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Come 10 July The Whole World Will Get Its New Music Delivered On The Same Day

Staff Writer

TGIF!

In a music industry reform that first got raised in April last year, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has finally announced the long anticipated implementation date of a globally aligned release day for new music.

Agreeing that Friday should be the universal release day earlier this year, from 10 July, more than 45 countries will all have tracks and albums released at 12.01am on Fridays local time. 

The change, touted as "New Music Fridays", comes as an effort to allow music fans worldwide to access music on the same day without having to wait for their own national release date, and to deter fans illegally downloading music simply because the said track or album is not yet available in their country, but available in others. 

One must note that the change doesn't now mean that the world will get their new music at the same time — though they'll all be getting their music just after midnight on Fridays, the time differences around the world will obviously mean that Australia and New Zealand's midnight comes earlier than those countries behind us, just like at New Years. 

Regardless, the huge change to the music industry serves to lessen the waiting time for fans in other countries when it comes to new music — though Australia has enjoyed a Friday release day for nine years now, countries like France and the UK have been delivered new music on Mondays, while the US and Canada have had to wait until Tuesdays for their music fix.

According to the IFPI, a globally aligned release date is "an opportunity for artists and labels to maximise awareness of newly-released music" and will "create more excitement and a sense of occasion around the release of new albums and singles".

Australian Music Retailers Association (AMRA) executive director Ian Harvey, says, "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?"

ARIA's chief executive officer, Dan Rosen, also offered, "Artists today communicate with their fans on a global basis so it only makes sense that music fans around the world have the opportunity to enjoy and purchase new music at the same time."