From 6-second social videos to 15-second YouTube ads, if you’re determined to sell your music on iTunes, you’re bound to wonder just how today’s reliance on instant gratification will affect your career.

Just how long is the average fan’s musical attention span? And let’s be frank; do fans even listen to the full album anymore?

If you’re still reading this article and you haven’t opened a new tab to check your Twitter, update your status, or watch your favorite cat videos yet, close your eyes for a second. Think back to that very first album you ever bought.

Maybe it was a Beatles classic – smooth, heartfelt, and iconic. Or maybe it was the famous Jimi Hendrix, filling your room with the most incredible guitar you’ve ever heard. Whenever it was, whoever it was, we’re going to guess it probably plays a role in your own lifelong passion and aspiration to become a musical artist.

And whoever it was, we’re going to guess that you listened to that album until the CD started coming apart at your fingertips.

But unfortunately, fellow artists, the fans of today just might not be as album-devoted as you once were. With a new top-40 single dominating the radio every other day and with celebrities whose personalities are sometimes even louder than their belting voices, it’s no surprise that many fans wait for weeks for an album release, search for that number one hit song, and simply skim right over the rest.

But if you’re looking to sell your music online, how is an artist to cope?

The solution? Market your album as a unified whole, hype up every song as much as your pre-released single, and above all else, make your album just as mind-shatteringly amazing as that first, incredible song.

While fans these days may be too busy focusing on the instant, the temporary, and the incredibly short lived (Snapchat, anyone?), hope is not all lost.

Remember your first musical love, remember the feeling of listening to from start to finish, remember your target audience…and make that album come alive.