The EP is becoming popular again. For instance, Luke Bryan released an EP last month which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart.

“Invented around 1950, the EP was long considered the misfit format of the recording industry: Shorter than an album and longer than a single, EPs generally run about 30 minutes and top out at a half-dozen songs. They’ve proven especially easy to digest as digital downloads or streams, because they can give listeners a hearty sample of an unfamiliar act without asking them to commit to a full-length (and full-price) album. As a result, they’ve become crucial to the way many new acts introduce themselves.”

When Republic Records signed the Icelandic folk-rock band Of Monsters and Men last year, its jubilant song “Little Talks” was just starting to get radio airplay. The group had already recorded an album in Iceland, so its new label quickly “polished” four of the songs and released them as an EP. The goal was to give curious fans a bigger sample of the music, and get a head start on sales. Priced at $4.29, the digital EP “Into the Woods” probably qualified as an impulse buy for some shoppers. It sold 55,000 copies. “Psychologically, it’s not as intimidating as buying an album with 12 songs from a group I’ve never heard of,” says Avery Lipman, president and co-founder of Republic Records, which is owned by Universal. Read more

Buzz Track: Roadshow

LA-based quintet Wires in the Walls explores a textured space between Americana, anthemic indie rock, austere post-punk, and pop. Since the band’s formation in 2009, they have played many of LA’s top venues and toured the east and west coasts as well as having their songs placed on popular TV shows. Check out the track Roadshow from their latest release Leap, Timber, Leap.
Contact: wiresinthewalls@gmail.com

Buzz Track: Somebody Loves You

News Update: Betty Who just released her debut EP and will perform at Pianos in NYC on May 3rd. She is a 21-year old indie-pop artist, originally from Sydney, Australia but currently living in Boston, MA. She worked with producer Peter Thomas (Hoodie Allen, Neon Hitch) on her debut EP. She hit the 20,000 mark on Soundcloud, and just partnered with Talenthouse to launch a worldwide remix contest for her latest single, “Somebody Loves You”.
Contact: ethan@ethan-schiff.com

Buzz Track: The Sun As It Comes

The Lonely Wild are buzzing with their first full length ‘The Sun As It Comes’ which was released at a sold-out show at The Satellite in Los Angeles in April via their own Ursa Major Recordings. The Lonely Wild made a name for themselves in and around greater LA with fans such as Nic Harcourt (KCSN) and Chris Douridas (KCRW) on board. The band also continued to hone their dynamic live performance through a series of high-profile shows opening for John Doe, Damien Rice, The Elected, Laura Marling and Lord Huron in addition to their highly successful residency at Silver Lake’s famed Satellite.
Contact: info@thelonelywild.com

Twitter today is releasing its buzzed-about new service #music, which promises to “change the way people find music.”

The social media company said in a blog post that #music will be both a web platform and an iOS app that suggests music based on users’ Twitter activity. Users can share music with their followers from the app by linking with iTunes, Spotify and Rdio, and find music recommended by people, especially musicians, they follow.

The launch of #music follows news last week that Twitter had acquired We Are Hunted, the company that had been developing #music.
“People share and discover new songs and albums every day,” Stephen Phillips, founder of We Are Hunted, wrote on Twitter’s blog. “Many of the most-followed accounts on Twitter are musicians, and half of all users follow at least one musician. This is why artists turn to Twitter first to connect with their fans — and why we wanted to find a way to surface songs people are tweeting about.”