One of the most difficult things to do when releasing an album is to predict what people will like and pick the singles you think will perform best.
While you can never truly predict how people will respond, WordPlay T. Jay has a few tips and tricks you can use to be as successful as possible when releasing singles.
Traditionally, labels would release multiple singles, then follow those by dropping a full album. For T. Jay, there are three real methods for dealing with singles that tend to work.
The first method is traditional, as you pick three to five songs from the album and release them sporadically with promotional content like lyric videos, music videos or a vlog. You can then see what people respond to and tailor your future promotions and content accordingly.
The second method is also traditional, as you release multiple singles over time until one hits, then piggyback the album onto the successful single while you have the attention. Rap artist Russ championed this method, releasing single after single after single after single until one went big. He then released an album with that song in it and started booking tours and was able to sign with a label.
The other advantage of this method is that all those singles he released before are independently owned by him, so when his catalog grew in popularity with his fame, he got to keep all that independent wealth instead of sharing with the label.
Finally, the third method is a mix of the first two. Release your album and let the people decide which tracks you should focus on. See what they gravitate to, then tailor your video and extra content around the popular tracks. You can also take little snippets of songs and ask people which ones they like in polls to get an idea of what may become popular.
T. Jay said throughout his career, he has tried all three methods.
“Right now, I have a song, ‘Obsessed,’ that is leading the charge for being the single on my album, ‘Overtime,’” T. Jay said. “When I release ‘Overtime,’ ‘Obsessed’ will probably be the music video I release with it, then I will see what people like for more content.”
T. Jay also just released a new single, “I.D.R.G.A.F.,” which is growing as a single and may become a new focal point for a video or promo when the album is released.
To hear more about these methods and for other videos in the “How to release an album” series, check out the video below.