Album vs Album Artist: Difference and Comparison

Album and Album Artist may seem like a difficult distinction to make due to their exceptional similarities. An album is a grouping of songs that were recorded at the same time and produced by one artist.

An album artist is the name of an artist who recorded an album. Both Album And Album Artists may seem similar and confusing, yet they are extremely different.

Key Takeaways

1. Album artists create cohesive collections of songs, while individual tracks on a compilation album come from various artists.
2. The Album Artist field simplifies organization in digital music libraries, ensuring that albums with multiple artists appear under one name.
3. Album artists maintain creative control over their work, whereas record labels or other entities might assemble compilation albums.

Album vs Album Artist

An album is a collection of songs released together with a consistent theme or style. An album may contain anywhere from a few to many individual songs. An album artist is the artist or group responsible for creating and releasing the album, and is  listed as a separate entity from the individual contributing artists.

The music industry uses the term “Album” to mean different sizes of albums for different types of releases.

However, all Albums were recorded at the same time and produced by one producer or band that consists of several songs that vary and is between 10 and 20.

Album artists can be singers, songwriters, producers, and composers. Moreover, album artists are individuals who recorded an album or the name of an artist who recorded an album.

The name of the album itself does not define who that artist is or what he or she has done.

Comparison Table

Parameters of Comparison	Album	Album Artist
Definition	An album is a collection of music in a book, 12 to 14 songs.	An album artist is an act who writes, produces, and performs their songs on their albums.
Make-up	It may contain two or more artists.	It comprises songs from the same artist.
Album Name	The album’s name does not define the music contained within it.	The name of the Album itself does not define the Album Artist.
Licensing Rights	Any name can be chosen for an Album.	It is important to know the name of the Album Artist for licensing rights.
Example	Top 50 hits Global is an album that contains songs from various artists.	Selena Gomez is the name of the Album Artist, and it will only have a single artist song.

What is Album?

The word “Album” is derived from the Latin “album,” meaning “white cloth” or “leather.” A photo album will be made with white background and binding.

The word “Album” is also used for collections of pictures on canvas, which was the name of a style of painting developed by skillful painters who used them so that their work would be displayed on walls and could be moved from one place to another.

The word “Album” has many meanings. In music, it means “a collection of recorded songs.”

It is used to describe collections of recordings on phonograph records, compact discs (CDs), cassettes, or other physical formats.

Albums are commonly used to store music on an audio cassette tape, which is a small reel-shaped piece of plastic with a magnetic coating on one side. These tapes are also called “cassettes.”

An album is a collection of music in a book, 12 to 14 songs. Albums contain all of the recordings from a particular period.

The music industry uses the term “Album” to mean different sizes of albums for different types of releases.

A single CD or record album contains up to ten songs or musical tracks of a particular type of music by a specific artist or group of artists.

What is Album Artist?

The term “Album Artist” is commonly used to describe any musician who writes, produces, or performs on the majority of the songs on their albums.

Usually, this means that they are credited as a songwriter, producer, and performer on at least half of the songs on their album. The Album Artists perform all of the vocals and instrumentation themselves.

An Album artist is an act who writes, produces, and performs songs on their albums. Moreover, the Album Artists produce and mix the tracks themselves as well.

For example, if an artist writes only three out of ten songs on their album, they are unlikely to be considered an “Album Artist.” But if an artist writes four out of ten songs on their album, they are likely an “Album Artist.”

In the music industry, an “Album Artist” is defined as a musician who writes, produces, and performs original songs. In contrast, a single artist is an actor who does not write or perform music on their albums.

Instead, they commission one outside songwriter for each of their album’s tracks and do not perform any of the instruments themselves.

Instead, they hire studio musicians to play all the parts and pay producers to oversee the entire process.

Main Differences Between Album and Album Artist

1. An album is a collection of music in a book, 12 to 14 songs, whereas, An album artist is an act who writes, produces, and performs their own songs on their own albums.
2. An Album make-up may contain two or more artists, whereas, In Album Artist comprises songs from the same artist.
3. The name of the Album itself does not define the music contained within it, whereas the name of the album itself does not define the Album Artist.
4. Any name can be chosen for an Album, whereas, It is important to know the name of the Album Artist for licensing rights.
5. For example, top 50 hits Global is an album that contains songs from various artists, whereas Selena Gomez is the name of the Album Artist, and it will only have a single artist’s song.

References

1. https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/COMJ_a_00004
2. https://online.ucpress.edu/jams/article-abstract/65/1/113/50683
3. https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.11783