Gigging Musician is one thing, so are street buskers - CD is merch, got it.
What about digital artists? Bedroom producers? Is there a point?
I understand the point in having an album which tells the story end to end over multiple songs but I don't see it in most cases I encounter EPs, In fact, I almost never encounter this.
Well if nothing else it comes down to marketing.
Releasing an EP or full album is like 'an event'. Maybe you get artwork for it and act like it's a big deal.
It also gives you an opportunity either to monetise or just draw attention to your historic tracks, if you include them in your EP or album, which otherwise may have been old news.
Then there's pricing, maybe you charge $0.99 a track but for your six track EP you charge $5.00 so the customer is perceiving a discount or added value by buying it that way.
It's also about providing options. Having tracks a la carte is great but I doubt anyone wants to play a preview of 12 tracks and run down buying them individually. But they may want to just take a whole album.
Having an album could be perceived as adding legitimacy to the music or your brand.
There's honestly a million reasons collecting music into an EP or album is beneficial both for yourself and for a consumer, I don't understand why you don't understand.