As announced earlier in the year, album and new single release dates are shifting to Fridays, starting July 10, 2015. It'll be interesting to see if the IFPI global standard will help or have no effect on sales figures.
“Like so much of modern life, the borders between countries have broken down with the advent of the Internet,” commented Cary Sherman, RIAA. “Marketing buzz generated by the labels we represent—and the ensuing appetite it builds for today’s artists—does not stop at national borders. Music has become more global than ever, and fans eagerly discover, share and inform their friends and followers of their favorite artists through a variety of social media platforms. Fans demand instant access to their favorite artists and newly discovered songs.
Sherman continues, "The beginning of the weekend is fans’ favorite time of the week and we hope to tap into that excitement with new music. On top of that, consumer research across multiple markets, including the United States, shows Fridays and Saturdays as the most preferred days for new music releases. With this change, the objective is to better leverage weekend foot traffic in retail outlets and harness the growing buzz behind a new album or song that builds across national markets.”
What I have been wondering about this switch, since it was announced in February, is if SoundScan and Billboard will shift their reporting dates on sales numbers from "Monday to Sunday" to "Thursday to Friday" or "Friday to Thursday" reporting so as to allow for standardizing of record sales numbers or that if our concept of "First week sales" will be forever changed. Given Billboard's ability to change as technology does, I have to believe they will change the first week sales number reporting that same week to keep what so-called "historical integrity" of the charts that there is, in place.
Billboard, for its part, is considering the change. “We will make an informed decision on these matters in the coming months, well in advance of the release date shift,” Silvio Pietroluongo, Billboard’s vp of Charts and Data Development, said.
It would be a little weird to change and all of the sudden consider whatever a big star sells Friday-Sunday as the official release week numbers (not unlike box-office for films). What could potentially be interesting, if they kept the report Monday to Sunday, is that the labels could probably spin the "second week" sales figures. They could make the second week as important as the first week and spread the narrative of the "release window" out from seven to 10 days or so.
I also start to wonder if it won't have an impact on sales numbers by the virtue of many people's paycheck traditionally happening on Friday. Will people spend more money on actual music? Will more people spend money on music? Will music take money away from films (think of it: A tween and/or teenager gets allowance from parents and rather than going to a movie with friends, they buy music to listen to with friends). Also, will bluray/dvd/streaming film media follow suit and shift to Fridays or will we now have new release Tuesday and new release Fridays.
The real reason for the global release date is to prevent new music from getting pirated in one market because it was released in another market first. This is the reason albums have been released on Mondays instead of Tuesdays in the USA (Monday was the UK standard).
What do you think of the new global release date? Do you think the industry will change along with it?
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