Let me start out today by saying, that outside of this blog, there are some very good resources available simply to help you in your quest for music success. Just to point out some of them, I have them listed to the right of this post. Within that list, I highly recommend Music Marketing [dot] Com, Producer’s Notes and Kings of A&R (just to keep up with what is happening in the music business.

So you are releasing a full length record right off the bat. Congratulations on having a large amount of solid material. Again, I would stress that you find the right songs for an album. Try to stay away from putting a collection of your best songs on it, as the record may end up being a run of 7 or 8 songs that are good together, then having 4 or 5 songs that don’t really fit. That will give the fan an excuse to buy only one or two songs from iTunes rather than buying the whole record.

Let me touch on something I had mentioned last week about categorizing the moods of your songs. Let’s just take for example that you want to put 12 songs on your album. There are 15 to choose from and you’ve got five “1’s,” five “2’s” and five “3’s.” If you were to simply say, “Hmm…I’ll just dispose of one from each category leaving an equal amount of songs to represent all the moods of the music.” I disagree. I am a fan of asymmetrical nuances in music, i.e., seven “3’s,” three “2’s” and two “1’s;” but that is my subjective opinion, aren’t they all though? What a business eh? Keep in mind that this is not science, it is based on emotively connecting yourself with your audience. That is what brings them back.

It all boils down to this. You’ve got a big pot of chili in front of you that you are about to enter into a cook-off (one of which I have won by the way…). There are certain amount ingredients/seasoning that you want to put in that pot to win the contest. The Pot of Chili is the record and the songs are the salt and pepper. Here it is though, let’s say you have your 13 songs picked. During pre-production you decide to take one song out and put another one in. Essentially, using the chili metaphor, you’re changing the entire seasoning. The bottom line is this; you want your pot of chili to win. So add the right seasonings.

Are there any records that you enjoy from first cut to the last? If so, tell me about it.

There are a few scenarios to think about when considering which songs to put on a release. If you are lucky, you will have more songs to consider than you need. Example; 20 songs for a 13-song release, 15 songs for a 9 to 11 song release and so on and so forth.

If you’ve made it to a third or fourth release, Congratulations! That is successful. First and Second releases are different than the next ones. On these, the most important thing is to pick the RIGHT songs. Getting further along in your career, you can start to think about having a personality within each album. Let’s chat about what strategies are involved with the number of tracks on your first release.

With this one, some of your possible motivations may be making a splash to gain attention from the press. Perhaps you just want to have some content available to people so that they know you’re up to something (also convenient to sell at shows [and for that matter, give them away like business cards]). Maybe gaining exposure within the music industry to add others to your team is your drive. Whatever it may be, you absolutely have to pick the right songs, and put them in the right order!

With three songs, go ahead and make them all aggressive, all slow, or mix it up. When you get into the four-song release; this is when you should consider having a diverse repertoire. Group your songs into three categories, 1, 2 and 3. Call the (1) “soft” (2) “medium” and (3) “hard.” That is the first filter. I mentioned it in the last post, but look at the Meese Ep, released by Atlantic Records. There is a demo listed, but the three tracks after that represent the order of the Ep sans track four (but the song missing on myspace is a 2). I would consider this Ep 3, 2, 3, 2. Let me say this though, don’t be afraid of tossing five or six quality tracks on your first release.

After that first filter of song personality, consider the lyrics. Pick songs that are strong in this category. Diversity is also an important aspect for this filter. Two songs about a girl and two neutral is great. Four, about a girl is great. But when it gets to 5 or 6 songs, diversify.

When you have the songs picked out go into pre-production. At this point you can and it off to the Jacquire King’s or the stinson’s to produce it into a hit!

First Release a Full Length? Well, let’s talk about that next week!

Any choice of Song order on a release stand out to you? Let me know what your thoughts are in the Comments section. Thanks for stopping by.

At the foundation, your basic job as an a&r guy is to find something cool and tell as many of the right people about it as possible. So, now you have a band to represent and you need a release.

There are a couple of different choices that can be made in this arena. Do you record a single and push it to radio? Record an Ep (extended play) and sell it at shows, meanwhile mailing it to CD Baby to get into iTunes for digital distribution? Or maybe even record a full length and take a shot at big time physical distribution…All of these choices are both good and bad. You’re job is to find the right one. (Oh yeah, and then there’s the record deal…that’s being a manager performing a&r duties—very common).

In my opinion, at the very least, you might as well record the Ep . Then you have numerous options with a moderate risk. One advantage for the Ep over the full length is having a digestible amount of content for the new listener. Think about a buffet line at a Chinese Restaurant. You see a new dish that looks pretty good; you grab a humble amount in case you don’t like the flavor. It is the same way with music. A new listener is much more likely to spend $3 to $5 on an Ep that they may or may not like than $10 or $12 on a full length. In addition, three to five songs will create a loyalty that will leave the fan wanting more. Remember, you are introducing yourself to new people, potential fans.

But, which songs do you pick for the release? And the lead single!? Stay tuned for next week’s edition of a&r Notes. Can’t wait to see you next Thursday!

There are two Ep’s that come to my mind as having a direct influence on my loyalty to purchase the follow-up full length. 1.) Mute Math, Reset EP and 2.) Meese, The Start of It Ep.

Are their any Ep’s off the top of your head that you remember making an impact on your buying of music?