Tuesday gone: why albums will be released globally on Fridays

Tuesday's gone: Why albums will be released globally on Fridays

BY YOHANA DESTA

Jay Z and Beyonce perform a concert in Paris in 2014.

IMAGE: ROB HOFFMAN/INVISION FOR PARKWOOD ENTERTAINMENT/AP IMAGES/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Fridays are the new Tuesdays in the music world.

On Feb. 26, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, which represents labels worldwide, announced that Fridays will be the new international release day for albums.

The IFPI has been preparing for the change since last summer. Calling the goal "a big one, but a manageable one," IFPI's CEO Francis Moore discussed the new pick in a lengthy statement.

"Music fans live in the digital world of today," he wrote. "They want music when it’s available on the Internet — not when it’s ready to be released in their country."

The new global release date could also narrow the gap on piracy, Moore says, because consumers won't be as compelled to go "to pirate sites when they can't get new releases in their country."

The decision is also going to affect the Billboard charts, supported by Nielsen Music, and the UK charts, according toBillboard. Billboard's vice president of charts and data development says the IFPI's announcement doesn't come as a surprise.

"We will make an informed decision on these matters in the coming months, well in advance of the release date shift," he said in a statement.

A statement from the Official Charts Company to Billboardreiterated the same message, saying the "exact details" have not yet been decided.

Previously, Tuesday was the industry standard release date in the U.S. Mondays are preferred in the U.K. and France, and Germany opts for Friday, according to NPR.

But now that the world is picking one universal date, we have one question: How exactly did the U.S. land on a Tuesday?

How Tuesdays became the rule

According to an excerpt from the book Is Tiny Dancer Really Elton's Little John?: Music's Most Enduring Mysteries, Myths and Rumors Revealed, it all has to do with streamlining sales across the board. Back in the mid-1980s, record companies decided to "level the playing field," Joe McFadden, senior vice-president of sales and field marketing at Capitol Records, told author Gavin Edwards.

Retailers would have to sell the album when they got it, but that made it difficult for smaller or more remote stores to sell it, because they would get the albums much later, McFadden explained. To quell the frustration, labels agreed to set Tuesday as the certified release date.

Nowadays, bigger artists have shirked the golden Tuesday rule. Plenty have surprise-released their albums, from Radiohead to Beyoncé to, most recently, Drake. For these top-level acts, the power of surprise and social media can bolster these albums to astronomically huge sales figures.

Radiohead's In Rainbows, released on a Wednesday, sold 1.75 million physical CDs worldwide within a year. Drake's mixtape/album If You're Reading This, It's Too Late, which released late on a Thursday night, sold 495,000 copies within the first week. Within the first three days, Beyoncé's self-titled surprise album, released on a Friday morning, sold 828,773 copies worldwide.

The online, "pay-what-you-want" sale of Radiohead's In Rainbowsskewed charts measurements, keeping the album off the top ofBillboard charts for much longer than expected.Of course, these surprise release dates don't come without backlash from retailers. Amazon and Target decided not to sell Beyoncé's CD because it was initially released as an iTunes exclusive (though, the singer used the backlash as a promo opportunity, handing out $50 gift cards to customers at Walmart, which did carry the album).

Drake's release, which many were confused about (was it a mixtape, which are typically released for free, or was it really an album?), because it initially streamed on his Soundcloud page for free. Now, many music insiders are suggesting he surprise-dropped the mixtape, then put it up for sale as a way to effectively end his four-album contract with record label Cash Money. Tuesday industry standards be damned.

It's clear releasing an album by surprise can be extremely successful, though it requires an artist of a certain caliber. The execution can also be messy on the business end.

However, consumers have proven that surprise releases can be successful. As digital sales and Internet culture dominate the music world, organizations like the IFPI have to put their heads together and make crucial changes.