Breadth vs Depth
Most songwriters write a lot of songs. I also write a lot of songs. And what happens when you write a song is that you get very enthusiastic about recording that song and, for me at least, I get very enthusiastic about versions of that song that perhaps don’t warrant that same level of enthusiasm.
So when you’re prolific, and most of us are, it means that you have lots and lots of ideas sitting around and it means that any collection of ideas, like a 10 song album, is really only a very small encapsulation of all of the different things that are going on.
So, here’s the point. The point is that if it were up to me, in some ways, I’d put out 2-3 records a year and I’d put out EPs and I’d save money on press and promotion and spend more time on recording and maybe do smaller things more frequently than do one record and really work it and work it for maybe even as much as a year. That would be my preference. Do small things poorly recorded and just flood the market with lots of material.
And I’m starting to realize that maybe that is not so wise and maybe there is just as much of an art to tending to and caring for and focusing on one specific work (like an album) and not worrying so much about anything else for a long time but really really focusing on it and talking about it and working it.
First of all, it’s very expensive to record 10 songs the right way. If you’re going to spend that money, you might as well spend the time and effort required to try and tell people about it. If you spend a ton of money on recording all the time but no money or no effort on marketing or promotion, it would seem that it might be a waste. Not sure.
Second of all, it takes time for songs to gestate with people and if you abandon them too early to the “next” thing that you’re doing, you may well be quitting before the miracle can happen. For me, it’s been a long long time to sit with these songs and while I like playing them I don’t find myself listening to the recorded versions that often. But I’m not most people and I forget that things that are old to me are young to others. Especially if the record, like mine, doesn’t grab everyone first listen but, rather, insinuates itself to the careful ear over time. Then you waste a tremendous opportunity by giving up too early and/or shifting your attention to the next batch of songs. Just last week I got emails from people that had owned the album for months but only found themselves truly loving it after some extended time with it. And now, in June 2009, over a year after we first went into the studio, these songs were sticking with them and moving them and affecting them. So these things take some time.
Third, there is something to be said for treating the album as a unified body of work, poking and prodding it from a variety of angles and really pulling it apart to see what makes it tick. I’m talking about live versions of songs on the record, remixes, videos, etc. Rather than treating the narrative or story of the record as just one small piece of a huge slipstream, using the material to create its own slipstream, finding new ways to think about the songs and their meaning. I find something cool about that. Really working with this record and letting it occupy a period of my life rather than discounting it and moving on and shifting focus.
The drawback to all of this is that it keeps people that have made up their minds about a specific work at bay and on hold until you can put together the next big thing that you want to do. But maybe that’s necessary anyway. You have to build these things a step at a time and not grasp, out of desperation, for the next big thing. I think. I know that, as Bono said, “Desperation is a tender trap”.
So, for me, I’ve been enjoying playing new songs and thinking about them, but also focusing on this particular record and telling people about it a little at a time and trying to build a groundswell and letting this thing sink in. All with the sometimes frustrating understanding that the next big thing that will happen, the next record, may not happen until 2010 or even 2011, given that time that these things take. But you know what, by 2011, I bet things will be even better and the songs will be better and we’ll be ready for some new and different things.
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:49 pm
Great post. Many “experts” on the business side of music these days are saying that it's a better proposition to focus on singles and EPs, and just pump them out there for free download. The rationale is that you're better off giving your audience easily digestible chunks on a regular basis, rather than make them wait two years between “albums” giving them time to forget about you & move on. I can see the logic in this. We're all bombarded by media constantly. It takes effort to sit down and really absorb an entire CD.
For now, I'm sticking with creating full-length CDs myself, though I've considered going the route of singles / eps. I like the emotional arc of a series of 10-12 songs. Anyway- love your disk. I'm going to keep in mind your idea of continuing to nurture the distribution of an album even after you feel ready to move on to something new… I'm very familiar with that feeling.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:58 am
Thanks for the comment, Rich. I see what the experts are saying and I think
about it a lot. But I also think that people need, as I've (um) Tweeted,
people need central narrative moments around which to gravitate. The
proverbial tentpole. And so the perpetual barrage of singles doesn't really
do that and doesn't really capture people's imagination about a story in the
right way.
The answer would be to create a serial or episodic narrative, still around a
central theme. But then my experience with those kinds of things is that
people love being at the beginning and stop paying attention a little ways
in.
The 'album' needn't be a formally packaged thing but really a 'big story'
that you can tell in a bunch of different ways.
And glad you love the album. It's growing on people.
June 23rd, 2009 at 9:02 am
I agree, I would rather enjoy 10 songs presented in a great way, rather than 25 songs done cheaply. Good stuff costs money, but with excellent recording/packaging/promoting etc I'd imagine its better for the producer and consumer. It's quality, not quantity.
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:58 am
Thanks for the comment, Rich. I see what the experts are saying and I think
about it a lot. But I also think that people need, as I've (um) Tweeted,
people need central narrative moments around which to gravitate. The
proverbial tentpole. And so the perpetual barrage of singles doesn't really
do that and doesn't really capture people's imagination about a story in the
right way.
The answer would be to create a serial or episodic narrative, still around a
central theme. But then my experience with those kinds of things is that
people love being at the beginning and stop paying attention a little ways
in.
The 'album' needn't be a formally packaged thing but really a 'big story'
that you can tell in a bunch of different ways.
And glad you love the album. It's growing on people.
June 23rd, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I agree, I would rather enjoy 10 songs presented in a great way, rather than 25 songs done cheaply. Good stuff costs money, but with excellent recording/packaging/promoting etc I'd imagine its better for the producer and consumer. It's quality, not quantity.
June 24th, 2009 at 6:06 am
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July 8th, 2009 at 5:33 am
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