Oh, 2010! It feels good to be in a new decade and more than anything else I'm happy to be in the midst of this music industry transition.
Artists embracing new media outlets to distribute music is always a good thing for fans and this year you'll see that the FreEP (free EP) will become the "it" thing to do.
Sure, it's essentially a mixtape, but what an EP allows an artist to do is put out a taste of free music that isn't just a freestyle over the hottest instrumental but actually new and original music content.
Since the ball dropped on 2010, a few artists have already kicked out FreEP's.
Mickey Factz, among others, dropped a FreEP, thedarkphoenix: ALPHA, to lead up to his long awaited album. Mixtape fans don't fret, those track-heavy, hour-long, hit-or-miss musical journey's you know and love aren't going anywhere. Just don't be surprised if you start to see five- to eight-song EPs from your favorite artist, instead of the 20+ track monster with remixes of every recognizable beat from the radio.
In the end what would you rather have? The FreEP is the future (well now) and less is more.