Why Debut Albums Are Often The Best

When we think back at all our favourite artists, there was that one song at the beginning that caught our attention and made us turn up the volume. Even if the new music is still nice, we will keep listening to the first songs and albums that those bands brought out.

But why is it that we keep holding on to the first albums and that the others never feel like they reach the same level?

In the starting phase, musicians often experience their highest level of inspiration and motivation to deliver the highest quality of unique lyrics, melodies and genre that has the power to influence the target market the best.

Often people have a tough time listening to new music. For more info and solutions, scan through my article called Why You Have a Hard Time Listening to New Music.

Musicians Take Their Time With The First Album

As an aspiring artist, you work your whole “previous life” to deliver the perfect product and give yourself the highest chance of making a success of your career. They put in a lot of effort and micro-manage the feedback they get carefully to implement the appropriate changes.

Before their careers take off, artists have a large repertoire of singles and music ready to present from which they can generally pick and choose, to compile and complete their first album with the highest quality of music that has been tried and tested on stage.

This effect usually has the power to motivate the artists enough to deliver the best product first.

It becomes quite hard to keep releasing work of this standard since you won’t have the same amount of time on your hands as when you only dreamed of becoming a musician.

When Labels Pushes For New Content

When artists need to publish new music and be ready by the recording date, the quality of the music is often not the absolute best.

Think about it: you perform at your best when you do the work you want on your own time. As soon as someone tells me or forces me to do a certain piece of work, I am already irritated and just want it done to get the authority off my back.

In the past, record labels were quite happy with having 2-3 hits per album, and therefore the others weren’t playing that big of a role in the selling of the music.

In the modern day, we rather focus on releasing quality rather than quantity. That means that we don’t release albums that often, but instead focus on releasing high-quality singles in a faster occurrence.

Creating Music In The Studio

Artists know all about having to be flexible.

You wake up one morning with a call, telling you that your recording sessions have been moved earlier because of cancellation and you need to be in the studio by next week already.

Let’s be honest, there’s only so much you can do in one week, so musicians continue to write their music that’ll be recorded during that same week.

You record your main songs first, but then you have to record the rest “on the go”.

That sadly leads to the quality dipping in the process.

This article was written and published by De Wet from startingmyband.com on 04.10.2023. The content was stolen from me if this blog post is seen anywhere other than on my website.

A band recording in the studio (photo credit: Canva)

Buying Album Fillers From Songwriters

When artists don’t have the time or capacity to write enough content for their albums, they often turn to songwriters to complete the albums for them by buying the songs they approve.

These songs will have a different sound than their own written songs and don’t fall as easy on the ear as their fans are used to.

Artists also try a variety of music on their albums in the shape of covers or remixes, collaborations and instrumentals to see which of these stands a chance of getting charted. This doesn’t fall as easy on the ear as the fans are used to and also takes some time to get used to again.

If you are a songwriter and are interested in getting your music sold to an artist, check out this article for more info: Selling a Song that You Wrote to an Artist

Their Genre Changes With Time

As musicians grow, become older, mature, and more experienced, so does their music.

It is quite normal for an artist to start off following a popular commercial genre when they start, especially to gain popularity, before they move over to a more specific, specialized genre when they already have their fan base established.

Another possibility is that when artists grow into the industry and through decades of dedication to the industry, their personalities and interests also change, which then leads to them exercising their passion in another genre.

New Inspirations are Found

With life having its ups and downs, the lives of musicians also have different challenges.

Things like break ups, new love found, political changes, sports events and even tributes to different people play a role in changing the inspiration of musicians or bands.

Artists are grateful for inspiration since it’s also easy to fall into the dark hole of writer’s block, therefore we should support our beloved musicians, even if they sometimes sound a little different than what we are used to.

We should try and understand what they go through and put ourselves in their shoes. It’s part of the journey we walk together.

Musicians deliver the work they practice often being blindfolded and without knowing how it will perform. They are all so relieved and happy if they feel supported and loved by their fans.

I hope you found the answers you were looking for.

For more relative information on bands and musicians, read these articles next:

Until next time, Rock On!

De Wet

The dream started during a school tour at the age of 15 years old. One that might take a long time to reach. De Wet was 16 years old when he got his first bass guitar as a gift from his dad. The guitar was found, hidden under boxes. As if it was waiting for its owner to come by and pick him up. He practiced every day to improve and to teach his fingers to dance to the music. After finishing high school, he played in various bands where he collected valuable experience, before being signed by a record label as an upcoming band. He reached success at age 22 when he released two albums with his band, which also included televised music videos for publicity. By age 24, he co-started management, artist promotion, and booking agency for successful and upcoming musical acts.

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