Today is Friday. That is not an exciting piece of news... Unless you are a music enthusiastic! For you , Friday means : new albums! That's right, every new album on the globe are now released on Fridays as part of the new recent Global Release Date policy.

With almost four months in the process, what is the impact of the Global Release Date policy?

Background

Before the Global Release Date policy, releases varied from one country to another. That caused disappointment and frustration for music fans when others could access releases before them. Many ended up illegally downloading the new album to access it before its official release on their territories.

With the increasing demand for a global release date, the industry held an international consultation with artists, musicians, record companies and retailers. Following that consultation, it was agreed that starting on July 10 2015, new music would be released internationally on Friday.

As well as fighting piracy, the change was implemented in order to benefit artists who want to activate their social media followers to promote their new music and build anticipation around one focused release date.

- Read Also : Music releases : Should Artists Build Anticipation or Surprise the Fans? -

Impact

It is without a doubt that the Global Release Date has had an impact on the industry.

By releasing every records on the same day on every territories, the industry believes that this will lower down the illegal downloading rate of new releases. Why? Because, before the Global Release Day, releases date varied on every territories. Therefore, many fans ended up illegally downloading the new album to access it before its official release on their territories.

On a marketing standpoint, sales of a new release are at risk of being eaten up by other releases available the same day. This phenomenon is likely to happen when clients prioritise the purchase of a certain release over another.

That said, the music industry believes that releasing new albums and singles on Friday helps fighting the generally decreasing sales of records. According to worldwide marketing figures, Fridays and Saturdays are the two days with the most in-store and online consumer trafic. Therefore, releasing music on Friday allows music marketers to leverage the momentum in the hopes of building sales during the weekend.

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