Franz Ferdinand, greatest hits and algorithms

 

On November 2d, Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand released new single “Billy Goodbye”. A highly efficient upbeat track, it readily conveys the band’s usual quirky yet potent energy. But this single does not introduce a potential 6th album: instead, it is meant to tease an upcoming Greatest Hits that the band is set to release on March 11d 2022. Aside from “Billy Goodbye” and one other new song, the rest of the track listing will therefore be plucked from the band’s earlier, rather storied work. It better have “Take Me Out” on it, otherwise we will have a problem…

While the practice of releasing compilations has long been extremely prevalent in music — early 1950’s albums were de facto best-ofs, and the UK’s best selling record of all time remains Queen’s 1981 Greatest Hits, exemplifying England’s great musical taste once and for all — the question could be asked as to why would a band bother re-releasing what is already available on Spotify, Youtube and anywhere else you go to listen to your music these days…

The quick answer is usually — because there is something new to be found on said compilation, such as this couple of original songs in the Franz Ferdinand project. Also, most compilations come with a remastering process which makes the work sound fresher than it ever used to. Sometimes that even includes remixes, outtakes and other interesting new and old titbits for fans to discover. The streaming era has not changed anything about any of that: people will always be interested in quality reworkings of their favorite songs.

But the best-of strategy comes with an altogether added benefit these days: it actually plays the game of streaming platforms’ algorithms. Indeed, the problem today is not finding new or more content to listen to: there is enough already available on most platforms to last several lifetimes — even if you eat right and exercise. The trick, however, is to stand out among said sprawling content: if your figures spike, algorithms will pick it up and update recommendations accordingly.

In other words, the best way to have users listen to your back catalogue is to release a Best-of. Sounds like a plan…