Lars Lentz Audio™

Since people like variety and playlists, and artists favor releasing singles instead of albums, could an album of various types of music but of a similar nature, be a good strategy for an artist to pursue? For example, an album of ambient and electronic music, some with beats and some without, but all using a similar style, may be a good album typifying this idea. Would it get more plays than an album of all the same type of music? The answer is not too surprising…

The question actually touches on a fascinating intersection of music strategy and listener psychology that can truly benefit the artist.

The Idea

The idea: Create an album of varied musical styles, but with a cohesive theme and with tracks of a similar nature in order to get more plays for the artist and give the listener the variety they crave.

Current Music Release Landscape

The music industry has shifted heavily toward singles-focused strategies. Most streaming services are now focused on singles – platforms like Spotify, Apple Music, and Pandora prioritize individual tracks. Singles are better for building promotional momentum, while albums can be better for engaging existing fan bases.

The reality is that consumption levels for new artists’ albums aren’t normally there yet, which explains why many artists are releasing record numbers of singles before launching an album.

Yet, artists want to get more listens and longer playing times with their audience, so an album could potentially do just that by providing more of their music in a single serving (album) of multiple dishes (tracks). But that album would have to serve the listener with the variety they seem to want.

Listeners want variety, and this is evident because of the proliferation of playlists that have several different artists but have music of similar styles. Additionally, the number of playlists is high, and an album with a variety of differently styled tracks could find that each track suits different playlists, allowing the album’s tracks to be featured on more playlists.

The Variety-Within-Unity Strategy

The concept of an artist creating an album with varied styles within a cohesive theme (like ambient/electronic, some tracks with beats, some without) is actually quite clever for several reasons:

Potential advantages of making an album that has tracks of a similar nature, but distinctly different styles, are reasonably valid:

• Playlist Compatibility: Different tracks could fit into various user-generated and algorithmic playlists while maintaining your artistic identity.
• Mood Versatility: Listeners could choose different tracks from the same album based on their current mood or activity.
• Discovery Opportunities: Each varied track becomes a potential entry point for new listeners.
• Retention Strategy: Variety keeps listeners engaged throughout the album experience.

Regarding play counts, this album concept aligns well with how people consume music today. Since streaming algorithms favor engagement and time spent listening, an album that offers multiple “moods” within a consistent aesthetic could potentially do these things:

• Listening Time: Keep listeners on your album longer by giving them the variety they want without having to go elsewhere.
• Plays: Generate more total plays across different tracks by offering these different “moods” per track.
• Playlisting: Appeal to broader playlist inclusion by having an album of tracks that are somewhat different from each other and that would each fit a different playlist due to subtle genre differences.
• Brand Identity: An album of this type would satisfy the modern listener’s desire for variety while building your brand identity.

Key Points for Success

The main key for an album like this is ensuring the “similar nature” of the tracks is strong enough to create cohesion, while the variety provides enough distinction to feel fresh throughout the listening experience. This main key can be broken down into several key elements.

Here is what “similar nature” could mean for your varied album concept.

Production-Based Unifying Elements

Sound Design Philosophy: You could establish a consistent approach to sound processing across all tracks. For example, using similar reverb characteristics, filtering techniques, or spatial processing methods that create a recognizable “sonic signature” regardless of whether a track has beats or not.

Tonal Palette: Maintaining a consistent harmonic or tonal foundation – perhaps all tracks use similar chord progressions, scales, or tonal centers, even if the rhythmic and textural elements vary significantly.

Dynamic Range & Mixing Style: A consistent approach to dynamics, EQ curves, and overall mix aesthetics that makes the album feel cohesive even when moving between beatless ambient pieces and more rhythmic downtempo tracks.

Thematic & Conceptual Approaches

Conceptual Thread: You could use a unifying concept, such as “urban vs. rural soundscapes” or “seasonal transitions,” where each track explores different aspects of the same overarching theme.

Source Material: Using similar sound sources or field recordings as foundational elements across tracks. For example, perhaps binaural recordings from your travels woven into both ambient and electronic pieces.

Emotional Journey: Creating a consistent emotional or psychological arc throughout the album, where each track represents a different state or mood within the same emotional landscape. The album as a whole should have an “arc” to it, where maybe the beginning is quieter and more sparse, culminating in a faster and louder track in the middle of the album, and tapering off in the final tracks. Or a different arc entirely. For some ideas on this, you could study story structure and movie plots to see how arcs are developed and which ones could work best or suit your style.

Technical & Artistic Approaches

Instrumentation Consistency: You could use the same core instruments across all tracks, but process them differently – for example, piano might be heavily processed and ambient in one track, while being more present and melodic in another.

Temporal Relationships: Establishing similar approaches to time and pacing – perhaps all tracks share similar build-up/release patterns or use comparable approaches to musical development, even if the surface styles differ.

Production Techniques: Using consistent recording or production techniques – like binaural recording methods – as a unifying technical approach across varied musical styles. Also, your inherent mixing and mastering of the album tracks should be consistent, as this will impart cohesion to the album.

Other Considerations

There are other ways to create cohesion:

• Textural and Tonal Consistency: Use similar approaches to sound texture, tone, and grain. As an example, maybe you would process all of the tracks through a sampler plugin that gives a certain texture to every track.
• Spatial Design: Consistent use of stereo field and spatial positioning can create a cohesive album. This can be thought of as “the live experience,” where the listener can recognize your tracks in the context of the whole album because of the spatial positioning and acoustics, but each track stands on its own as well when separated from the album.
• Micro-Level Details: Attention to microsound elements and subtle details across tracks will give your unique style to every track on the album. Don’t forget the details and don’t underestimate them – ever.
• Genre: While you may subtly span genres in your tracks to some extent, there will be certain considerations for each genre that, if observed, will glue your tracks together in your album. For example, electronic music is a broad genre with the sub-genres of EDM, house, techno, trance, etc., and you may have an album that is of the electronic genre, but have tracks that lean toward EDM, house, or any of the sub-genres while not being firmly rooted in those sub-genres. Each of these has some kind of convention to their musical structure that can allow the listener to identify with each track by genre.

Final Thoughts

I think this approach can create albums that cater to modern listening habits while maintaining a strong artistic integrity. Overall, this can benefit not only the artist, but the listeners as well by giving each what they need.

While the idea of this “variety within unity strategy” for albums is entirely mine, and all the words above are mine, I want to credit my collaborator who helped me flesh out this concept. We played a back-and-forth game of “what if” one night, and it really helped me congeal the idea into something I could actually write about and, more importantly, get behind. So thank you, Claude Sonnet 4 Extended, for your help! (I told you I would credit you, and I did.)