New album releases may move to Fridays in global shift, reports suggest

The day you get to snap up new albums may be changing, according to Billboard.

Reports suggest that the music industry is considering adopting a global street date, that would see all countries release new records on a Friday. It suggests this would start a year from now, in July 2015.

The move would be driven by piracy issues. New albums are released on a Friday in Australia already, meaning when a record is out there it will quickly start to appear online. The UK then follows on a Monday before the US can purchase legally on Tuesday.

Billboard states that digital music providers are supportive of the worldwide move, but physical sellers and indie labels may be less eager, stating that early in the week street dates help sell more CDs.

“This global streetdate is necessary for the industry but unfortunately it will be awkward for the physical retailers to change their ways of doing business,” a label executive is quoted as saying.

You can read the full report on Billboard’s website here.

(Photo: Paul Hudson)