Today I wanted to share a video with you where I break down the pros and cons of releasing albums vs. singles in 2023.

The short answer here is that it’s still smart to release both albums and singles as part of your music release strategy. But it’s important to understand the benefits to each approach which I’ll break down for you.

If you don’t have time to watch through the video, here’s a quick rundown:

My Albums vs. Singles Strategy in 2021: 

I released at least 1 brand new single every month for the entire year, as well as 2 brand new albums. 

One of the albums was a compilation album of previously released singles (plus 1 brand new single). The second album was new content.  From studying my own data and analytics, this especially appeared to be a winning strategy for Spotify. 

Pros of Releasing Singles in 2023:

Singles…

• will help you maximize the benefits of Spotify’s algorithmic playlists, especially Release Radar, on a more regular basis.  The sweet spot for maximizing benefits here is releasing a new single every 2 weeks or once a month.

• are less time consuming to produce than an entire album, leading to a regular output of new content.

• make it easier and faster to capitalize on tending content.

Pros for Releasing Albums in 2023:

Album releases are generally more exciting for your audience. Especially if you set up a crowdfunding or pre-order campaign for them.

Albums…

• can help you stockpile content for future release.

• give you more options for releasing physical products like CDs & vinyl.

• provide a lot of fresh content for live performances, especially for touring musicians.

• can help give a large boost in streams from your followers on Spotify for the initial release period (if you’re setting your release up properly to get on Release Radar).

If you’re running a pre-order, you can build more excitement than you normally could surrounding physical products like limited edition merch.

Conclusion:

When deciding between albums vs. singles, I still think it’ll still be a winning strategy to release both in 2023.  If you can, I think sticking to a regular release schedule with your singles (like 1 new single per month) is a great strategy. 

Most musicians should be able to release at least 1 new album for the year. If they’re releasing singles on a regular basis they can always compile a number of those singles into an album at some point in the future.

If you don’t want to deal with releasing an album from a physical standpoint, you should release a digital album. It can be a brand new album or a compilation album. 

If it’s a compilation album, as long as you’re just adding in at least 1 brand new single, you’ll be eligible to get your release on your Spotify followers’ Release Radar playlist (if you follow Spotify’s guidelines which you can find here), which is one of the keys to helping you grow on Spotify.