“I don’t do albums any more … I do songs”
— Prince
Unless you’re simply writing songs as a hobby, don’t waste your time on self- indulgent ‘album tracks’. These days, even established artists are finding it hard to sell albums—so album cuts won’t earn you much in royalties.
It is vital to make every song you write so distinctive, original and commercial that it is a potential hit single. This applies whether your ambition is to achieve major success as a singer-songwriter, or as a member of a self-contained band, or as a professional song provider for other artists.
Trying to write an album full of singles doesn’t mean the songs have to be formulaic ‘throwaway’ pop tunes. But they should be interesting, memorable and, most importantly, likely to get played on the radio! That’s what record companies want to hear.
The growth of digital downloads means the music industry is once again a ‘singles market’ – just as it was between the 1950’s and 1980’s. Throughout the 1990’s, record companies tended to treat singles as ‘samplers’ to help promote their artists’ albums. Today, sales of digital singles are increasing while overall album sales are falling.
As Lady Gaga’s manager Troy Carter observed in 2012: “It’s not an albums business anymore. It’s a singles business…”.
So don’t write album tracks, write singles. They’ll also earn you more in performance income if they get played on radio!
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