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Are you an artist having trouble deciding if you should release an EP vs album? We’ve created a complete guide to dive into the specifics of releasing an EP vs album as well as pros and cons to each format.

How many tracks are on an EP vs. an album, and what do EP and LP mean?

• An EP, short for extended play, generally contains around four to seven tracks.
• An album, also referred to as an LP record or Long Play, will be longer in duration and contain usually around eight to twelve tracks.

Since 2016, artists have been releasing more EPs and singles and less albums overall. Data from Ditto Music shows the steady rise in these shorter formats and the slow decline of the album. This most likely has to do with how we consume music on streaming platforms and how artists choose to release music more frequently to get noticed by the Spotify algorithm.

Nowadays, it’s easier than ever for artists to get their new releases onto digital music platforms by using independent music distribution services such as Tunecore, Distrokid, or CD Baby. Artists no longer need to be signed to record companies to make it in the recording industry! Let’s dive in.

1. What kind of message do you want to send to the music industry?

Before deciding whether to release an EP or an album, you need to figure out what kind of message you want to send to the music industry. What stage are you at in your music career? Nowadays, new artists tend to release new songs as successive singles, often followed by a first EP. For streaming services, this “waterfall” strategy is a good way to keep momentum going and engage new listeners. Album sales are perhaps dwindling because of our shorter attention spans and the way we discover new music. For music lovers and audiophiles looking to discover new bands, it’s easier to listen to playlists, stumbling upon singles and EPs before committing to listen to an entire album. Start small and don’t expect to reach the Billboard charts with your debut single. EPs are also a great way to experiment and discover your unique sound. If you’ve already established yourself as an artist and have released EPs, maybe it’s time to work on a full-length album. Especially if you have financial support behind you- either from independent labels or major labels– it will be easier to embark on recording sessions for a longer project.

To sum up what kind of message you want to send to the music industry:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Discover and present your unique sound
  • Engage new listeners
  • Release music frequently with successive singles

• Cons:
  • Shorter format can be creatively limiting
  • Every song needs to catch the listener’s attention

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • Establish your unique sound
  • Tell a more complex story

• Cons:
  • Need an established fanbase who will listen
  • More time and budget

2. Estimated budget for an EP vs estimated budget for an album

When deciding between recording an EP vs album, different budgets need to be taken into account. Producing an album is going to be more costly than producing an EP just based on the number of songs. Some independent artists choose to record EPs and albums in a very DIY low budget manner, taking advantage of their home studio to cut down on costs. More songwriters are also learning the production side of things and choose to mix and master their own tracks. Other artists set aside large budgets (or have the financial support of a record label) to record everything in professional studios and pay for high-quality mixing and mastering. How you decide to budget your EP or album is up to you and your resources! Whether you’re looking for a more DIY demo sound or professional and clean, here are the different costs that you will need to consider:

1. Studio Time: If you’re recording in your bedroom, studio time is free. Take into consideration the recording equipment you’ll need to buy if you haven’t set up a home studio yet. Otherwise, you will have to book some time in a recording studio, with or without a sound engineer. Some recording studios function on an hourly rate while others work on half-day or full day prices. Hourly rates can range anywhere from $30-$300 per hour, and the studio and location is taken into account here. It will probably be more expensive to rent recording studio space in New York City than in a small town. When choosing where you record, the genre of music can play a big role in your decision. It’s probably easier to produce electronic music or techno in your bedroom and record a rock band in a real studio. Don’t be afraid to get creative: why not try recording some folk music in a forest or some classical music in a cathedral?
2. Session Musicians: If you’re not playing all the instruments yourself, you may need to hire session musicians for recording. Maybe you need a bassist, a drummer, a background vocalist, or a skilled guitarist to play on your track. Some may charge a flat fee per song or project, while others will work on an hourly rate. Depending on their skill level, they could charge anywhere from $50-$300 a song.
3. Mixing and Mastering: Once you’ve got the recording done, you’ll need to set aside a budget for mixing and mastering your tracks. This can also range greatly based on the engineer’s experience: some sound engineers starting out may charge around $100-$300 per mix and between $50-$150 per master, whereas a more experienced professional can charge upwards of $800 per mix and more than $200 per master.
4. Artwork and Visuals: In addition to high quality recordings, there should be some budget for your EP cover art, album artwork and visuals. This could include anything from music videos to professional band photos and more. Some artists go the DIY route while others choose to invest more money in producing a stunning album cover, music videos or live sessions.
5. Physical Copies and Merch: Are you planning on making physical copies of your EP or album or just plan to distribute it digitally on music-streaming services? Vinyls are making a comeback (cassettes too!) and even if you’re not signed to a record–label, you can invest some budget into small batch record pressing with an independent vinyl manufacturer. While you won’t necessarily be selling them in music stores, they can be great to have at your gigs.
6. Promotion and Marketing: Both EPs and albums require promotional and marketing efforts. We can’t emphasize enough the importance of promoting your music once it’s released! Some artists choose to promote music themselves and others (who may have more budget) hire a PR agent to do it for them. An album will probably have a bigger marketing budget than a EP just due to its length: more songs equals potentially more singles and thus more content to promote. If you want to promote your music on a budget and get guaranteed feedback, send your music directly to media, playlists and more on Groover.

These are the primary costs that you’ll need to take into consideration when calculating your budget for producing and EP or an album. Keep in mind that every artist budgets differently, depending on your personal resources, goals, and even style of music. We recommend keeping a spreadsheet of your expenses to stay organized and think ahead. Prioritize the primary costs that are the most important to you- perhaps getting excellent sound quality on your final mastered tracks or hiring a skilled PR agent to hopefully land you an album review in Rolling Stone. Think strategically here too; we’ve all seen indie artists produce merch or physical copies perhaps a bit too early in their career and end up with boxes of t-shirts or CDs that go unsold. Be smart!

To sum up the estimated budget for an EP vs album:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Less expensive to produce

• Cons:
  • Have to be more selective about the tracks

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • Can include more content

• Cons:
  • More costly and time consuming

3. Is the communication strategy the same for an EP or an album?

The communication strategy for an EP or an album is similar but varies in scope and content. The main difference, once again, is that with an album, there is more content to promote. You’ll want to plan ahead of time to build anticipation for both an EP and an album, making sure to release teasers and engage with your fans on social media to generate buzz before the release. It’s important to create a timeline for singles, music videos, concert dates and more to build engagement and keep momentum going. You’ll want to organize an album release way more in advance than an EP release, giving yourself the time to release multiple singles and perhaps even book a tour. While EPs can give audiences a taste of your music, albums usually will tell a longer story or center around a specific concept. You’ll want to take advantage of this storytelling to get more press and reviews as well as interviews. If you have new music out for the first time, it may be harder to communicate that your new album is coming if you’ve never released anything beforehand. Unfortunately, we all have shorter attention spans- especially when it comes to music. A ten second excerpt of a first single on Instagram or TikTok needs to entice listeners enough to go listen to the full track on Spotify or Apple music. This is hard to do, so you can imagine that it is even harder to get that listener to keep listening to a full debut album when there is so much else out there to discover.

To sum up the communication strategy:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Can continually create buzz with singles

• Cons:
  • Once the EP is released, must have more content ready

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • Get more in depth press or interviews
  • Use the album to book a tour

• Cons:
  • More time-consuming than an EP
  • Less frequent releases

4. How should you choose the order of songs in an EP vs album?

You will need to consider song flow in both an EP and album, creating a cohesive and engaging tracklist for listeners. In both cases, you can choose to order the songs with a narrative arc, a chronological arc, or a sonic arc that focuses on the mood. Because an EP is shorter, you’ll want to make an impression right away by placing your strongest tracks at the beginning and end of the EP. You have less time to hook your audience, which is why some artists put-out EPs to release only their best songs. You’ll want to choose the strongest track for the lead single to make your debut. In an album, you have a bit more freedom. You can create tracks that serve as intros and outros, play with transitions and interludes, and really take the listener on a longer journey.

In both EPs and albums, it’s important to find the right balance when ordering slower and faster songs. Unless you want to make a stark transition in the middle between fast and slow, it’s best to interweave these tracks to create a more cohesive sound. I like to picture a collection of songs as full of peaks and valleys or like taking a ride in an elevator. Do you want your listener to get in on the ground floor, take a ride up, then come back down to get off where they got in? Or do you want to leave them somewhere else from where they started?

To sum up the order of songs:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Easy organization with less content

• Cons:
  • Every song needs to stand on its own

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • More creativity in ordering and telling a powerful story

• Cons:
  • More content leaves more room for a sound that is less cohesive

5. How to work your image with an EP or album?

You want to create a consistent image to promote your music in both an EP and album. It’s important to have high quality press photos so people can see the artist behind the sound. Nowadays, more and more artists are filming live sessions of their music to promote certain tracks. What better way to show audiences your style than with a live performance? Storytelling will be your best friend here, especially with an album. While artists can use a debut EP to experiment and find their sound, a first album is a perfect occasion to really hone your unique music style and identity.

To sum up how to work your image:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • More room to discover and play with your image

• Cons:
  • Needs to be compelling enough to get people to listen

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • Ability to get creative and create more content

• Cons:
  • More content leaves more room for an image that is not as consistent

6. Which is more effective to attract new listeners?

If your goal is to attract new listeners, the EP is probably the way to go. There is a shorter time commitment involved and you can produce an EP much faster than you could an album. That being said, some music fans still listen to full albums of artists they’ve never heard of before! Overall, however, it’s a good strategy to release EPs to build a fanbase, and once you have loyal listeners, you’ll have built that following of fans who are just waiting for the full-length album.

To sum up attracting new listeners:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Easier to attract new listeners with a shorter format

• Cons:
  • Harder to tell a compelling story in a shorter format

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • Make a bigger statement in the recording industry

• Cons:
  • Less likely to engage new listeners with too much content

7. What are your goals with this release?

When choosing between an EP or an album, ask yourself: what are my goals with this release? An EP can be a great opportunity for indie artists to make themselves known in the music business. Do you want to find a label, manager, or touring agent? Start with an EP. Sure, some record labels sign artists who have never released music before, but this is becoming more rare. They want to see that you have potential and are less likely to take risks on a new project. Prove to them that you have managed to release some hit songs on your own and grown an organic following. Have you already released some EPs, found your unique style, and now want to really get creative and embark on a full album? Go for it. You’ll know what is right for you based on these goals and also your budget and timeline.

To sum up the goals with the release:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Find a professional entourage

• Cons:
  • Lots of competition among new emerging artists

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • Establish your sound in the music industry

• Cons:
  • Takes more time and patience

8. Should I release an EP or album to get into playlists?

Playlists on streaming services, especially Spotify, have become the ultimate goal for indie artists to grow their fanbase, and thus royalties and revenues. Whether you release an EP vs album, you can take advantage of the waterfall strategy to release successive singles before the full project comes out. That way, you can pitch each single individually to the editorial team on Spotify For Artists. If you release an album, you won’t be able to pitch all of your tracks. Because of this, some artists choose to release EPs so that each individual song can be released as a single beforehand.

To sum up getting into playlists:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Can release each song as an individual single beforehand, increasing chances of getting into playlists

• Cons:
  • Less content on your music catalog for people to stream

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • More content in your music catalog for people to stream

• Cons:
  • Can’t release every song as a single

9. Should I release an EP or album to get more media coverage?

For both EPs and albums, it’s important to create a press kit to accompany the project. Check out our tips on how to create a press kit here. Both EPs and albums can garner media attention, so consider your promotion strategy in terms of quality over quantity. Media and journalists are used to artists releasing shorter projects nowadays and that doesn’t stop them from writing articles or interviews. You may not get a ton of media coverage on a new single alone, but an EP is certainly enough to spark interest. Keep in mind that if you release a new music video alongside a single, you will be more likely to get media coverage because there is more content to promote.

To sum up getting more media coverage:

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Easier for journalists to listen to and review an EP

• Cons:
  • Some media may only cover albums

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • More content and story to cover

• Cons:
  • More time consuming to listen to

10. Is the artist development strategy the same in an EP vs album?

When you’re an independent artist just starting out, it’s important to release tracks regularly. An EP can be a great way to do this! An album represents a lot more time and money than an EP and can be daunting when you’re just starting your career. You can consider the EP as an opportunity to test your audience, see what works for you and what doesn’t. This can refer to finding your sound as well! EPs can allow you to hone your craft and experiment as an artist, whereas albums can really establish your unique sound and vision. Some well known artists use albums the way an indie artist may use an EP- to experiment- but this is because they already have an established fanbase that is willing to follow them no matter what.

To sum up artist development

🔸 Release an EP

• Pros:
  • Test your audience and experiment with mixing genres

• Cons:
  • Not having a strong enough portfolio of debut tracks or a singular sound

🔸 Release an album

• Pros:
  • Hone your craft and vision

• Cons:
  • Time consuming and requires more budget and patience

Conclusion: EP vs album

In conclusion, these are the main factors to consider when choosing between an EP vs album. An EP can be a great showcase to show fans what you’re capable of and really put all of your best tracks forward. The album is an opportunity to really express yourself, tell a compelling story with variations in tempo, lyrics, and to show a lot more content. We recommend that indie artists use the EP as a strategic first release so that you can take advantage of releasing music frequently with successive singles. If you’re ready to make a statement and have the time, budget, patience (and audience)- embark on the journey of creating an album. Though EPs are becoming more and more popular, there is still a certain magic to albums that can’t be found with another format. In both EPs and albums, always remember: quality over quantity.

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