Album 14 Speculation :3

[RyanHippFTW]

I don't think anybody here has any hate for Al.

...who said that they did?

[joseyklein]

I don't think anybody here has any hate for Al. I see what they're saying, even though I still enjoy listening to the previously released tracks more. Its an odd gap in the middle but he probably won't end up doing that again.

THIS. I also hope that this doesn't happen again.

[TMBJon]

Is anyone going to provide a single reason why it's so bad to release songs before the album's release date, or are you all going to just keep saying you agree with each other without saying WHY you feel that way?

[Way_Moby]

I agree that it is strange because then half the album is already out there, boom. No surprise. Then the lead single is released. 2 years later, half the album has been released and it isn't as fresh as it could've been.

[Alinite27]

Exactly. What Way Moby said.

It definitely hurts album sales. People have already heard the pre-released songs, so why buy the album? For casual fans, there's no sense of wanting to buy the record for the huge parody. Only hardcore fans like us are going to double dip and pay for songs twice. Most, that aren't the casual fans that buy the album for the huge parody or the hardcore fans, just listen on the internet anyway. With the pre-release, the casual fans that would have bought the album, end up not buying it and just listening to the other half with most of the other people.

But, yeah, that's why it's a bad idea to do pre-released tracks.

[Big Spoon]

Moby summed up my feelings on the issue really well.

[Yankomaniac]

I was kidding around when I said I don't think anybody has any hate for Al, I only put that in there because Jon put in his previous post , "I hate Al so much for releasing songs early so we can listen to them". Just thought it would be funny, cause nobody said anything like that, and everybody thought it was cool getting half the album early. But its probably better to do it the old way next time.

[Whatinthe27]

Exactly. What Way Moby said.

It definitely hurts album sales. People have already heard the pre-released songs, so why buy the album? For casual fans, there's no sense of wanting to buy the record for the huge parody. Only hardcore fans like us are going to double dip and pay for songs twice. Most, that aren't the casual fans that buy the album for the huge parody or the hardcore fans, just listen on the internet anyway. With the pre-release, the casual fans that would have bought the album, end up not buying it and just listening to the other half with most of the other people.

But, yeah, that's why it's a bad idea to do pre-released tracks.

Internet songs were sold online as mp3s. People who do it that way tend not to buy CDs anyway. Casual fans might have bought Whatever You Like, but wouldn't have much care for CNR, Skipper Dan, or Ring Tone. The main thing that would have sold the album is a strong lead track. Perform this Way was a bit of a second thought that was hurried and then pre-released on accident. If anything the fact that the single was out before the album hurt. Internet Links? to me that was for the fans. If he didn't do that he may upset too many of them. I think he realized it was going to be a while for the albums release and he needed to put something out to hold people over. I think it just backfired on him because, personally I felt the the rest of the album was going to follow about a year later....

The other thing I think is actually hurting album sales is the tour before and shortly after the album release. He went on tour before the release, why?, and then it seems he did a few stops to rehearse for a concert release, and then took the summer off... why?

I guess i'm just bummed because this year i would have gotten to take my nephews to an Al concert for the first time, and I assumed after five years he would hit my town again this summer, like he always does when a new album comes out.. but it's not going to happen. Waiting this long between albums kills me.

[Yankomaniac]

...next summer.

[TMBJon]

I agree that it is strange because then half the album is already out there, boom. No surprise. Then the lead single is released. 2 years later, half the album has been released and it isn't as fresh as it could've been.

Here's the thing: the album is only "fresh" for a couple of months. After that, it exists as a time capsule that can never be changed or updated for continued freshness. Do you still judge Off The Deep End by its freshness? Polka Party? In my opinion all twelve tracks on Alpocalypse are going to age very well, much more so than most of the previous albums.
So why should Al always be forced into the twelve-track-album format, just so the hardcore fans aren't "spoiled" with half of the songs? This is such a narcissistic viewpoint. We on this forum constitute less than 1% of Alpocalypse's album sales. Almost everyone will be hearing most of the songs for the first time when they buy Alpocalypse. Maybe they would have a vague recollection of Craigslist from YouTube and that would just be added incentive to buy the album. So I'd say the Internet Leaks probably boosted Alpocalypse sales overall, especially if you add Internet Leaks sales on top since it's all going to the same place. And let's be honest, the people that are inclined to not buy his album because they've heard songs online already probably weren't going to buy Alpocalypse.
I see the staggered release date as a good thing: each one was exciting on its own and let me enjoy the release of one new Weird Al song rather than having to absorb twelve new ones in one sitting. Al shouldn't feel like he has to keep all eleven tracks that aren't the lead single in some kind of vault until the exact moment the album is released. If the songs are done, why shouldn't he share them with us? Spread out individual release dates are more enjoyable than one big twelve song drop.