By Zack Hubbard
As you might have noticed, it's officially the "Event Age" of album releases in the music business. Creating an appropriate amount of buzz for a project in our current landscape is quite the uphill battle. And then releasing said content out into our ruthless culture in a satisfying manner can seem damn near impossible. Record labels and their artists are constantly throwing more ideas at the wall to see what sticks. Honestly, not much of it does. From the buffoonish to the brilliant, I'll break down some of the ways music has been dished out to our hungry ears in 2016. So far.
Releasing an Album on Your Deathbed
David Bowie - Blackstar
Certainly not the most advisable way to release your next project to the world, but there's something so "Bowie" about this. Being a very private person outside of his career, very few people knew that he was so close to death, let alone that his cancer had even returned at all. So to surprise his fans with an album on his 69th birthday acting as a perfect parting gift to the world, is so on brand and a feat only the Starman himself could expertly pull off. Doesn't hurt that it's pretty damn good too.
Releasing in the Yeezy Way
Kanye West - The Life of Pablo
The hype for what was first titled So Help Me God, then SWISH, then Waves, then finally TLOP, which stands for The Life of Pablo, began in earnest when Yeezy started dropping tracks in late 2014 / early 2015. Both of which, "All Day" and "Only One," unsurprisingly failed to make the final cut for TLOP. After a huge Madison Square Garden listening party and a raucous SNL performance, we all knew that it was the blessed Yeezy season. Eventually Kanye's seventh album would see the light of the day, first to the few Tidal subscribers in existence then to everyone else, in February of this year. I'm obviously leaving a ton out of this overview (see: blaming an album delay on Chance the Rapper), but the thing I want to touch on is the absence of a physical release. You know, those ancient records and compact discs we used to put in to cars and Walkmans. Some of us still do (shouts to Ben Eiden). Now I still love buying a record and hearing an album on vinyl, but I would certainly consider myself to be a rabid streamer. So it's not the lack of holding a Kanye album in my hands that's got me buggin'. See, when an artist has the type of perfectionist reputation that Mr. West seems to have, it can make things quite troublesome to have the ability to reopen the studio and tinker with seemingly finished tracks. Oh and tinker he did. Some songs needed work ("Wolves"), but others didn't ("Feedback"). I cannot state just how the fluidity of this album is downright annoying to me. Ultimately, an artist of this caliber needs a firm finished product so he/she can move on to whatever fashion project they've got lined up next. Here's to hoping Turbo Grafx 16, or whatever Ye's eighth album will be called, can be enjoyed in my record player.
Releasing Digitally Seconds After Your HBO Musical Special Airs
Beyoncé - Lemonade
Let's face it: no one could take over the entire pop culture conversation like Queen Bey did when her mysterious music video special aired on HBO, quickly followed by a full album drop before you could even catch your breath. Or find out who the hell Becky with the good hair is. Lemonade perfectly encapsulates the "Event Age" for an album release. And the only way to be a full part of the conversation is to buy it. Watch the throne. The Queen has spoken. Bow down.
Releasing after a Thorough Scrub
Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool
To say that Radiohead follow their own beat might be the understatement of the century. The ever mysterious, English rock/experimental band are no strangers to the unconventional album release. They've done surprise releases before. They've even let listeners decide for themselves what they should pay for a new Radiohead album. So what do they do to build anticipation for their 2016 release? They decided to scrub their social media pages, of course! Did it work? Shit yea, it did. All the Radiohead-heads(?) collectively lost their minds at the potential for new music from Thom Yorke and Company. After a few agonizingly brief teases, we were finally graced with videos and single releases for "Burn the Witch" and "Daydreaming." Included with these singles was also a press release announcing their next full album, A Moon Shaped Pool, would be available in two days. It's all about capturing the right moment at the right time, and taking over the conversation. Or you can just be Radiohead and do whatever you want. That seems to work as well.
Releasing After a beats1 Listening Party
Drake - Views
Not long after Yeezy hosted a party at MSG and Queen Bey served us an icy beverage via HBO, Drake decided to fire up the internet meme machine and hang out on top of Toronto's CN Tower just before the release of Views. Not to be one-upped, Drizzy changed his album title at the last minute and held a listening party on Apple's Beats 1 radio station. I mean, I guess internet radio is as cool as MSG and HBO. Wait, no it's not. It also doesn't help that the album has taken the better part of two years to actually see the light of day, and when we finally hear it, it's fairly underwhelming compared to what Drake did last year. I'll go ahead and file this under "slight misstep" in what I'm sure will be an illustrious career of proper album releases. At least we'll get plenty of memes.
Releasing on Apple Music; Calling it a Mixtape
Chance the Rapper - Coloring Book
Surprise releasing a mixtape that actually may be the best album of the year is a brilliant move for Chance the Rapper. After quietly becoming everyone's favorite rapper of the past year, and shining bright in The Life of Pablo opener, "Ultralight Beam," Chance was poised to do something great. And did he ever. Arriving on Apple Music in May, Coloring Book is joyful noise perfectly mixing hip hop and gospel into a warm collection of tracks. I can't quite figure out what the difference is between an album and a mixtape, especially in this instance. He may consider it a mixtape seeing as how it hasn't been officially released for purchase and is available for streaming. It may not matter, because according to Chance, "I don't make songs for free, I make 'em for freedom." Fine with me, just keep making 'em.
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