Album Rollouts: An Eulogy
written by: Solomon McBride
Streaming has revolutionized music consumption, giving listeners unprecedented options and control, tailoring our engagement to meet our own listening patterns and short attention deficits. Platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal have continued to shape the industry in ways we couldn’t have imagined, resulting in a new subset of industry politics reflecting the nuanced relationships between labels and streaming platforms. This commitment deeper into the realities of streaming has been a necessity, but while there are many advantages of streaming, the move has been to the detriment of many - particularly artists. Out of all these adjustments and shifts, however, the one that hurts me the most is the death of the album rollout. What used to be months of glorious strategic and creative marketing, exciting singles, and in-depth personal interviews has largely been condensed to an Instagram post a couple of weeks before its debut. But, how did we get here?
Remember when so much of the excitement around music was anticipatory? Having the time to imagine what a project sounds like before actually listening? The hours spent watching platforms such as 106th and Park and VH1 immersed us into the music beyond just what we listened to, but deeper into the personalities, performances, and stunts (remember Kanye vs. 50?!) that defined the experience as a whole. Unfortunately, though, the rise of streaming in tandem with the lack of incentive to buy albums for consumers created a perfect storm where the industry quickly realized that they needed new tricks. Beyonce’s release of her eponymous fifth studio album, “Beyoncé”, was the answer as it introduced something that the industry was long lacking: the element of surprise. An opportunity to excite customers and spark engagement, while also putting critics and audiences on even playing ground, created a moment that truly changed the way we consider marketing and distributing of music.
Clearly, everybody is not Beyoncé, yet artists still desperately grasp for the creation of moments - unfortunately coming at the cost of creating timeless and enduring music that truly lasts. Virality is king, and the album rollout has been abandoned as the frequency of song releases has been championed - often saturating the quality of music and the mystique of the artists and their talent. Let me be clear, album rollouts were not perfect for many reasons: singles were sometimes gratuitous, either giving us too much of the album or making us less excited for the full project. Or the marketing strategies weren’t effective - missing entire demos of people regarding album release dates. On top of that, the beauty of streaming is that music is as it should be: on demand and accessible, for all ears. Yet, with all that said, the album rollout is an important cultural touchstone and one that I believe still has a place in music. One size doesn’t fit all, and I believe that the expansiveness of what a proper album rollout requires for many artists doesn’t make sense. However, as the tides of the industry have flowed elsewhere, I still long to see a creative and thoughtful rollout - maybe in the vein of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy or Frank Ocean’s Blonde. Now, THAT would be a surprise worth waiting for.
