Get ready for ‘New Music Fridays’: the official new global release day for music will kick off on Friday, July 10.
Worldwide recorded music body IFPI has officially confirmed that new music will officially be released on Fridays at 00:01 local time around the world.
Up until now, music has been released on different days of the week in various countries – from Mondays in markets such as France and the UK, through Tuesdays in the US and Canada and to Fridays in markets such as Australia and Germany.
Not everyone is delighted by the choice of Friday, however: the likes of Beggars Group boss Martin Mills fear it will kill one of the two retail ‘peaks’ that a Monday release date provides.
The move to “New Music Fridays” will take place in more than 45 recorded music markets worldwide. Of these, 11 countries currently release music on Fridays, while the others will switch the day that new albums and singles become available.
IFPI points out that the switch to global “New Music Fridays” has been overseen by an international steering group made up of the following organisations:
· IFPI, representing some 1,300 record labels worldwide;
· WIN-Impala, representing independent record labels worldwide
· FIM, representing musicians’ unions and associations globally
· Featured Artists Coalition representing UK performers;
· Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) (UK),
· Music Biz (US)
IFPI has also provided a cavalcade of positive comment on the new release day from industry leaders around the globe, which you can read below.
Hans-Holger Albrecht, CEO, Deezer
“Deezer welcomes New Music Fridays and the sense of occasion it will bring to the release of new music. Deezer’s editors are primed to make Friday the new start to their week to help people wherever they are make that exciting new discovery, just in time for the weekend.”
Glen Barros, president and CEO, Concord Music Group
“We’re looking forward to the launch of New Music Fridays. We think a global release day reflects the realities of the current global music business. Of course, the change presents a number of challenges as it’s a major adjustment to long established customs and practices, but our involvement in the planning process convinces us the move will benefit consumers, which should mean we’re all better off in the long run.”
Anthony Bay, CEO, Rdio
“New Music Fridays will create more opportunities to promote new releases. We support the launch of New Music Fridays and look forward to helping artists reach more listeners with their new music in all 85 of our territories.”
Kim Bayley, chief executive, Entertainment Retailers Association
“Retailers and digital services are the ultimate link in the chain between artists and music fans. Having a single worldwide release day reduces customer confusion about when new music is available and focuses everyone’s attention on new releases. Retailers are working hard to implement the change to Fridays and ensure that the advent of New Music Friday is a success.”
Stu Bergen, president, international, Warner Recorded Music
“The introduction of a global release day is a good example of how the music industry today is responding to what music fans want. Given the global nature of entertainment and technology, this move is a logical step towards serving music lovers better.”
Edgar Berger, chairman and CEO, international, Sony Music Entertainment
“Today’s recorded music industry operates in an increasingly borderless world. Hits can come from anywhere and spread everywhere. Some superstars have already launched their albums simultaneously worldwide, now all artists will be able to reach their global fan bases on the same day. It’s good news for music fans everywhere.”
Felix Buget, founder and president, Blanco y Negro
“New Music Fridays will set Fridays as the official day for music, at last. Both online and in physical formats and around the world, Friday will be the day for you to find and enjoy all new music the way you like. Definitely, it’s good news for consumers, producers and all partners involved in our sector.”
Scott Cohen, co-founder, The Orchard
“I’m delighted that the industry is adopting New Music Fridays from July. Adhering to national release dates in a connected world makes no sense anymore. But organizing our business around the consumer makes perfect sense. The weekend should be about fun and discovering new music. And since this is what consumers already do it feels great to give them just what they want.”
Jørn Dalchow, managing director, DaWorks
“It’s great that the global industry is taking a big step forward with the launch of New Music Fridays. In a world where consumers increasingly enjoy music on streaming services and discuss new releases on borderless social networks it makes no sense to keep old barriers in place. Searches on streaming services and social media conversations both peak going into the weekend and Friday releases take advantage of that. In Norway, we moved our main release day to a Friday some years ago and it has proved a highly effective way of launching new titles.”
James Donio, president, Music Business Association (Music Biz)
“The Music Business Association (Music Biz) is committed to working with our members and industry partners in the United States to make a smooth and successful transition to New Music Fridays.”
Mike Dreese, CEO, Newbury Comics Inc.
“Newbury Comics is pleased to see the international entertainment industry come together to grant music fans what they want: a level playing field for music release dates globally. In the brave new world of hyper-connected music fanatics, demand is instantaneous and global in its impact. New Music Friday offers the ideal time for our customers to consume what they want, when they want, via digital or physical, without worrying about being “left out” due to archaic territorial restrictions on street date availability.”
El Corte Ingles
“We’re excited about the launch of New Music Fridays. It is good news that Spanish shoppers will be able to get new music on the same day as music fans in the rest of the world.”
Norman Halim, founder and executive president, KRU Music
“I welcome the launch of New Music Fridays. It is great that music fans wherever they are in the world will be able to get access to new music on the same day. Music is truly a language without borders so moving to a single global release day is a big step forward for our industry.”
Ian Harvey, executive director, Australian Music Retailers Association (AMRA)
“AMRA welcomes the launch of New Music Fridays worldwide. The decision to move to a Friday release day in Australia was based on the belief that retailers had to meet the needs of their customers and that for those customers Friday, Saturday and Sunday are shopping days. Why wouldn’t you have your most attractive, most in demand product available in store when consumers are actually shopping?”
Crispin Hunt, artist
“A global release day is a great opportunity to re-engage the public with new music and re-ignite excitement around new releases. We are in a time when the general public’s involvement with music has become more fleeting and somehow less social – a global release day could help change that.”
Andrew Kronfeld, president, global marketing, Universal Music Group
“We’re very supportive of New Music Fridays, our artists can now reach all their fans around the world on one day, a great day for discovering and sharing new music. Music is one of the truly global businesses and we have no doubt that a unified global release day is going to be a major benefit to our artists, their fans and the whole industry.”
Paul McGowan, chief executive, Hilco (owners of HMV)
“HMV looks forward to participating in New Music Fridays from 10th July. It’s a big opportunity for us to get music fans into our stores, and it’s something I hope gets full support from across our industry. New Music Fridays will get music to the high street when people hit the high street. As the UK’s leading entertainment retailer, that makes perfect sense for us and our customers.”
Frances Moore, chief executive, IFPI
“New Music Fridays is the result of tremendous cross-industry collaboration, involving labels, artists, retailers and others. Establishing a global release day for new music means fans across the world can get new music as soon as it is released and we can recreate that sense of excitement that new music used to bring. We hope it will be a case of ‘Think Fridays…think new music’.”
Marcus Nolte, product manager, entertainment, Media Saturn
“Media Saturn is very pleased to support the global move to New Music Fridays. The move to a Friday release day has worked very well for music fans and retailers in Germany, creating a surge of interest around new releases just before the weekend when consumers want new music. Our experience has been that the move can be made smoothly and successfully for all concerned.”
Paul Pacifico, chief executive, Featured Artists Coalition (FAC)
“The FAC welcomes any initiative that brings artists and fans closer together and the Global Release Day does just that, making sure that all fans, wherever they are in the world, can get legal access to new tracks as soon as they are released. Making Global Release Day Friday brings the additional excitement of launching major new releases in the run-up to the weekend.”
Ken Parks, chief content officer, Spotify
“Spotify is looking forward to the launch of New Music Fridays. It’s exciting for us to be able to make new releases available to all our users around the world on the same day.”
Francesco Riganti, retail marketing director, Mondadori
“Music has an important place for Mondadori Retail, both in terms of the range offered in our megastores and bookstores (direct and franchised), and the in-house radio productions which form part of the customer experience. We therefore support New Music Fridays which we think will capitalise and give maximum effectiveness for marketing launches, fan engagement and media impact around the weekend.”
Davide Rossi, director-general, AIRES
“AIRES member companies account for more than 75 per cent of the national market for consumer electronics in Italy, and up to 90 per cent for some segments. We are fully supportive of New Music Fridays. We believe releases concentrated at the end of the week can stimulate purchases in all channels, creating even greater footfall in physical outlets. The move could also serve as an antidote against unauthorised music use that can occur precisely because there is no legally available means of obtaining new music in the first crucial days of release in some countries.”
Thorsten Schliesche, SVP and general manager, Europe, Napster
“New Music Fridays are a big step forward. In the internet age, music fans expect to be able to enjoy the latest releases on the same day as their friends in other parts of the world. Artists can really take advantage to build buzz, particularly on social media. It will also make it easier for the industry as a whole to deliver great supporting content and recommendations to get music heard.”
Cary Sherman, chairman and CEO, RIAA
“Music has become more global than ever, and fans eagerly discover, share and inform their friends and followers of their favorite artists through a variety of social media platforms. Fans demand instant access to their favorite artists and newly discovered songs. The status quo does not work anymore. We can’t do business and serve fans based on a distribution system from a half a century ago, with different release dates in different countries. We have to rethink everything.”
Jonas Sjöström, CEO, Playground Music
“Playground Music is delighted to participate in New Music Fridays. It makes a lot of sense for markets such as Scandinavia, which is dominated by digital channels, to have a single release day so that fans here and around the world can enjoy new music on these services at the same time.”
John Smith, president, International Federation of Musicians (FIM)
“FIM fully supports the move to New Music Fridays. Our industry, our membership and our audiences are increasingly global, and a move to a global release Friday offers an exciting opportunity to release music at a time when people most want to listen to and buy it.”
Filippo Sugar, president, Sugar Music
“New Music Fridays makes complete sense in today’s world. I’ve worked towards a global release day for my international artists such as Andrea Bocelli for some time. It’s great that fans around the world can share the joy of a new album from their favourite artist at the same time.”
Martin Talbot, chief executive, UK Official Charts Company (OCC)
“Moving to Friday ushers in a new era for the Official Chart this summer. From July 10th, every Friday night will be party night for all the artists and their UK fans celebrating their latest chart position. It is going to be a fantastic new beginning for the Official Charts.”
Geoff Taylor, chief executive, BPI
“In a business that is increasingly digital and global, the logic for a global release day is compelling. Fans don’t understand why they have to wait to legally access music that has already been released in other countries. Unifying the day of release inevitably means some countries are having to switch days, but it makes sense to consider the time of the week when interest in entertainment, digital activity and physical footfall is building towards its peak. Fans are telling us they would like new music ready for the weekend, so Friday appears the best choice and it is supported by the research we undertook with consumers. We need to do everything we can to serve the fans and build our business around that.” Music Business Worldwide
