A few weeks ago, indie artist Noah Kahan released the third instalment of his 2022 hit album Stick Season. This new instalment, following on from Stick Season – We’ll All Be Here Forever, is titled Stick Season (Forever) after the newly released song that he added to the track list. What makes this new album unique and exciting is both the inclusion of a new song, Forever, and the combination of all of Stick Season’s many collabs being placed in one spot for fans to enjoy.
The most recent collaboration was with Sam Fender, the details of which, and the media frenzy it caused, are outlined in a previous article. These collaborations include artists such as Hozier, Post Malone and recently Brandi Carlile on “You’re Gonna Go Far” and Gregory Alan Isakov on one of my personal favourite tracks “Paul Revere.” It is a testament to Kahan’s massive, and dedicated, fanbase that he is able to release three albums, all filled with the same songs, and still maintain a place at the top of the music charts with each release.
Kahan has skyrocketed to fame after his massive success on TikTok, and he is now playing in stadiums throughout North America and Europe. Recently, I had the pleasure of seeing him perform in Cardiff! But the release of this collaboration album sparks some interesting ideas for the future of artists and the future of Kahan’s career.
Announced earlier this week, Kahan and Olivia Rodrigo are releasing an exclusive vinyl for the next record store day on April 20th. The limited-edition vinyl will include Kahan’s rendition of Lacy and Rodrigo’s rendition of “Stick Season”. This vinyl was announced on the 22nd of February and in the few days since that announcement, the special edition is already set to sell out as fans of both artists clamour for the renditions of songs that aren’t featured on streaming sites such as Spotify. This constant collaboration, something we very rarely see with artists in the 2020s, has major ripple effects on how artists will interact with each other in the coming years. It may even lead to more special edition vinyl…
It is a testament to Kahan’s massive, and dedicated, fanbase that he is able to release three albums, all filled with the same songs, and still maintain a place at the top of the music charts.
What other brave artists will manufacture incredible collaborations that whip fans up into a frenzy? Will this example of collaborations, and how they are a massive success commercially, become the normality now? Especially with the ability to sell limited edition merch, and the incredible publicity and marketing collaborations bring from overlapping fanbases. We are yet to see the consequences of this album and I can’t wait to see where it takes the music industry. Maybe we will finally get the long-awaited Harry Styles and Taylor Swift collaboration…
