WHAT IS A LISTENING PARTY?
If you didn’t know, now you will!
A Listening Party is a chance to experience an album’s release for the very first time in a public setting. Many artists like Kanye West, Travis Scott, and Tyler, the Creator host listening parties for their albums to bring excitement for the new body of work they are releasing, and to gain first reactions with the public.
Kanye West hosting a listening party for The Life Of Pablo during his YZY season 3 show at Madison Square Garden. Here he is vibing out with Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, and Pusha T. All three after this event were inspired and went on to host listening parties of their own.
Many of us do not listen to albums as a whole, and instead we pick a few songs we like from an album, and don't return to it. The purpose of an album is to sequence songs according to the artist’s vision of how they want people to experience their music. Tyler, the Creator uses the form of “concept albums” as a way to tell cohesive stories with the characters/alter egos he has created. CHROMAKOPIA, for example, was a comprehensive story about Tyler’s memory and nostalgia, identity shifting, and how the music he has created has served as a form of escapism for him and his fans. But, if you only listen to the top three tracks from the album: “Sticky”, “Like Him”, and “Darling, I”, you won’t understand the story that Tyler envisioned, and instead just choose to listen to what’s “better”. And of course, when listening to new music, there will always be that risk of hearing a song you don’t like, and that’s okay. But by being selective in choosing what to listen to, you miss the opportunity to find something new, and ignore what the artist's true intentions were behind that album.
Tyler, The Creator’s characters/alter egos featured in the Sorry Not Sorry music video
NOMAD LISTENING PARTY EXPERIENCE:
To keep the tradition alive of experiencing music for the first time as a whole through albums as artists intend, KRCX hosted a listening party for DJ Snake’s new album, NOMAD. It was the most highly anticipated album from this past Friday (11.7.25), featuring artists like J Balvin, Travis Scott, Future, and more. And we can say it was a success! People were playing games, bobbing their heads as they walked on the quad, and even some danced. New music generally comes out at 10 PM MST (our time) on Thursday nights and midnight for some other places. So New Music Fridays on the quad from 12-3 PM help us play the newest songs that have been released that day, put them in a playlist, and host a listening party for the highly anticipated album of that week. A listening party is not necessarily like the parties we are used to. It's a chance to experience new music together for the first time, the day it releases, through the form of just listening and vibing out. We plan to host more listening parties for other artists as the year continues, bringing more album spotlights and growing the New Music Friday tradition at Regis!
Check out our album spotlight of DJ Snake’s Nomad below and our New Music Friday Playlist from 11.7.25: