why artist release single?

[prussian blue]

well... random and silly question~

but... why? for money?

[JUICYxJEWEL]

In the West the singles work as album promotion. Normally the lead single and album are released close together, then a new single every few months from the album. It keeps the album songs on the radio, music channels and in the clubs so people who didn't buy the album as soon as it was released start to think 'I've liked the last few singles so will buy the album'.

Japan is normally different. Most singles are released before the album. It actually works better as it gives them some idea of what style they (the artist) want for the album. With 4/5 singles already out someone like Ayu or Koda can structure a cohesive album based around the singles so the album is likely to flow better. The bad side to this is the spped J-Stars have to release singles to stay ahead. In the West an artist can put an album out and keep in the limelight via the singles from it whilst spending a year or so writing a new album.

In general, of course it's for the money. It's the music Industry with Industry being money. However a decent artist will put thought into what they release and how they choose to release it i.e. Ayu re-recording YOU and DoY as a 10th anniversary celebration instead of just commisioning someone to quickly mix Mirrorcle World which would mean no work on her side.

[prussian blue]

^ thx for the explanation~~~

so...is western artist look forward to the chart of singles? like WOW~ XXXX has record for 10 single in the top~ like ayu?

[Catzi]

I don't think single charts are extemely important in the west. Mostly albums are more important.

[Halla]

there are single charts in europe, but most of the attention is just on charts which list airplay too. I don't think they release physical singles in the US.

these days singles are just to make money off fans, rarely in the west casual listeners buy singles. singles are sorta hard come by here, most stores just won't stock many singles & they just focus on the hits and singles by popular bands/artist.

[KarenPang]

just like what JUICYxJEWEL has said , he/she pretty much summed it up in 1 post

the way things work in the Eng & Japanese markets are totally different but they have 1 thing in common , they're in the business for the M word - $

[Twilight_Monochrome]

Originally Posted by Halla

there are single charts in europe, but most of the attention is just on charts which list airplay too. I don't think they release physical singles in the US.

Some artists still release physical singles, but they've been increasingly hard to find since the mid-90's. Most stores don't carry them.

[AyuHamasaki01]

Is it just me or does the Western systeem sound rather vague?

[KarenPang]

Originally Posted by AyuHamasaki01

Is it just me or does the Western systeem sound rather vague?

eh what do you mean by that Kristel ?

[Melon Panda]

I like the concept of releasing singles before albums more, and admittedly, it does make more profit. Consumers are more likely to buy pre-album singles than post-album singles, and as mentioned before, post-album singles in the United States mainly serve to keep album tracks on the radio.

[KarenPang]

I like the concept of releasing singles before albums more, and admittedly, it does make more profit. Consumers are more likely to buy pre-album singles than post-album singles, and as mentioned before, post-album singles in the United States mainly serve to keep album tracks on the radio.

agree with you on that

obviously it seems logical to release singles prior to the release of your albums so that listeners can more or less expect on how the album will sound like

[bondingo]

JUICYxJEWEL really explained the entire system perfectly. It works for us, so I don't mind it. While I do admit I like when they used to release physical singles here, I don't mind buying an album in order to get all the songs, rather than paying half the price of an album to get one or two songs, then some remixes and an instrumental.

[prussian blue]

^ but the singles in western doesnt include any instrumental

(well... maybe some of them consist...)

and also the fugliest thing for single is...

they only have 1 song...

[bondingo]

I'm talking about the physical releases of US singles that they used to have, not the current policy of releasing the single on the radio only (although now, digital singles are becoming big here). As for the physical singles we used to have, they often did include instrumentals.

[prussian blue]

i mean the "physical" single song list...

ok, thx for the explanation~

[AyuHamasaki01]

Originally Posted by karenpang

eh what do you mean by that Kristel ?

Well, the American artist work like this: release album and then singles
the Japanese work like this: release singles than album

IMO, it would be much more useful to release a single first and then the album.

[KarenPang]

oh ok I get it now

the things the Japanese & US/UK market works . You can definitely see it like for the Japanese , usually singles tend to be released before an album's drop . You seldom hear cases of singles being released after that

obviously US & UK are different from the Japanese market

[prussian blue]

i hate recut singel...

i wont buy it...

[Calico]

You can still find SOME singles here in the States. I've noticed that Madonna's are usually stocked, although of course not the ones I need. (I love the remixes)

[Luv ~Venus~]

^I saw Beyonce's Get Me Bodied single in stores (sadly there were only two tracks), James Blunt's You're Beautiful single and Mariah Carey's Touch My Body single on sale on TV. So American singles are definitely sold here but most of their (the artists) singles are released on compilation albums as well (ie Now This What You Call Music <~Though it has to be a really popular hit single to land on that compilation).