Everybody loves a good story, and one of the best ways to make an album successful is to build a relatable story around the process, lyrics and music.
After discussing pre-production and the budget in parts 1 and 2 of the “How to release an album” series, WordPlay T. Jay, in part 3, says building a story is crucial to how an album will be received and what will happen after it is released.
Building a story helps people relate to the artist or artists, as it shows the human side of the person behind the mic or instrument.
It’s also helpful when sharing with media, like newspapers or blogs, or for advertisements, because it puts out the reason people should listen to the album.
In WordPlay T. Jay’s case, for his latest album “Overtime,” part of the story is how he works a full-time job, then works overtime creating the album. To showcase this, he video records his process and releases it online so people can see his progress as he goes along.
How to build the story is different for everyone. If in the hip-hop world, it’s usually against the grain to bring in writers, but in the rock world, it is not uncommon to have a team of writers or hired instrumentalists, which can contributed to a storyline.
The person usually overseeing all of this is the executive producer. He o she takes notes throughout the process on who does what and when, making sure to give proper credit in the line notes and make sure those involved get their royalties when they start coming in.
When it comes to documentation of the story, there are multiple ways to do this, as well. You can write it in a notebook or on a blog, make posts on social media, take photos during the process, or record video, as T. has done for “Overtime.”
Whatever you do, do it all the way through, from pre-production to release. It’s also important to revise your work on a regular basis and show your process.
The final thing to do is document the whole recording process and release. This can endear your fans to you, as they have watched you create a project from start to finish.
For more about building a story, check out the video below!