How “New Music Friday” Fails to Benefit Consumers and Independent Record Stores
The new worldwide release date is really just the latest salvo in the fight against piracy
July 10th marked the first day of “New Music Friday” (NMF). For the past 25 years in the United States, new music releases came out every Tuesday. However, albums were released on Mondays in the U.K and Canada, and Fridays in Australia and Germany. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), a trade group representing record companies worldwide, sought to change this and created a unified release day. The IFPI argued that an aligned worldwide release day would benefit consumers. After consultation with various stakeholders, the IFPI determined Friday would be the worldwide standard for new music releases.
It is important first to consider just who comprises the IFPI. The IFPI represents 1,300 record companies worldwide but its members are hardly a diverse group. Their website lists only five members in the United States with three of the five being major labels: Sony, Universal and Warner. Hardly a cross-section of American labels. Canada, in fact, has only Sony, Universal, and Warner as members! IFPI does not represent the interest of United States labels nor consumers. Although the CEO of U.S. based Newbury Comics is quoted in favor of NMF, the support from “industry leaders” cited by IFPI skews heavily towards the major labels and groups. Public support from independent record labels or stores is hard to find.
While NMF might help alleviate logistical issues, consumers are not the primary reason for the shift to a worldwide standard. Adrian Strain, head of communications for the IFPI, argued consumers were at a disadvantage because someone in the U.K. could buy a release on a Monday, several days before a consumer could do the same on a Friday. In other words, the music buying consumer in Australia would be jealous of those who could buy an album earlier in the U.K. Strain argued this jealousy would lead to a friend in the U.K uploading the album so their friend in Australia could listen to the album before it came out at the end of the week. The IFPI’s true motive behind NMF is therefore revealed: NMF is not to benefit consumers but to prevent piracy.
Steering away from the argument surrounding the efficacy and effects of piracy (e.g., whether people discover new music via piracy and then in turn buy new music), the IFPI’s strategy to combat piracy lacks merit. New music “leaks” onto the internet before the street date anyway. If a new album is not available until a Monday, the album will have been available for at least a week on various BitTorrent websites, such as the well-known and visited public BitTorrent website The Pirate Bay. Someone waiting until Friday to buy an album will not have to wait until their friend on Monday buys an album and uploads it because the album will have already been available. NMF will not give people any less reason to download an album illegally. Rather, those accustomed to buying the album on Tuesday will be less likely to wait until Friday and will pirate it beforehand.
Albums are also available prior to release date through legal means such as NPR’s First Listen program. NPR streams select upcoming albums in their entirety. The albums are not just obscure indie bands, either. Currently, one can listen to country star Alan Jackson’s new album Angels & Alcohol or indie-electronica outfit Ratatat’s Magnifique. Previously, music legend and Pono pusher Neil Young had his then-forthcoming album available for full streaming ahead of release. The selection is diverse and piracy is not the only means for people to “try before you buy.”
Do music sales really suffer from splintered worldwide release dates? Music sales are down across the board and while some of the downturn could be attributed to illegal downloading, the simple fact is that music is consumed in a far different manner than it was even 10 years ago. More and more people, especially those of a younger age, resort to streaming music no matter when an album is released. Germany’s music industry in the first half of 2015 is actually up 4.4% with most of that increase attributable to streaming services. The Germans must be immune from the “consumer jealousy” that afflicts other countries. Notably, vinyl record sales are up 33% in Germany and the U.S. has seen a similar vinyl resurgence. If you give consumers the quality vinyl releases that they want (coupled with a download coupon) they might tolerate waiting a few extra days to buy the record.
Consumers will see little to no benefit to NMF at the expense of independent record stores. First, mid-week sales are lower than the weekend. Before, a new album on Tuesday would help bring people in to buy music when Tuesday would otherwise be a slow day. In general, slow mid-week sales make sense when you consider that the majority of the workforce is busy during the day and have other responsibilities after work. It is hard to find time during the week to go out shopping or otherwise take time away from home. I will note though that Fridays are typically payday for most people, so perhaps they will be more inclined to go out and buy records when they feel flush with cash. The co-founder of Amoeba Music, which is arguably the largest independent record store in the world, knows first hand that Tuesday normally would not be a busy day if it were not for new music sales.
Record stores will have a harder time promoting and attracting people for in-store performances as the stores struggle to compete with other entertainment options on Friday. In-store performances by bands or musicians promoting their new album on release day are a mutually beneficial arrangement with the record store as a live performance will lead more people to the store who will in turn by the new album. Tuesdays were a great day for in-store performances because Tuesday event options are usually limited. This created an incentive for people to visit record stores for the sole fact that something is going happening on a Tuesday. Having in-store performances on a Friday will be more difficult. To start off one’s weekend people are doing a myriad of other things rather than going to the record store — such as going to a movie, heading to a bar, seeing a concert at a larger venue, or dining out. For most, record shopping just does not come to mind when thinking about how to have fun on a Friday night. On a Friday that same dearth of activity that exists on a Tuesday is not present. If people are going to the record store during the weekend, they will typically go on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon before the nightlife picks up. Friday will have minimal impact on bringing people to the store.
In turn, the organizers behind Record Store Day, which helped bring record stores back into the public consciousness, plan to create Vinyl Tuesday. As the organizers stated:
Vinyl Tuesday is a way … to encourage artists, labels, distributors and managers to continue to release physical music on Tuesdays when they can. This allows physical retailers to have something fresh to sell and to talk about during the week, and lets those releases not just get lost on the increasingly crowded Friday/weekend.
Vinyl Tuesday is a creative way to draw warm bodies back in the record store during the week as it gives fans a reason to shop earlier. Record Stores will have to continue to develop creative ways to engage music buyers throughout the week instead of relying on the weekend crowd.
For more than 25 years, new records were released on the United States on Tuesdays. I’m not suggesting that Tuesday should remain the standard for the sake of tradition. Rather, I think it’s important to peel back the layer of IFPI’s public relations spin and analyze who really stands to benefit. It will not be consumers and it will not be independent record stores. This is all moot, however, as the change has been made and I’m too late; the industry has adjusted accordingly. My music buying habits will not change, so instead of Tuesday, I’ll just see you at the record store on Friday…right?
What do you think? Please log in and respond below.
