Whenever a Kpop artist has a comeback or debut they release an album, and it can be either a single, a mini or a full album and in this post we will go a little deeper on the difference between those. When they do release an album they choose one song that will be promoted as a title track. The title track will get the most attention with their own teasers, music video, promoted almost daily on music shows & etc.
Full Album
A full album consists of 6+ songs which have 30 or more play time. Full albums are rare in K-pop, and it’s mostly groups that already have proven themself and have a big fanbase that releases full albums. This is due to the fact that full albums don’t produce that many comebacks. For 1 full album you usually have 1 title track, but with 2 mini albums you could have 2 title tracks for the same amount of songs. K-pop fans don’t have the greatest attention span and usually only listens to the title tracks, so full albums are really not that attractive in the K-pop industry. Full albums are mostly seen as a gift to the fans.
Mini Album (EP)
Mini albums or sometimes called EPs are albums consisting of 4-5 songs. Mini albums is the most common album for comebacks and debuts. It’s the perfect balance where you have a title track, and maybe one promotional b-side and other b-sides that fans can enjoy. 4-5 songs are just enough to get the feel and sound of a group.
Single Album
A single album consists of 1-3 songs. Single albums are split between digital and physical, where physical works like a full and mini album with title track, promotions and is a physical album that you can buy, while a digital single album does not have a physical copy and generally is less promoted. Single albums are a great way for smaller companies to put out music for their artists who don’t have the same financial backing as the bigger companies.
What kind of album do you prefer?
