New Music Fridays – Starting in July!

Written by Jon Williams

For years, Monday was the standard day of the week for music album releases in the United States. Because so much commerce is shut down on Sundays, however, many outlets received their shipments too late to offer new albums at the start of business on Monday. That’s why, in 1989, the music industry agreed to move their release day to Tuesday, which it has been ever since.

That has not been the case around the world, though, as various countries have their own release schedules that haven’t always coincided with those in the U.S. The U.K., for instance, held onto Monday for their releases, while Germany and Australia saw new music come out on Friday. This non-uniformity caused angst for fans (who were upset when listeners in other countries got new tunes before they did) and the industry (with piracy concerns) alike.

That angst is about to go by the wayside. The music industry and music retailers have agreed to a new release day that will be the same around the globe. Beginning on July 10, new music everywhere will drop as 12:01 a.m. local time on Friday. Fans all around the world will be able to get the music they crave at approximately the same time as everyone else.

For libraries, the only difference is that new albums can be made available to your patrons on Fridays instead of Tuesdays. The last Tuesday release date for new music will be June 30. The following week , there will be no music releases on Tuesday (July 7). The releases will instead be on Friday (July 10), which will then be the standard.

If you have any questions about New Music Fridays and what they mean for your library, please contact our Customer Service department at 1.800.875.2785 or info@midwesttapes.com. You can also click here for a printable flyer to let your patrons know about the change.