It's A Singles Market

Gone are the times when entire albums could be made consisting only of 1-2 hits with the rest being so-called "fillers" or "album tracks". With services like iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster, and many others audiences are able to zoom in and download only those songs that they like.

This, in turn, is forcing artists to rethink how they should be releasing their albums. Artists can't bet on buyers anymore to just believe their entire album will sell if they consist of just 1 good song. Artists can no longer afford to "save" material for later album releases to distribute the "good" songs over a number of albums.

That's not to say that people won't still purchase entire albums, but it's fair to say that if artists want audiences to shell out cash for an entire album these days, they'll have to produce a larger share of hit songs on an entire album. It'll force artist not to be content with album tracks anymore.

We can also see the importance of a "singles" market in the sync and licensing space. Music Supervisor Julia Michels who's selected music for major movies such as 'Sex and the City' and 'The Devil Prada' says that "It's a downloader's market. The iTunes top 10 matters as much as Billboard. Labels are using film and television in lieu of radio play, and we're constantly being pitched the single."

This goes to show just how important the single's market is. Film, TV, Video Games and other new media are contributing to the trend of forcing artists to stay focused and create strong material for their entire albums.