How long is a full length album?

lyman · Post by **lyman** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:53 pm

dwlb wrote:Long enough to reach the ground.

ba-DUM!

fossiltooth · Post by **fossiltooth** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:49 am

Long enough that it wouldn't be weird to have a secret track. Short enough that you'd actually be excited to hear a secret track.

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 7:03 am

subatomic pieces wrote:Unless you're already famous, NOBODY wants to hear 80 minutes of your music on one album. Not even your mom. And, probably not even if you are already famous.

I think that 30 to 40 minutes is a perfect length for a full-length album.

Bingo!

Brewer · Post by **Brewer** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 12:04 pm

CraigS63 wrote:It should fit on one side of a C90 cassette, so, 45 minutes.

signorMars · Post by **signorMars** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 8:38 pm

eeldip wrote:i have a hunch that one would do better releasing a series of 15-20 minute EPs over the course of a year.

Only issue with that is typically an EP takes twice as long to make the money back, since you can only charge half as much. Unless you're a jerk. But a lot of times it's easier to sell an EP, since it's a smaller commitment, financially and psychologically, for a new listener. Plus it's just the right length, usually, that they can hear the whole thing in an average car ride, making it easier for them to get familiar with it and hopefully fall in love with it so that they tell all their friends. My band's EP has outsold our album 2 to 1, but hasn't broken even, while the album has. Our EP also has our most popular song, so that tips the scales a bit.

dfuruta wrote:In my opinion, the difference between an EP and a full-length is less a matter of playing time and more a matter of conception: a full-length is a cohesive, complete aesthetic unit, while an EP is more like a collection of singles.

I dunno... I've seen a lot of well executed, cohesive, complete aesthetic unit EPs. I think for a lot of bands it's easier to keep it cohesive over 3-6 songs as opposed to 9-12. You do have a lot more room to expand on the overall aesthetic with an album, but it is a lot easier to avoid over-stretching it on an EP.

JGriffin · Post by **JGriffin** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:13 pm

vvv wrote:
dwlb wrote:Long enough to reach the ground.
Cold, too.

Partly though it's also what the teacher used to say when asked how long the term paper should be: long enough to make your point, to say what you want/need to say.

T-rex · Post by **T-rex** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:25 pm

dwlb wrote:

Partly though it's also what the teacher used to say when asked how long the term paper should be: long enough to make your point, to say what you want/need to say.

Even better.

lapsteel · Post by **lapsteel** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 5:03 pm

subatomic pieces wrote:Unless you're already famous, NOBODY wants to hear 80 minutes of your music on one album. Not even your mom. And, probably not even if you are already famous.

I think that 30 to 40 minutes is a perfect length for a full-length album.

I agree with that. Anymore, even 40 minutes is pushing it for me.

In the end, a full length can be whatever you want it to be. 10 songs and a little over 25 minutes is just fine. 80 minutes of material of a double album works too.

jrdamien · Post by **jrdamien** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 1:11 am

How short is too short for a record to be considered an lp? 30 minutes? 25 minutes? How many minutes and how many tracks would be too few to make you feel cheated by an artist calling that album a full length album?

Nick Sevilla · Post by **Nick Sevilla** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 10:28 am

jrdamien wrote:How long is a full length album?
Title says it all. Recording this weekend and we have more songs than we can use. What's a good length "these days" for an LP? 40 mins? 45? How many songs?

OBVIOUSLY there is no "right" answer. Just looking for opinions.

You may be posting the wrong terminology. You should be using WIDTH.

1.- Vynil.

7"
10"
12"

2.- Compact Disc, Audio DVD, Blu--Ray discs.

4.7"

3.- 8 track cassette dimensions (this might be more accurate to your "length" question."

Length: 13.4 cm
Width: 10.0 cm
Height: 2.2 cm

There are other dimensional formats. which one are your fans a fan of?

[/sarcasm]

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 10:47 pm

It is only my opinion: if you put a number on this you're full of shit.

How big should a painting be. 20' x 30'? No way man 3' x 5'.

Seriously: how do the songs sound together? How many places does the music go? What genre is it? Is there a theme? Can you arrange them in an order that has some kind of arc, or turn in it? Is any of the material clearly inferior to the rest?

An album can be 20 minutes to 100 minutes depending on what your goal is. Anything shorter is a single or EP which might be a good idea too.

If you're forced to edit you might squeeze out a higher quality ratio, but then you gotta ask if you are objective enough to see what's good or bad about what you're doing. This stuff is complicated. There's not a satisfying fixed number that has merit.

Look at your favorite records. They probably have a lot of variety in length. If they don't then maybe there's already a format that appeals to you.

losthighway · Post by **losthighway** » Sat Apr 30, 2011 10:49 pm

dwlb wrote:

Partly though it's also what the teacher used to say when asked how long the term paper should be: long enough to make your point, to say what you want/need to say.

This answer is better than mine.

@?,*???&? · Post by **@?,*???&?** » Sun May 01, 2011 7:55 am

These days a full-length album is 10-songs for one reason only, and that is is because iTunes sells over 70% of the music sold in the United States. iTunes also has a price threshold of $9.90 for a full-length album. No will ala carte a 15-song album. If your album has 15 songs on it- that means on iTunes, the most prevalent retail platform in the U.S., you are giving away 5 songs for free.

Remember those 9-song Van Halen records? That is starting to happen in Nashville. At $9.90 for a full-length record, that means the label and artist are taking you for $.99 cents when you hit buy. They are simply working 'within the system'.

cgarges · Post by **cgarges** » Sun May 01, 2011 9:18 am

losthighway wrote:It is only my opinion: if you put a number on this you're full of shit.

I'm with you on this. What does it matter? I, personally happen to dig albums that are right around the 40 minute mark. I don't really care how many songs that is. If I'm making a long drive, the 40-minute album is kind of the perfect dose. And if the record is good and doesn't make me sick of hearing that artist, I'll likely put in some more of that artist's stuff. But, to put a definable number on it is kind of silly. I feel that same way about putting some kind of definitive number on an EP. Is it four songs? Six songs? Seven songs? Who cares? Is it good?

Chris Garges
Charlotte, NC

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Sun May 01, 2011 9:25 am

On vinyl (assuming 12" @ 33 RPM) about 30 to 45 minutes for optimum results
On CD around 70 minutes
On cassette around 30 to 90 minutes

Times by n for multiples

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