Big change in the music industry
The news are filled with the last week’s biggest announcement for the music industry.
The music industry has made an agreement to release albums globally on Fridays, in order to end the differences between regions, to stop piracy in this era of instant music. After nine months of consultation, the decision is expected to go into effect by the summer of 2015.
Currently, the system where albums are released in different days according to region, contributes to the black market and even confuses people. According to a study from IFPI, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, the change will be welcomed by the consumers, because the majority prefers to know that a new music album will be released on Friday or Saturday, instead of having to search for which album comes and when.
Under the current system, albums usually release multiple times, according to each region. Currently, the release day is Tuesday in the US and Monday in the UK and France, Friday in Germany and Australia and Wednesdays in Japan.
Every key group in the music industry agreed on that decision, from music retailers to record companies and artists. This was an almost unanimous agreement on the fact that a global release date is really good and necessary in the age where digital downloading and streaming have known a rapid growth. The consultations took place also with the International Federation of Musicians, which also represents streaming services like Spotify.
There is still a number of independent retailers from the US that have opposed to the decision of releasing albums on Fridays globally, saying that since weekends are the busiest time, it would be normal to stick to Tuesdays, which are slower days.
The reason behind this decision is that, according to Frances Moore, chief executive officer at IFPI, people want music the minute that it’s available on the Internet, not when it is released in their country.
The only question remained about this is whether the measure will be consistent with both the digital and the physical formats, since, according to Chris Vanderloo, co-owner of Other Music, a bigger problem that a global date is regarding the differences between the digital and physical format releases.
From my point a view, I think this is a good measure to take in this time where piracy is still on the rise and the digital streaming and downloading are dominating the industry. So starting this summer, albums will be released every Friday at one minute past 12 at midnight, local time.
