# Why do new albums take so long these days? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [July 25, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326 "2025-07-25T16:45:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/21 "2025-07-27T17:50:45Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > Studio time is expensive and most popular musicians hit a wall of diminishing returns after the first two or three albums. Paying for studio time isn’t really a thing in the era of DAW (Digital Audio Workstation). In fact, many of the legendary studios have shut down in the past 20 years or so, because they couldn’t turn a profit. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I think albums getting rare is a total myth. I think, but may be mistaken, that it isn’t that albums are a rarity, but that artists are taking way longer between releases. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/22 "2025-07-27T20:57:52Z")
I don’t know who the hell you guys are listening to, but the bands I listen to often release albums so quick its hard to keep up. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard released 5 studio albums in 2022 and have released 4 albums since then. Osees have released five studio albums since 2020 and have another one coming out this year. Melvins have released five studio records since 2021. Granted, those are prolific bands. There are other artists I listen to that take several years between releases, but that is far from a rule. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/23 "2025-07-27T21:31:22Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard released 5 studio albums in 2022 and have released 4 albums since then. Yeah, I also thought about mentioning them. They churned out 28 albums since 2012. Another favorite band of mine, Motorpsycho, have been reliably releasing at least one album per year since 1989, and a lot of EPs in between. And Neil Young just isn’t stopping from releasing two or three albums a year, new stuff mixed with archival releases. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/24 "2025-07-27T21:41:35Z")
> [@Toxylon](#): > > Yes, album sales are down and artists need to tour to make money, but the scarcification of album releases happened decades ago. It was in the early 90’s, I think, when I took notice of how major bands / artists take two or three years or more to make an album, in stark contrast to how it used to be. Nah, most bands stopped releasing an album per year by the early 80s. Around when “corporate rock” or “arena rock” became a thing. I think at that time, the record companies started pushing bands to stay on the road longer. Or maybe it wasn’t the record companies - did they get a cut of touring money back then? Anyway, that’s my own conjecture, totally not backed up by any facts. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2025, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/25 "2025-07-27T23:49:05Z")
When I look at some of my favorite current musicians, quite a few of them play in as many as half a dozen side bands not to mention their own solo work. Many band members don’t even live in the same city as their band mates. This trend is bound to limit the number of albums released under the same artist name. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/26 "2025-07-28T00:42:26Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard released 5 studio albums in 2022 and have released 4 albums since then. I’d never heard of them, so I looked them up. Aussie-focused band - which is not a problem, but then this caught my eye: > [@](#): > > In July 2025 the band [announced](https://www.instagram.com/p/DMjrgFAs_oy/?hl=en) on Instagram that it would pull its music from Spotify. The band said it was making this decision because of the Spotify CEO’s support for drone production in Ukraine. Good thing I’ve never given them any of my money. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/27 "2025-07-28T00:52:28Z")
Ehh, the actual cite doesn’t mention Ukraine, it just mentions his investment in AI for military drones. Either way, there’s about a million different reasons to not have your music on Spotify. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2025, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/28 "2025-07-28T00:56:26Z")
Fair enough. Still, I’m not sure self-published bands fit the spirit of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/29 "2025-07-28T00:57:48Z")
Umm, they started a record label. Plus, I don’t know why’d you ding them for being smarter and harder working. > **[Flightless (record label)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flightless_(record_label))** > > Flightless is an Australian independent record label, founded in Melbourne in 2012 by former King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard member Eric Moore. Originally founded to release both King Gizzard's music and that of associated acts such as The Murlocs, Flightless signed other Melbourne-based bands, including Tropical Fuck Storm, Stonefield and Amyl and the Sniffers. Following Moore's departure from King Gizzard most of these bands would withdraw from the label, however, the label continues to per... ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2025, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/30 "2025-07-28T01:03:31Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Plus, I don’t know why’d you ding them for being smarter and harder working. You know what? You’re right. I’ll bow out now. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2025, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/31 "2025-07-28T04:17:36Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > But her second album, Guts, had “secret songs” not on vinyl and then a “deluxe” release with additional songs only months after the first release. I don’t listen to Charli XCX but I’m fond of her album naming convention of: Brat Brat and it’s the same but there’s three more songs so it’s not Brat and it’s completely different but also still brat The second being the “Deluxe” with some added tracks and the third, I believe, being remixes and featured artists on the tracks. All three released on vinyl. My wife has expressed frustration with Taylor Swift and her dropping an album then dropping the same album again shortly afterwards with two or three bonus tracks. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2025, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/32 "2025-07-28T05:16:18Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Ehh, the actual cite doesn’t mention Ukraine, it just mentions his investment in AI for military drones. And I know you’ve bowed out, but to clarify things further they said “Slava Ukraine” at the end of their show tonight (they livestream just about every one these days). So it is pretty obvious they’re not anti-Ukraine. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326/33 "2025-07-28T17:50:55Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > My wife has expressed frustration with Taylor Swift and her dropping an album then dropping the same album again shortly afterwards with two or three bonus tracks. All artists do that nowadays. It seems to be SOP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-new-albums-take-so-long-these-days/1021326.md?page=1)