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Post by areyoureadytojump on Aug 12, 2014 15:18:22 GMT -5
www.billboard.com/articles/business/6214409/record-industry-considering-a-standard-global-album-release-dayRecord Industry Considering a Standard, Global Album Release DayBy Ed Christman | August 12, 2014 The change was spurred in part by Beyonce's most recent surprise release, as well as piracy from Down Under. The music industry is on the verge of adopting a global street date that could see all countries issuing new releases on a Friday, probably beginning a year from now, in July 2015, according to industry sources. While some sources say its a done deal as far as the major labels and the IFPI and RIAA are concerned, other sources insist the issue has yet to be fully decided. The main reason why the industry is moving toward a global street date -- instead of letting each territory pick the day that they feel is best for their respective markets, which is the way it works now -- is to cut down on global piracy. With Australia now having a Friday street date, digital piracy begins almost immediately around the globe, as the new release is shared across the web before fans in the U.K. (which has a Monday street date) or the U.S. (which has a Tuesday street date) have a chance to purchase the music legally. With varying street dates in different markets, the labels are able move their artists around in order to take advantage of marketing opportunities that coincide with the changed street date. Now, labels can still do that on the week of release, but will have less opportunity to schedule a high-profile appearance on the release date itself. While sources say that digital music service providers like the Friday street date, not all physical merchants have given the change their blessing; some indie labels and indie merchants are opposed to having the global street date on Friday. They say they like the concept of having street dates early in the week because they feel it helps sell more CDs -- devout customers of an artist will come in on Tuesday while others will come in on payday, which is usually at the end of the week. Yet, in the end, brick-and-mortar stores and indie labels may not have much say in picking which day of the week functions as the global street date. "This global streetdate is necessary for the industry but unfortunately it will be awkward for the physical retailers to change their ways of doing business," says one label executive. "Now, they could have two-thirds of their sales in one day," which would impact retail operation. Meanwhile, preparing for a universal street date is not without issues for all parties, which is why there is so much lead time ahead of the contemplated shift. Among the issues that have to be addressed to accommodate the shift is that physical pipeline scheduling will have to be revamped, and discussions on whether and how to change the various music charts around the world. Beyond the music industry -- which created the notion of an industry streetdate for new releases and established Tuesday as that day in the U.S. -- other entertainment software industries have adopted Tuesday as well, first the home video industry and then the book industry. Now that the various entertainment companies have taught the U.S. consumer to go to stores on a Tuesday, will those other industries follow suit and change with the music industry?
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Caviar
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Post by Caviar on Aug 12, 2014 15:19:28 GMT -5
About time! Nothing like buying an album on Friday then hitting clubs!
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YourFaveIsAFlop
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Post by YourFaveIsAFlop on Aug 12, 2014 15:21:14 GMT -5
I'm surprised it's taken this long for something like this to have serious discussion.
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Aug 12, 2014 15:27:42 GMT -5
With the decline of album sales in most countries and more of a focus on worldwide album sales, it is now only being considered.
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Post by Adonis the DemiGod! on Aug 12, 2014 15:30:28 GMT -5
www.billboard.com/articles/business/6214409/record-industry-considering-a-standard-global-album-release-dayRecord Industry Considering a Standard, Global Album Release DayBy Ed Christman | August 12, 2014 The change was spurred in part by Beyonce's most recent surprise release, as well as piracy from Down Under. The music industry is on the verge of adopting a global street date that could see all countries issuing new releases on a Friday, probably beginning a year from now, in July 2015, according to industry sources. While some sources say its a done deal as far as the major labels and the IFPI and RIAA are concerned, other sources insist the issue has yet to be fully decided. The main reason why the industry is moving toward a global street date -- instead of letting each territory pick the day that they feel is best for their respective markets, which is the way it works now -- is to cut down on global piracy. With Australia now having a Friday street date, digital piracy begins almost immediately around the globe, as the new release is shared across the web before fans in the U.K. (which has a Monday street date) or the U.S. (which has a Tuesday street date) have a chance to purchase the music legally. With varying street dates in different markets, the labels are able move their artists around in order to take advantage of marketing opportunities that coincide with the changed street date. Now, labels can still do that on the week of release, but will have less opportunity to schedule a high-profile appearance on the release date itself. While sources say that digital music service providers like the Friday street date, not all physical merchants have given the change their blessing; some indie labels and indie merchants are opposed to having the global street date on Friday. They say they like the concept of having street dates early in the week because they feel it helps sell more CDs -- devout customers of an artist will come in on Tuesday while others will come in on payday, which is usually at the end of the week. Yet, in the end, brick-and-mortar stores and indie labels may not have much say in picking which day of the week functions as the global street date. "This global streetdate is necessary for the industry but unfortunately it will be awkward for the physical retailers to change their ways of doing business," says one label executive. "Now, they could have two-thirds of their sales in one day," which would impact retail operation. Meanwhile, preparing for a universal street date is not without issues for all parties, which is why there is so much lead time ahead of the contemplated shift. Among the issues that have to be addressed to accommodate the shift is that physical pipeline scheduling will have to be revamped, and discussions on whether and how to change the various music charts around the world. Beyond the music industry -- which created the notion of an industry streetdate for new releases and established Tuesday as that day in the U.S. -- other entertainment software industries have adopted Tuesday as well, first the home video industry and then the book industry. Now that the various entertainment companies have taught the U.S. consumer to go to stores on a Tuesday, will those other industries follow suit and change with the music industry? Love the idea but I'd rather see album releases coincide with a normal week like say Sunday - Saturday or Monday - Sunday.
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Glove Slap
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Post by Glove Slap on Aug 12, 2014 15:35:02 GMT -5
I'm surprised it's taken this long for something like this to have serious discussion. Should we be surprised though? Let's not forget that the MP3 revolution smacked the whole industry harder than it would have otherwise because communication between labels broke down, resulting in absolutely none of them capitalizing. I don't think this is going to be as clear-cut and successful as this article paints it, but good for them trying to finally address it.
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Duca
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Post by Duca on Aug 12, 2014 15:35:24 GMT -5
I'd like this as long as the day they choose is the first day of the sales tracking week everywhere.
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Aug 12, 2014 15:35:41 GMT -5
^Yes.
The US would not do a Friday release date unless SoundScan agrees to change its tracking week.
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Post by Adonis the DemiGod! on Aug 12, 2014 15:39:08 GMT -5
In a way you still couldn't get rid of all of these pirating problems because Friday in Australia comes before Friday in the US.... If they are serious they will standardize around time and date. So say 12am EDT every Monday. The labels can enforce this themselves simply by releasing on that date or maybe letting people release whenever they want to. They always had the power to release songs whenever they wanted to. They dont need to standardize to get that.
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YourFaveIsAFlop
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Post by YourFaveIsAFlop on Aug 12, 2014 15:43:26 GMT -5
I think the idea of a standardized release date is kind of outdated anyway. Why not release it digitally simultaneously worldwide on whatever day you want and have a standard hard copy release date. There's no standard day for releasing music videos and we've seen the impact that has for various songs on the charts. There's a strategy to it.
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Juanca
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Post by Juanca on Aug 12, 2014 16:14:31 GMT -5
Like Duh! To this idea I'd also ask billboard to come up with less discrepancy between airplay / sales / streaming periods for weekly charts considerations -and 'issue' dates which are becoming weirder for the digital age
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Post by Ezekiel 23:20–21 on Aug 12, 2014 16:27:25 GMT -5
I think the idea of a standardized release date is kind of outdated anyway. Why not release it digitally simultaneously worldwide on whatever day you want and have a standard hard copy release date. There's no standard day for releasing music videos and we've seen the impact that has for various songs on the charts. There's a strategy to it. There have been some instances where brick and mortar stores that refused to carry an album in physical form after the digital release came first and/or the artist did an exclusive with one of the digital retailers. If that sort of punishment stops, then that might work.
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Post by Adonis the DemiGod! on Aug 12, 2014 16:31:09 GMT -5
I think the idea of a standardized release date is kind of outdated anyway. Why not release it digitally simultaneously worldwide on whatever day you want and have a standard hard copy release date. There's no standard day for releasing music videos and we've seen the impact that has for various songs on the charts. There's a strategy to it. There have been some instances where brick and mortar stores that refused to carry an album in physical form after the digital release came first and/or the artist did an exclusive with one of the digital retailers. If that sort of punishment stops, then that might work. Or the record companies could by pass the brick and mortar stores all together. People will deal if it's important to them.
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Post by KeepDeanWeird on Aug 12, 2014 16:39:20 GMT -5
I believe record companies will be more concerned with $$$$ than chart positions. Plus with pre-orders and digital, physical sales between M-Th are smaller - most will be made-up by people buying on Friday and weekend. Consumer behavior will be changed.
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Post by Adonis the DemiGod! on Aug 12, 2014 16:43:18 GMT -5
I believe record companies will be more concerned with $$$$ than chart positions. Plus with pre-orders and digital, physical sales between M-Th are smaller - most will be made-up by people buying on Friday and weekend. Consumer behavior will be changed. The first day of the release week usually has the highest sales for an established act. Sales usually taper off as you get further into the week. Have you seen Bang Bang, Justin Beiber Singles ... everyone starts off high and then sales taper off as you get farther into the new release week. I think it's a bad business decision to change the date to Friday over say a Monday. I also don't necessarily see the benefit either. If people are fans they will find away regardless. People who aren't big fans will buy later in the week as their paychecks allow as usual. And if the exact time isn't an issue they are even considering, then this is all a for naught anyway.
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Post by H-Town Vicious on Aug 12, 2014 16:45:40 GMT -5
Bey and her undeniable impact.
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crystalphnx
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Post by crystalphnx on Aug 12, 2014 17:15:26 GMT -5
What does Beyonce have to do with this? Nothing about her and her surprise album is in this article. #reaching
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Post by H-Town Vicious on Aug 12, 2014 18:22:07 GMT -5
What does Beyonce have to do with this? Nothing about her and her surprise album is in this article. #reaching Re read the original post.
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Post by areyoureadytojump on Aug 12, 2014 19:03:05 GMT -5
Whoops. Sorry!
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CookyMonzta
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Post by CookyMonzta on Aug 12, 2014 19:13:36 GMT -5
^Yes. The US would not do a Friday release date unless SoundScan agrees to change its tracking week. They should have thought about Friday album release dates a very long time ago! That is when most movie companies authorize the release of new films to theaters. As for SoundScan, they should have considered Monday-to-Sunday sales-tracking the sooner they went online in 1991! Didn't it start out as a Monday-to-Sunday procedure, and then they moved the 7-day tracking week to coincide with Billboard's old national-sampling methods and Tuesday album release dates?
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YourFaveIsAFlop
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Post by YourFaveIsAFlop on Aug 12, 2014 19:28:04 GMT -5
I think the idea of a standardized release date is kind of outdated anyway. Why not release it digitally simultaneously worldwide on whatever day you want and have a standard hard copy release date. There's no standard day for releasing music videos and we've seen the impact that has for various songs on the charts. There's a strategy to it. There have been some instances where brick and mortar stores that refused to carry an album in physical form after the digital release came first and/or the artist did an exclusive with one of the digital retailers. If that sort of punishment stops, then that might work. The "punishment" of a few brick and mortars not stocking Beyoncé didn't seem to hurt. In fact, the publicity of it probably helped move a few more digital copies
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Post by Ezekiel 23:20–21 on Aug 12, 2014 20:16:54 GMT -5
There have been some instances where brick and mortar stores that refused to carry an album in physical form after the digital release came first and/or the artist did an exclusive with one of the digital retailers. If that sort of punishment stops, then that might work. The "punishment" of a few brick and mortars not stocking Beyoncé didn't seem to hurt. In fact, the publicity of it probably helped move a few more digital copies Target has a history of doing this.
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Post by Adonis the DemiGod! on Aug 13, 2014 1:07:52 GMT -5
I think the idea of a standardized release date is kind of outdated anyway. Why not release it digitally simultaneously worldwide on whatever day you want and have a standard hard copy release date. There's no standard day for releasing music videos and we've seen the impact that has for various songs on the charts. There's a strategy to it. Im with you. This is a lot of hoopla about something labels always had the power to do. They should release when they want to. They don't need a standard date or anything. They should just start releasing when it's optimal for them to do so whether its monday or wed or friday or whenever.
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HolidayGuy
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Post by HolidayGuy on Aug 13, 2014 8:22:46 GMT -5
Or, at least the second day of the tracking week, as it is in the USA and UK (not sure what other countries' tracking weeks are).
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Post by KeepDeanWeird on Aug 13, 2014 9:28:38 GMT -5
^Yes. The US would not do a Friday release date unless SoundScan agrees to change its tracking week. They should have thought about Friday album release dates a very long time ago! That is when most movie companies authorize the release of new films to theaters. As for SoundScan, they should have considered Monday-to-Sunday sales-tracking the sooner they went online in 1991! Didn't it start out as a Monday-to-Sunday procedure, and then they moved the 7-day tracking week to coincide with Billboard's old national-sampling methods and Tuesday album release dates? "Billboard's old national-sampling methods" Ah, yeah, funny how SS exposed the bias of record store reports against certain genres - particularly country as well as catalog titles, except for Dark Side of the Moon.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 13, 2014 9:43:29 GMT -5
The tracking weeks for most countries in the world are Fri - Thu. The US/Canada/UK are actually the outliers when it comes to that.
Also I don't see how this deters illegal downloading? People will do it no matter when an album is released.
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YourFaveIsAFlop
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Post by YourFaveIsAFlop on Aug 13, 2014 10:04:08 GMT -5
The idea is that an album drops Friday in Australia, I don't want to wait for Tuesday to get it in America, so I'll just illegally download it over the weekend. I really think the impact will be minimal though in stopping piracy. If I pirate albums, I already don't care when they're released.
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Post by Adonis the DemiGod! on Aug 13, 2014 10:05:21 GMT -5
The idea is that an album drops Friday in Australia, I don't want to wait for Tuesday to get it in America, so I'll just illegally download it over the weekend. I really think the impact will be minimal though in stopping piracy. If I pirate albums, I already don't care when they're released. For you but not necessarily for everyone.
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YourFaveIsAFlop
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Post by YourFaveIsAFlop on Aug 13, 2014 10:07:48 GMT -5
I really dont think there are many people out there that pirate because they want an album faster who would buy it instead if it was legally available. The culture. People don't pirate to steal music. They pirate because that's how they get their music.
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Spidey
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Post by Spidey on Aug 13, 2014 12:31:37 GMT -5
I don't think this is necessary. People who pirate music will still pirate music.
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