What is the difference between an LP and an EP?
LP and EP are terms you see a lot in the music industry.
What is an LP and what is an EP? Are they different? What are the differences between an LP vs EP? Should you release one? Don’t worry – we’ll explain everything.
The terms LP and EP both refer to types of album releases by musical artists. But with EP vs LP, the difference is length.
So what does EP stand for?
EP stands for Extended Play or Extended Play Record. In this case, “Extended” means longer than one song. EP’s usually include between 1 and 10 songs.
Mixtapes are good examples of EP’s.
What are the guidelines of an EP?
Typically, in order to be considered an EP, the release has to be at least 10 minutes long, but less than 30 minutes in total.
What is an EP good for?
EP’s are good for emerging artists or established artists who don’t want to commit to a full album length release. After releasing the EP, they can select singles from it to promote individually. An EP is NOT a single.
Should you make an EP?
For new artists who are trying to make a splash or get a release out, an EP is ideal. You don’t have to commit to too much studio or production time, and you still have a nice package of work to show your talents and style.
Also, new artists are often still establishing their audience. Releasing a full album might be too much when you’re fresh out of the gate. Which brings us to LP’s and what an LP is, as well as the choice of making an LP vs EP.
What is an LP? What does LP stand for?
LP stands for Long Play or Long Playing (dumb, right?) and means a FULL album length or longer. This includes albums that have the full amount of songs: 20 to 25, though some albums have more.
Why make an LP?
LP’s are becoming more and more rare in the social media age, especially when established artists get huge play off of singles rather than a full album’s worth of music.
In terms of choosing between an LP vs EP, an LP is worth undertaking when the artist is established and knows there is an audience ready and waiting for the large amount of music included in one.
When should you make an LP?
The most important thing as an artist is to make sure you are spending your resources in places where they will actually help you. Spending thousands to put out a full LP as a new artist may not be the best move in the long run, when an EP of 3-5 songs could have come in at half the cost.
New fans or listeners could be overwhelmed by a full LP’s worth, when a EP could leave them wanting more.
What Are The Benefits of an EP Vs LP?
More importantly, quality control is easier to do well with fewer songs. Think about it: it’s a lot easier to make five amazing songs than 15 amazing songs, right?
People are going to judge you on the album as a whole. They aren’t going to say, “Hey, they made 15 songs, so let’s give them credit for that!” They are going to say, “only one was good out of 15, they aren’t that great.”
This is only one of the reasons why it can be easier and more practical for new artists to drop an EP before a full album, or LP.
Understanding LP Vs. EP
If you are trying to make it in the music business, you want to know what is going to help your career and how to use your resources to help yourself the most.
You also want to avoid spending time on what won’t help your career
Make the choices that make sense for you where you are now.
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