Album

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item.

An album is a multi-track, cohesive body of recorded work, traditionally released on formats like vinyl and CD, and still the primary format for extended artistic statements. In the streaming era, DSPs such as Spotify and Apple Music generally classify a release as an album if it has at least 7 tracks or a total runtime over 30 minutes, regardless of the artist’s own label. Each track has its own ISRC, while the album as a whole is identified by a unique UPC or EAN.

Album campaigns are more complex than singles or EPs and typically require 3–6 months of planning. This usually includes releasing 2–3 lead singles, pitching to playlists, coordinating press outreach, and running aligned promotion across social and editorial channels to build momentum before the full project is released.

From a rights and revenue perspective, albums generate master recording royalties for the sound recordings and mechanical royalties for the underlying compositions. Artists who write their own material can earn from both streams. Physical formats like CDs and vinyl generate mechanical royalties in addition to those from digital streaming.

melabel’s Release Calendar and Projects features are built to support this full album rollout lifecycle, covering asset delivery, metadata management, campaign coordination, and post-release analytics.