Post subject: The EP: Less Than 5 tracks & Less Than 20 Minutes
Less Than 5 tracks & Less Than 20 Minutes. That's one of very few ways that an album can be refused entry on BEA. I know that there are several that fall into this category that people have tried to have included here, only to have those attempts fail.
So, here's a thread for those EP's, if you will, that don't qualify for inclusion here. This is a place where you can give us your favorite 3 tracks, 18 minute gems, or however much it falls short by. Just because they can't be added on BEA, doesn't mean that they should be completely hidden from view. So, recommend away!
*****PLEASE NOTE*****
The BEA rule (Less Than 5 tracks & Less Than 20 Minutes) has been hashed over a trillion times. It's not going to change, and this thread is not meant to be a place to argue that. Please don't use this thread to campaign for the rule change...it's not going to happen.
Also...there are millions of single releases. Either single song or two song singles. This is an album site, not a singles site...let's keep it to those short albums that just don't qualify.
Let's see the best of those! _________________ Musicians play gigs.
Fans go to shows.
I have a lot of favorite EPs but these are my most favorite. At least the ones that qualify as being less than five tracks and less than 20 minutes. Usually they're a little longer than that than that.
Many of you probably know already that XTC is my favorite band (if not, you can always just look at my all-time Top 100). Unfortunately for BEA-inclusion purposes, XTC's Andy Partridge recently decided that four-song EPs are vastly superior to full-length albums when it comes to releasing new material. (Why? I have no idea.) So in the last four years he's released not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, but SIX 4-song EPs — three with collaborators, and three by himself, all of them under 20 minutes in length.
TBH, I think his reasoning is that with everybody streaming and/or downloading individual tracks, it just made more sense for him economically to get the material out there sooner, rather than wait until he had 10 songs or however-many-it-would-be. Maybe he'll change his mind someday. You never know!
TBH, I think his reasoning is that with everybody streaming and/or downloading individual tracks, it just made more sense for him economically to get the material out there sooner, rather than wait until he had 10 songs or however-many-it-would-be. Maybe he'll change his mind someday. You never know!
I recently noticed some Christian / Gospel albums getting shorter and, particularly the upcoming Lauren Talley solo album and Lauren, Amber & Kenna's upcoming album. There aren't 4 songs but 7, still shorter than usual and I am disappointed. I wrote a question on a music blog and asked about this, and the guy from the music blog pretty much told me what you just said. Here's his answer to me:
"It’s an industry trend, though some still do full-length albums. Down East Boys did a couple of short albums in 2022 and 2023, but their upcoming album has ten songs.
Financially, they can probably release one album per year if it’s just seven songs or so. If they do ten songs or more, they’re more likely on an 18-month cycle between releases. The sad reality is that fans don’t buy as many CDs when they can stream them for free or a low monthly fee all they want."
"ChristiAna" by ChristiAna Perez has 5 tracks but it's only 19 minutes long. It was almost long enough to add here. I really like her voice. She reminds me a little bit of Eva Cassidy.
Here's the first track. It's her cover of the blues classic "They Call it Stormy Monday".
7 songs qualify for BEA inclusion, regardless of time. As does 5 tracks and 19 minutes. This thread is looking for short albums...EP's...that don't qualify for inclusion on BEA. _________________ Musicians play gigs.
Fans go to shows.
7 songs qualify for BEA inclusion, regardless of time. As does 5 tracks and 19 minutes. This thread is looking for short albums...EP's...that don't qualify for inclusion on BEA.
Yes, I know 7 songs qualifies and I've added those two releases already. I was just responding to this comment by MadhattanJack:
"TBH, I think his reasoning is that with everybody streaming and/or downloading individual tracks, it just made more sense for him economically to get the material out there sooner, rather than wait until he had 10 songs or however-many-it-would-be. Maybe he'll change his mind someday. You never know!"
It's basically the same thing the guy from the MusicScribe blog told me about why some albums are getting shorter so I responded to that comment.
I thought a release that was less than 20 minutes didn't qualify to be added. 19 minutes is less than 20 minutes.
Yes, I know 7 songs qualifies and I've added those two releases already. I was just responding to this comment by MadhattanJack:
"TBH, I think his reasoning is that with everybody streaming and/or downloading individual tracks, it just made more sense for him economically to get the material out there sooner, rather than wait until he had 10 songs or however-many-it-would-be. Maybe he'll change his mind someday. You never know!"
It's basically the same thing the guy from the MusicScribe blog told me about why some albums are getting shorter so I responded to that comment.
I thought a release that was less than 20 minutes didn't qualify to be added. 19 minutes is less than 20 minutes.
The rule on BEA. As stated in the thread title. Is this:
Less than 5 tracks, AND less than 20 minutes.
And I think we all understand the reasons for artists putting out shorter releases. _________________ Musicians play gigs.
Fans go to shows.
And I think we all understand the reasons for artists putting out shorter releases.
Agreed, but surely it's also worth mentioning when an artist who's made highly-ranked long-form releases in the past actually starts putting those reasons into practice and, by doing so, disqualifies himself (or herself) from BEA rankings...?
With Andy Partridge in particular, I can also recall a handful of tweets from him about the subject (though they're all gone now that he's deleted his Twitter/X account like everyone else). The gist of them was that he'd preferred making EP's rather than LP's all along, so when it became economically smarter to make them, he was really happy about it. Then again, I should also mention that he's also someone who really enjoys designing cover art, and since fewer tracks means more cover art per track-being-released, that's also a factor for him. (He even has a new book out in which he illustrates individual songs that weren't necessarily released as singles.)
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