How do musicians determine the order of their songs on CDs?

Question

Random?

Answer 1

It's an art, and it's called "sequencing". The basic idea is to create an emotional or musical arc across the songs.

For albums consisting of unrelated songs, the song selection is arbitrary (not random) but generally is done to make for a pleasurable, varied experience for the listener who chooses to listen to the entire album. For "concept albums", which express a theme or sketch a story over an album's length, the sequence is integral to the work. The entire art of sequencing is less important these days due to the trend towards individual downloads and random access, but some artists continue to carefully sequence their albums.

In the "old days" of LPs, there was the question of which side of the album to place each song as well as in what order.

Album sequencing is sometimes determined by the artists, but is more often left up to the album's producer. In some cases a sequencing specialist may be called in. Some albums include a credit for sequencing, for example Bob Ezrin is credited for the sequencing of Nine Inch Nails' "The Fragile".

Answer 2

NO, it's not random. I think they try to switch the song order up some. For example, if they start off with a fast song, the second will be slower. Usually a slow, quiet ballad will lead into a crashing rocker.
Back in the days, bands didn't just release singles, they released whole albums. Listen to a Jimi Hendrix album. Not a greatest hits album, but one of his studio albums, like Axis:Bold as Love or Electric Ladyland. It's like reading a good story. There are ups and downs. It goes from fast to slow, back to fast. It has a beginning and an end. It's not just a bunch of songs thrown together.

Answer 3

I would assume so. I guess they would pay certain attention to the first and last songs, to make an effect for the CD.
Like, on Within Temptation's The Heart of Everything, they wanted to captivate the listener with a really hard rock song, so they chose The Howling as the first track.
And with Evanescence's The Open Door, they chose Good Enough as the last track because its more optimistic than any other song they'd ever done and they wanted to save the song for last, to end it on a high note.
But also, they might wanna make sure they don't have too many slow/fast songs in a row. A nice mix.

I dunno if you can understand that if you haven't heard either band, but that's my opinion.

Answer 4

By the ones that think people will love more(sell,whatever) or by their personal choice.