lock attention rather than the product itself. In their entirety, templates can develop hindrances in an artist's success and musical progression.
Regardless of the music industry’s adaptation to technological advancement, prerelease routines have maintained procedural steps such as announcement, press and singles as necessary steps for the release cycle to create momentum. In an article titled, Creating a Successful Marketing Plan (for the Artist), Julie Desjarlais describes the criticality in radio, blog and other online media for press interviews during the release cycle. Desjarlais also goes on to emphasize an importance in email newsletters in order to increase awareness amongst fans. These tactics
Bertrand 2 direct consumers to an upcoming release in order to negate the possibility of it going unnoticed and therefore generates a demand for the held product. The problem in this lies with the assumption that the targeted audience is aloof to the anticipation of new releases. With the accessibility that the average consumer has to technology, information including albums upon release have the potential to be at the hands of anyone in the general public regardless of campaigns due to the actions of the consumers themselves.
To generalize the “keys” for a successful release would essentially be to spread misinformation by treating multitudes of works as one in the same. Attacking the music market in such a way cannot possibly compliment the uniqueness that the artist intends to convey through their release. Many artists see this as they instead look to focus on what resonates with their specific community rather than the overarching calculations of clicks in hopes for sustainability.
Prior to Childish Gambino’s official release of his 2020 album, 3.15.20, the artist released said works on his website without notice and within twenty four hours the album was removed. Covering the event, Pitchfork described how Childish Gambino “seemingly dropped a new album earlier (March 15). A bunch of new songs were streaming on a website called
DonaldGloverPresents.com, and the link to the site was retweeted by Glover’s manager Fam
Rothstein. (The RT has since been removed, and Fam Rothstein’s Twitter account has been deleted.) Now, several hours later, the songs have disappeared” (Strauss). Despite this, the release was the center of other music articles and fanatic chatter almost immediately. Consumers are constantly engaging with technology looking for artistic works yet to be released without the intervention of prerelease promotions. The “buzz” generated from the suddenness of Gambino’s
Bertrand 3 album only to be taken away was undoubtedly a result from the differentiation it had to the
“cookie cutter” nature of the average album release. By making the works public and unannounced, the community was caught off guard and accordingly reacted with genuine excitement only to have that rush turned once it was no longer available. This “give and take tactic” Childish Gambino implemented created a rollercoaster of emotions for his fanbase allowing the anticipation for his official release to be solely generated by the fan community themselves. This compliments Gambino’s authenticity as an artist as opposed to relying on corporations attempting to justify why people should delegate their interest towards the product.
The concept of releasing a project with minimizing public awareness in and of itself can prove to be a plausible marketing tactic. Like Childish Gambino, artists such as Bon Iver have undergone similar release styles that differ from the guidelines laid out by Desjarlais. Leading up to Bon Iver’s 2016 album, 22 A Million, Justin Vernon (the artist behind Bon Iver) “knew he didn’t want to talk too much about the album or grant a lot of interviews” (Hilton). Instead
Vernon held one press conference post album release in order to provide context; removing promotion completely from his release preparations. Nevertheless, this did not stop tracks from the album such as, “8(circle)”, from receiving well over forty million streams on Spotify alone.
22 A Million diverged from the genre and sound that Bon Iver had made its staple which completely caught listeners by surprise. However, this abrupt nature, similar to that of which
Childish Gambino had delivered, created attraction and popularity on it’s own. By simply making the music public, Vernon was able to have his album be perceived and praised organically. In turn, this negated the amount of press and album association prior to release and
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22 A Million was received without prior assumptions and value determined by the incomplete picture that advertising can at times provide.
When an artist advertises their project prior to release, they are only allowing the public a glimpse of the full product. As a result, the artist’s intentions and vision for the release are constricted and often skewed. It is here that consumers generate their own opinions and standpoints of what the release is before they have even come into contact with it. This is not limited to whether or not a consumer assumes the album is good or bad, but it also has the potential to hinder the listener’s experience come the release date. Rather than experience the project fully, listeners who already have a preconceived visualization of what to expect may be partially blinded to witnessing the album in its entirety.
The consequences associated with utilizing marketing templates have proven to be relevant through Chance the Rapper’s 2019 album, The Big Day. Being Chance the Rapper’s “debut album”, alongside anticipation for the follow up from his award winning mixtape,
Coloring Book, The Big Day drew excitement from casual and super fans alike. Chance the Rapper announced the album in July 2018, one year prior to the project’s release. In February of
2019, Chance confirmed the release of his debut to be set in July and in June released a promotional video titled, “The Next Chapter Begins” alongside a preorder for the upcoming album. Due to the minimal details that come with promotion in conjunction to the high promise the announcement campaign provided, consumers had already had the expectation for it to be the artist’s best album to date. However, this ended up being the album’s downfall when it came time to release. What was expected to be an evolved culmination of Chance the Rapper’s previous success was deemed “a moderately disappointing work”(Hamilton) by both critics as
Bertrand 5 well as fans. Despite still receiving praise, The Big Day could not meet the expectations set from advertising Chance the Rapper’s debut album. Putting labels in front of consumers and telling them how to perceive the album prior to release set the album up for failure when the final works did not match the preceding appraisal.
In a sense, “creating noise” and promoting the value in a project before it has had a chance to be admired is the equivalent to notifying the public of one’s lack of faith in the album.
Just as Justin Vernon provided context post-release for 22 A Million, artists may find it rewarding to allow their albums the ability to stand alone and provide its own value without others telling them how they should understand it before even being made available.
The concept of a minimalistic marketing approach has proven itself with the album, Kids See Ghosts, released in June 2018 by Kanye West and Kid Cudi under the name Kids See Ghosts. The album, Kids See Ghosts was announced in April of that year just two months prior. “After tweet-announcing the upcoming release of his own album, Kanye (announced) that he and
Cudi also had an album coming”(Fitzgerald). Rather than introducing the project with an announcement campaign, singles, visual promo and so on, Kanye West instead made the reveal a side-note; intentionally allowing for the importance of the statement to be provided by the fans rather than himself. The fans and genre community were more than sufficient at creating anticipation and marketing for the release as it spun into virality. This reveal was not followed up until two days before the release date when Kid Cudi tweeted the artwork for the album.
Although lacking a structured marketing campaign, Kids See Ghosts still found success with the duo’s release. “Reborn”, a track off the album, has accumulated approximately one hundred and forty four million streams on Spotify as of March 2020.
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Overall, the risks marketing templates impose greatly hinder creative works and the public’s reception of the given release by generating preconceived thoughts in relation to a body of work yet to be experienced. With templates, the music at hand may not have enough room to breathe in the market’s space and can end up creating false pretenses. However, minimalist release plans fall at an opposite extreme as they provide little to no structure and therefore hold the potential to blindside the public in a way that creates undecided opinions. Donald Passman, the author praised for writing “the (music) industry bible, All You Need to Know About the Music Industry, describes how influential and proven marketing music has upheld itself throughout the industry’s evolution. In regards to the general public’s internet centric lives,
Passman relays how “your visibility and presence on the Web (streaming numbers, YouTube views, your website, social media, blogs, email blasts, tweets, etc.) go a long way” (Passman
376). Not only does Passman emphasize the criticality in the presence of one’s works but the artist themselves. When an artist advertises their works prior to release online, not only does it create awareness but it also directs consumers to the product whereas an abrupt release can be overlooked due to the lack of attention overall.
It is wise to consider Passman’s thoughts while analyzing why artist’s generate proven success despite the importance of marketing. As Donald Passman stated, the visibility of the artist themselves as well as the notoriety of their previous works acts as popularity and public awareness all on its own. There is no need for Bon Iver or Kanye West to constantly push placements and promotions in front of consumers simply because their fan bases are already giving them attention as opposed to lesser known artists. If someone were to quickly create social media pages for their newly conceived music alias and immediately post their release,
Bertrand 7 their content can be expected to be unsuccessful. Although it may find virality, the release more than likely would go unnoticed; buried beneath the mass content of creators who have either established communities for viewership or utilize promoted content.
With all marketing perspectives considered, the necessity for gauging the artist’s potential impact on the surrounding marketplace becomes of utmost importance. Excluding the chance for virality, the success of a release from a smaller artist becomes exponentially greater through the use of marketing templates. This concept is proven through record labels as they mold artists in order to fit into their presets before being made public. This is to ensure the label’s return on investment as the gamble that comes with minimal releases carries a fairly large risk. If an abrupt release were not high-risk than every band or artist who throws music up onto
SoundCloud would receive countless more plays than they currently do. Marketing templates offer a distinct guideline to artists as to how consumers in the marketplace receive information as well as start and end points for a professional release. However, the music industry is not so simple a terrain to say that popular artists do not require templates whereas small artists require it by default. There are countless factors that affect an album’s success which provoke the requirement of considering where an artist falls within the music industry’s scope.
The single true common denominator in all successful releases is the targeted community. This in turn becomes the answer as success is determined directly from public engagement. Kanye West and Kid Cudi have both obtained strong “ride or die” fanbases.
Regardless of what or how the artists release music, streams will continuously rise for their music at an exponential rate upon release. In addition, both artists delve into the genre of
Hip-Hop, a category of music that is known in the music industry as a community that breaks
Bertrand 8 from the patterns of norms found when dealing with a genre such as Pop. Whether it be consistent last minute ticket sales or “dropping” subtle links, the Hip-Hop artist community is regarded as a group who have already proven to create success while straying from an expected template. Likewise, Bon Iver’s vague and mysterious ethos which surrounds Justin Vernon helped jumpstart a cult following from the surrounding fanbase. With such a following it must be acknowledged that consumers of this demographic take the initiative to uncover any and all information regarding said artist including any new releases. All in all, the results from a given release can only be validated by the consumers themselves. Marketing templates can only estimate the success of a release while minimal plans completely place an artist in the dark as to the perception of the consumer until post-release.
In an oversaturated market, such as the music industry, pushing creatives as a whole to utilize templates for releases can prove to restrict an artist’s intentions. Likewise, when release cycles take a more “free-form” approach they can also fall flat of the artist’s vision for success. It is important to understand and take advantage of the knowledge that marketing plans for releases should be made on a case-to-case basis. Doing so allows for an artist to target an avenue that will not only suit them but also their fanbase. Artists such as Bon Iver and Kanye West have the ability and leverage to tackle marketing releases from a perspective that meets the public from a more solidified angle than that of rising artists as well as genres from opposing communities. In conclusion, marketing campaigns do not guarantee success nor are they required to achieve it as the success of a release is entirely dependent on the consumers the work was intended for.
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Annotated Bibliography
Desjarlais, Julie. “Creating a Successful Marketing Plan (for the Artist).” Sask Music, 7
Dec. 2006.
This article lays out an industry standard marketing plan. Although the music industry has evolved since the created date, the press and release plan has maintained its form to today’s pop music. This is a format that is used to provide proven success in some form and displays how the majority of artists and labels release their music. This is not to say that the outline is the “end all be all” but the information given is a standard guideline to an expected release.
Fitzgerald, Kiana. “A Timeline of How Kid Cudi and Kanye Became Kids See Ghosts.”
Complex, Complex, 19 Aug. 2019, www.complex.com/music/2018/06/kids-see-ghost-timeline-kid-cudi-kanye-relations
hip/.
In the listed Genius article, it is broken down how the team, Kids See Ghosts, was created.
Through this it is not only apparent the speed at which the artists’ conception was made but also their abrupt album release. It followed minimal promotion setting aside two tweets made from both artists. Despite this, the album was a success and concerts followed showing a lack of pre-release marketing but inclusion of post promotions.
Hamilton, Jack. “Chance the Rapper's ‘Debut’ Album Disappoints Only Because It's Not
Really His Debut.” Slate Magazine, Slate, 29 July 2019, slate.com/culture/2019/07/chance-the-rapper-the-big-day-album-review.html.
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In this article from Slate Magazine, it is addressed how generating anticipation for an album prerelease can hurt its success rather than support it specifically with Chance the Rapper’s The Big Day. This provides context and comparison for other albums that achieved high praise without similar promotions.
Hilton, Robin. “Bon Iver Shares New Details About '22, A Million' In Extensive
Interview.” NPR, NPR, 27 Oct. 2016, www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2016/10/27/499531535/bon-iver-shares-new-details-a
bout-22-a-million-in-extensive-interview.
The provided interview showcases the backend perception behind Bon Iver’s pre-release intentions. 22 A Million was the ladder of no release template the intention being to promote the brand of the album as stated by Justin Vernon in the interview. Furthermore, the success of the album shows the lack of marketing and its impact of “relevant artists” being that Bon Iver had taken a brief hiatus before the album’s release.
Passman, Donald S. All You Need to Know about the Music Business. 10th ed., Simon & Schuster, 2019.
The given book has been regarded as a crucial outline to the business behind releases and artist relationships. However, the information is delivered with personal insight made by the author with his own anecdotes therefore breaking the standard form of the industry and creating a
Bertrand 11 middle ground for music application. It also describes the evolution of the industry which opens doors to how a “creative” release may prove to be successful in today’s music industry.
Strauss, Matthew. “Donald Glover's New Childish Gambino Album Surfaces, Gets
Removed.” Pitchfork, Pitchfork, 20 Mar. 2020, pitchfork.com/news/donald-glover-quietly-releases-new-childish-gambino-album-li
sten/.
This article from Pitchfork describes the unconventional publication of Childish Gambino’s latest album, 3.15.20. Rather than adhering to a marketing template, Gambino released his album out of the blue only to quickly remove it from the public’s access. This in comparison to industry standard methods, contradicts what should be considered for a successful release.