How singles are used to attract the music fans

THE single may have started out as the premier music format with the invention of the gramophone but for the past five decades artists, their labels and purist fans have worshipped at the altar of the album.

With the viability of the long-player threatened by the digital age and a younger generation of consumers whose attention span extends to three great songs rather than 10, the single is now king again.

No longer just a marketing tool for an impending album release, the single has assumed so many different guises, it has become a music industry unto itself.

Here’s a guide to the single now and how it is used to win the attention of the music fan:

* The street single: Code for “We want Triple J to play this band because the national yoof still breaks acts and sells the first 20,000 copies of an ‘alternative’ act’s album”. Bonus: Community stations. Works for: Mumford and Sons, Florence And The Machine.

* Radio single: Code for “We want Austereo and Nova networks to play this because they can still create pop stars”. Tends to follow the street single the pop stations claim “doesn’t fit our format”. Bonus: MIX might play this if it’s adult enough. Works for: Most Australian acts along with US pop stars and reality show survivors.

* iTunes bonus single: Code for “B sides, acoustic versions, live in-store performance recordings, offbeat covers or songs cut from the album because they were crap”. This single/EP/bundle gives fans free stuff if they buy the single. Bonus: The cover is a hit. Works for: Every act on the planet.

* Free download single I: Code for “Hello we’re about to release an album”. Bonus: The no-brainer marketing tool offered via the band’s website or their media “partners”. Works for: Every act on the planet.

* Free download single II: Code for “We’re a cutting-edge act who have decided to embrace the ultimate capabilities of the interwebs and write, record and release a new song every day, week, month”. Bonus: Serious social networking traffic. Works for: Regurgitator. The Flaming Lips, Kanye West.

* Leaked demo: Code for “Here’s the original version of the radio single we’re about to send to radio stations but if you think you are hearing it first, you’ll think you’re special”. Bonus: Gets at least two days online buzz. Works for: Britney Spears, U2, 12 years of Chinese Democracy snippets.

* Leaked single: Code for “Oops, but not really”. This is becoming the most transparent method employed by record labels and artists to kickstart a viral marketing campaign for an album release. Bonus: They still sell albums. Works for: Eminem is the master of the leak.

* Viral video single: Code for “The song isn’t that great but the video has nudity, violence, teenagers playing acoustic covers and more”. Bonus: Can break an act no one has ever heard of and probably shouldn’t. Works for: OK Go, Justin Bieber.

* Remix single: Code for “The radio single is tanking but if we get a famous DJ to speed up the beats and add some beeps and whistles, it just might fly”. Bonus: Makes more money because it will feature on every dance compilation in the next year. Works for: Faceless club and tired pop acts.

Source: Daily Telegraph