The Hotelier - Goodness (May 27, 2016) Album • Page 25

Also would depend on what quality it leaked at. I already bought the record so I would feel better knowing that I still supported the artist.

 

Yep, me too. For that reason, if it's really high quality I'm not sure if I could keep myself away.

 

I'm sure we'll get another song before release.

 

I remember there was a discussion on the old site on how people had dreams that this came out. Well, I'm finally on that boat as of last night.

 

i'm actually really interested in the whole phenomenon of album lead-up cycles and how leaks affect releases and why labels go to great lengths to prevent them. is it that leaks make things like streams or exclusives less impactful (i.e. fewer views / fewer people talking about it -> fewer people checking it out who otherwise wouldn't have)? is it that artists and labels want people to experience the album properly when listening for the first time? is it as simple as 'we planned out this elaborate thing and it sucks to have it all rendered useless'? or do a sizeable chunk of people who actually would have otherwise bought the record choose not to after listening to leaks? the last one makes little sense to me because albums can almost always be found for free by the release date even if they don't leak.

idk. i just don't get it. like a lot of labels and artists clearly really don't want their records to leak, and i'm sure there must be a really good reason for it, i just don't see what it is. none of the above reasons seem that strong to me. unless i'm massively underestimating the importance of blog hype and views/play counts on exclusive streams. either way it's interesting.

also TE put out three songs before Home's release. they're definitely gonna put out another song imo, maybe even two.

 

The build up is a key factor. Anticipation can help build expectation, and if it delivers, it makes the listener more likely to immerse themselves in it. The spaced out release also helps fans to introduce their friends to the singles and get them excited or casual fans to brush up on their discography while they wait. It helps get people talking about it and it makes the release "bigger" in a way, instead of the news buzzing for just the week that it's out.

There's also the money aspect too. The industry is on its last legs, really. If something leaks, it sort of ruins the guarantee that you'll have the record on your hands day 1, and thus, you won't really have incentive to purchase it (unless it really wins you over and you want to buy it physically).

At least, that's how I always viewed it. The pre-release section of the album cycle is important and it what makes an album come to life. A recent example for me is that I had The Wonder Year's new record on my mind throughout the entire pre-release album cycle, but now I rarely think about it. In fact, before Foxing's record came out last year, I'd frequent the thread every day just to hear every drop of news the people with the advance would talk about. It's coming to life again now with this release too.

 

yeah i figured anticipation -> word of mouth factored in, and that's basically the only part of the whole thing i have an issue with, because i see it as emotion/connection being taken advantage of and exploited in a way. i actually typed out a whole response to Jason's long thing about music writers earlier in the thread but by the time i got around to it the thread had moved on and i didn't want to derail it again.

the money aspect, i'm skeptical about. basically every album sells best within the first week after release. it makes sense to assume that this is also true for pre-orders, that most people pre-order the album within the first week that pre-orders go up. so an album leaking a month after pre-orders have gone up wouldn't impact sales that heavily, no? it replaces a month of sales with the album not being out / people not having heard it with a month of sales where people have heard it. i don't run a label so i don't have stats on this, but this doesn't seem like a huge deal financially.

also due to album streams being widespread and albums being super easy to find digitally (for free) on or before release day, most people who pre-order because they want the album on day 1 do so because they want it on day 1 physically (since they'd have it digitally whether they pre-ordered it or not). so leaks wouldn't impact that heavily either. unless i'm super out of touch and there are still lots of people who choose not to listen to albums digitally that they haven't bought.

i agree that anticipation and word-of-mouth is super important and probably the main factor in whether an album ~blows up~ or not but it's also really hard to calculate and predict, and it's not a given that leaks will necessarily kill the buzz rather than add to it, imo. that being said i wouldn't be surprised if it's the main reason for the anti-leaking mentality.

maybe we should move this discussion to a new thread? idk where it would go though.

 

Doesn't the preorders count towards week one? I always assumed that's why it sells best during that week.

 

true, but even if you take pre-orders out of the picture, albums usually sell best in their first week. i'm really curious about whether they sell better in the first week of pre-orders or the actual first week of release though.

 

Maybe @Jason Tate can help? I do recall him and Thomas discussing their interest in album sales on Encore back when Adele's record dropped. If you don't, Jason, I apologize for the tag!

 

I've wondered this about leaks lots, especially in our scene: can an album leaking ever help sales?
That may sound really dumb, but let me explain.

There have been plenty of times, where there is a band putting out an album, and I've never listened to any of their material. All of a sudden that bands new album leaks, and everyone on AP.net is talking about how good this album is that leaked. So, I download the leak and I love it. Before the leak, I wasn't paying any attention to the albums role out. But the leak brought attention to it, sparks my interest, now all of a sudden I'm listening to the full album and loving it. At this point I may even pre-order the album.

I dno, especially in our scene where (most of us) buy albums we really like on vinyl, can leaks ever increase sales??

 

Not too sure. Maybe, but on the other hand, had it came out normally, it would still get the same discussion on the week of release and you could purchase the album after. I guess you do lose sweet preorder bundles tho

 

It usually depends. I think the average is like 40-50% of sales is usually preorders. But I've seen that as high as 60% with some bands. That's just anecdotal stuff I've seen.

 

Came across this today. I like how unpolished and rough it is. Would love them to do some acoustic versions of their songs from Home & presumably Goodness too, as an EP or something.

 

I'm very excited for this album. I've been listening to Piano Player a few times a day on Spotify. Love that REM feel.

 

Finally got around to uploading my video of Piano Player - keep in mind Christian was super sick

 

Sounds excellent live.

 

Piano Player is so hard to play live. The tempo is really hard to keep steady and it felt like they were falling out of it at times, especially at the beginning.

 

Okay Ian this is funny

 

After rewatching it, I see what you're getting it. Those two chords - trying to repeat them at a constant / consistent pace for virtually five minutes straight seems pretty taxing, and there were some instances where it did fall off a tad, but I'm sure it'll get tighter as they play it more.

 

They have a fill in guitar player on this tour though yeah? Maybe that could play a part in it?

 

Jade seemed fine, it was mostly the drums. Drummer also totally blew Dendron at some parts, missed or messed up the fill multiple times and got off time. I think Piano Player doesn't quite have to do with an off night though, that song's just hard because you need to be perfectly on tempo with that snare

 

With my post - definitely wasn't saying the band is bad live, either. I've seen them twice and they sounded incredible both nights. I agree that Piano Player is probably just a tough one to play live that'll end up sounding better the more they play it.

 

Was lucky enough to get in on this pre-order and got the /300 variant. Such an amazing band! Looking forward to checking them out in Richmond in July.

 

Time is moving too slow... Ugh this is still so far off