Whether it’s piracy, iTunes, surprise album releases, or streaming services, the music industry is in a perpetual state of playing catch-up to every new digital trend. Lawsuits, legislation, subscriptions, etc., haven’t solved the main problem, that most people just aren’t that into paying for music anymore.
Today, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced its latest attempt at revitalizing the business – making Friday the release date for all albums worldwide. It will be a change for fans in the UK and US, where records are traditionally released on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, with the broader effects supposedly reducing illegal downloading while capitalizing on increased consumer activity over the weekends.
Frances Moore, CEO of the IFPI, outlined the pros of a global release day in a statement that calls the long-in-the-works plan an “important milestone.” She begins by highlighting the benefits for consumers saying, “An aligned global release day puts an end to the frustration of not being able to access releases in their country when the music is available in another country.” Moore also points out that it’s more satisfying for artists, who will now reap the benefits of worldwide anticipation for the new music. They are fair points, as any American listener who’s wondered why the Brits get a new album a day before they do can attest.
Of course, it’s hard to believe that the IFPI is putting fan satisfaction first when there are so many financial incentives for the change, and Moore gets to those points. First off, a universal release date will curb illegal downloads “by making it less likely that consumers will go to pirate sites when they can’t get new releases in their country.”
But it’s another set of customer behaviors that seem to offer the biggest monetary gain for record companies, artists, and retailers: “Friday and Saturday are the days of highest footfall in physical retail stores and the highest levels of purchasing traffic online. It’s also the time of greatest activity on social media, helping amplify the buzz around new releases everywhere. And the weekend is a time for greater spontaneous purchasing.” So, in a sense, impulse buys are part of the strategy to sell more albums.
For music lovers, the shift shouldn’t be much of a big deal. As NPR reports, there really isn’t a clear reason for music to be released on Tuesdays anyway. Basically, it seems like the day was chosen because it gave stores an extra day after the weekend to stock shelves and allowed songs and albums to get a full week of sales before the Billboard charts appeared the following Wednesday. According to Moore, the IFPI is working with the chart-measuring companies in every country to adjust to the new schedule without any indication as to how that will all work.
One thing left unsaid in Moore’s note is that this new industry standard will almost certainly prevent any surprise album releases, like Beyoncé’s December 2013 stunt. The pop star made her self-titled fourth album available on a Friday morning exclusively through iTunes, eschewing rival online retailers and every store that sells music physically. In response, Amazon and Target refused to carry physical versions of the LP, sending the message that they wouldn’t tolerate that kind of stunt again, no matter how popular the artist is. With this shift in global music distribution, it certainly seems they won’t to any time soon.