music news Music execs want to go back to Tuesday for new music releases

[Bussea]

tbh i forgot we used to have music drop on a tuesday. it makes sense to have it on a friday tbh

[professor2000]

On 8/10/2024 at 9:57 AM, Wicked said:

People listen to less music on the weekends... He actually laid it out well in an older thread.

 

 

T4P…because so many people think it was all because of Beyonce, it KINDA was partially…but industry had already been thinking about this prior.  Her release was just the final lever to push ppl to make the change.  
 

I was at a label when the change happened + there was a whole cross-label committee and everything…it was a huge effort.  Kinda crazy we could potentially be going back after all that work to change it.  
 

But times have changed A LOT since then, so it kinda makes sense that Friday releases no longer feel relevant.  
 

 

On 8/10/2024 at 10:04 AM, Solaria said:

Doesn't it… make more sense to release music during the week's end when people are from off from work… when they have more time to listen to new releases? 
 

 

The opposite happens…streams go down on weekends, b/c people are out and about.  
 

23 hours ago, Rigalo said:

I'd be fine with it, I'm usually way too busy on the weekends to check out new music. I typically download what I want on Friday and then don't get to listen until Sunday or Monday  

Yep, same here.  And the data shows it's the case for most people.  
 

And SN: as a former label employee.  Working on the weekends sucks for sure.  And there are so many issues that pop up that GP doesn't even know about (DSP delivery issues, physicals being out of stock, having to monitor sales performance on the weekend, etc).  Friday releases actually sucked from that perspective…   
 

 

 

 

Edited August 11 by professor2000

[Contessa]

Change your costume, change it aroooound

[Obsession]

Tbh I don't care, although I like having new music to look forward to at the end of the week

Edited August 11 by Obsession

[Contessa]

Friday release probably also contributed to the "no new mpg" phenomenon that so many ppl complain about because labels probably are only willing to pay for marketing of big/established artists because return on investment is low. Coupled with ppl mostly listening to artists they know, this further widens the gap between established artists and new artists, hence why we haven't seen new mpg since the change to Friday release, really.

 

This exact reason also made tiktok/social media the prominent place of marketing cuz it's cheaper and where new artists blow up due to viral moments or industry push.

[masochizm]

I understand the logic but make marketing campaigns and music more interesting then…

 

If everyone is releasing on a friday then surely momentum should sustain till the next batch of releases the friday after no?

 

I don't know, I work on the publishing side of the industry so I guess i'm not exposed to the in's and out's as much…

Edited August 11 by masochizm

[glitch]

Would that mean the charts would have to change their tracking week too? 

[professor2000]

4 hours ago, masochizm said:

I understand the logic but make marketing campaigns and music more interesting then…

 

If everyone is releasing on a friday then surely momentum should sustain till the next batch of releases the friday after no?

 

I don't know, I work on the publishing side of the industry so I guess i'm not exposed to the in's and out's as much…

Agree — does seem like marketing (and honestly, artists in general) aren't that exciting anymore.  So I think it's a little of both.  
 

But I could see how, for streaming particularly, being able to strike while the iron is hot could result in a bigger first week numbers.  
 

Also prob harder to predict how to reach ppl if they're not in a regular routine (on the weekends).  Like with some online targeting/advertising…it's hard to know when/where to spend money to reach ppl. Whereas during the weekday, we at least know they're working + around what times they're usually on a device/computer, etc.  

 

Probably will be marginally helpful, but it's better than nothing i guess lol.  
 

4 hours ago, glitch said:

Would that mean the charts would have to change their tracking week too? 

yes, it would have to change back 😭 

[QueenBeyoncé]

The same music execs that rob artists from their publishing & masters, bye 

Edited August 12 by QueenBeyoncé

[dumbsparce]

Not the only sorta impact shé has ever had (which was probably pure coincidence all along) being taken away from her. 

[masochizm]

15 hours ago, professor2000 said:

Agree — does seem like marketing (and honestly, artists in general) aren't that exciting anymore.  So I think it's a little of both.  
 

But I could see how, for streaming particularly, being able to strike while the iron is hot could result in a bigger first week numbers.  
 

Also prob harder to predict how to reach ppl if they're not in a regular routine (on the weekends).  Like with some online targeting/advertising…it's hard to know when/where to spend money to reach ppl. Whereas during the weekday, we at least know they're working + around what times they're usually on a device/computer, etc.  

 

Probably will be marginally helpful, but it's better than nothing i guess lol.  
 

yes, it would have to change back 😭 

Yeah I guess its the result of the rise in TikTok and that being the major focus for labels these days. They're limited to what marketing they can actually do on that platform (the dances are SOOO tired now). 
 

Interestingly i've noticed a lot of smaller artists are now releasing whenever and it seems like thats working well for them, so maybe we are seeing a slow shift once and again.

 

I prefer the notion of getting new releases on Friday as it's a marker for the end of the week and feels like a little TGIF treat. But totally get from a business standpoint why it doesn't work so well for frontline functioning labels!

Edited August 12 by masochizm

[BlackJesus]

I don't want to have to wait through a weekend for new music that i could have been listening to all weekend. 

[hallucinate]

no

[Cqmerqn]

This is dumb and makes no sense. If their artists' music was good, it would survive the weekend drop.

 

The big issue is Spotify/AM playlists being so stale. For example, over on TTH, greedy by Tate McRae and One Of The Girls by The Weeknd do NOT need to be there STILL. These playlist spots could be used by newer songs and/or artists.

Edited August 12 by Cqmerqn

[PillowCase]

Friday releases always felt forced.

[toast]

I've enjoyed looking forward to new releases at the end of the work week, but moving back to Tuesday kind of makes sense. Streaming #s are showing more people stream during the week + I'm inclined to believe people do more social media scrolling during the week than over the weekend, so what he's saying makes sense from a marketing perspective.

 

Tuesday over Monday makes sense from the perspective of people who actually work at labels. Releasing on Tuesday means you get all of Monday to address any last-minute issues before things go live.

[Almighty Gaga]

That makes no sense. What's stopping you from marketing a song over the weekend or on the following Monday?

[Brikenbur]

I get it but nah to the ah to the, no, no, noo

 

[family.guy123]

On 8/11/2024 at 8:59 AM, professor2000 said:

T4P…because so many people think it was all because of Beyonce, it KINDA was partially…but industry had already been thinking about this prior.  Her release was just the final lever to push ppl to make the change.  
 

I was at a label when the change happened + there was a whole cross-label committee and everything…it was a huge effort.  Kinda crazy we could potentially be going back after all that work to change it.  
 

But times have changed A LOT since then, so it kinda makes sense that Friday releases no longer feel relevant.  
 

 

The opposite happens…streams go down on weekends, b/c people are out and about.  
 

Yep, same here.  And the data shows it's the case for most people.  
 

And SN: as a former label employee.  Working on the weekends sucks for sure.  And there are so many issues that pop up that GP doesn't even know about (DSP delivery issues, physicals being out of stock, having to monitor sales performance on the weekend, etc).  Friday releases actually sucked from that perspective…   
 

 

 

 

So you're saying that basically Beyoncé showed them the benefits that they needed to see before they pulled the trigger to make the change? And the same conversations are happening now? 
 

So all it would take is for an artist of a similar calibre to release on a Tuesday and prove it to them. So do it. What's stopping an artist like Taylor from releasing on Tuesday? If it was better for her wallet she'd already be doing it …

[family.guy123]

So release a big album on Tuesday and show us all how good it is for us? What's stopping them? 

[Dula Peep]

What would matter to me more is if we could find a cute time that would work globally to drop songs because I'm sick of New Zealand getting everything first…. 

[Xtripped]

The change was made to have a global release day, if some Countries or artist releases whenever they want, there's no point of friday releases. Saturdays and sundays are brutal to new releases and by monday everybody forgot about it.

[MatiRod]

My label has been releasing my stuff on Wednesdays, now I know why But I'm not mad, love you guys if you're reading this lol but yeah I can see this becoming a thing again. I feel like industry people are suspicious of the Friday release day being optimal.

Edited August 13 by MatiRod

[professor2000]

2 hours ago, family.guy123 said:

So you're saying that basically Beyoncé showed them the benefits that they needed to see before they pulled the trigger to make the change? And the same conversations are happening now? 
 

So all it would take is for an artist of a similar calibre to release on a Tuesday and prove it to them. So do it. What's stopping an artist like Taylor from releasing on Tuesday? If it was better for her wallet she'd already be doing it …

There are other artists who drop on days outside of Friday.  So, no one is stopping them technically.
 

But who's going to be brave enough to go against the grain and potentially flop, given they wouldn't have a full tracking week?

 

To my understanding, Beyonce wasn't intentionally trying to show ppl Fridays were better for sales per se…she just simply wanted to drop a visual album. 
 

It seems she didn't want/need physicals, out of fear visuals would leak.  So she didn't need to coordinate with big box retailers (Target, etc)….so she had the freedom to choose whatever day to release.  Tues was the original release day historically, b/c it gave labels enough time to get shipments to stores + stocked on shelves, etc. 

The whole Tues vs. Fri debate wasn't really HER focus from what I heard, but maybe the label had ulterior motives + used her release to prove a point…? Who knows.

Either way, someone needs to be ballsy enough to make the change first…or at least lead the charge in rallying industry people to change it…whether it be an artist, label, etc.  

Edited August 13 by professor2000

[ThePopStop]

I totally agree, and I think it's part of the reason new releases don't carry the hype as much. 
 

We're too distracted on the weekend and by the time Monday rolls around the hype from the release on Friday faded.