Tuesdays will become less anticipated this summer as the U.S. release day for albums, which has been Tuesday for decades, changes to Friday due to implementation of a global release day, Billboard reported.
Music piracy and Beyonce’s surprise release of her self-titled album in Dec. 2013 are credited with starting the conversation that ended in this decision. Australia had previously released music on Friday and the U.K. on Monday, which encouraged piracy in countries that had to wait another day or so to purchase.
“Music fans live in the digital world of today,” Frances Moore, head of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, said. “Their love for new music doesn’t recognize national borders. They want music when it’s available on the internet — not when it’s ready to be released in their country. 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.”
Not all of the music industry celebrated this change, some believing that smaller operations could suffer.
“I fear this move will also lead to a market in which the mainstream dominates, and the niche, which can be tomorrow’s mainstream, is further marginalized,” Martin Mills, chairman of the British record company Beggars Group, told Billboard. “I fear it will further cement the dominance of the few — and that is exactly what it is intended to do.”
