Releasing New Music: Working With (Or Around) World Release Day
Benji Rogers, President of Pledge Music, recently gave an interview exploring best practices for indie artists releasing new music on or around the newly mandated World Release Day.
Guest Post by Chris Robley on The DIY Musician
The International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has announced that starting this summer, “new albums and singles will be released at 00:01 local time on Fridays.”
In the US, we’re used to new releases coming out on Tuesdays, but the IFPI is making Friday the international standard for a couple reasons: 1) they hope that releasing new music on payday will equal more music sales, and 2) since everyone is online these days, staggered release dates don’t make a whole lot of sense anymore.
According to Benji Rogers (president of PledgeMusic), in a recent interview he gave on the subject of World Release Day:
… the shift will work well for the major labels that have been lobbying for such a move, since they will continue to receive the lion’s share of attention…
Attention on social media will likely cater to the ones putting significant ad dollars behind it, creating a funnel effect where everyone vies for attention at the same time.
The obvious outcome is that it’s going to unfortunately become too easy for some artists to get lost in the process…
In this way, it’s important for artists to begin to think outside the box when it comes to approaching their releases.
What does Benji mean when he says “outside the box?”
Basically he advises that because all social media, press, and advertising on Thursdays and Fridays will be focused on new releases from major artists and buzz bands, you might want to launch YOUR next single, album, or artist experience at a different time on a different day — preferably a time when your fans are highly engaged online that doesn’t fall on a Thursday or Friday.
“This is an industry-wide decision, but personally I have to question the logic of everyone doing something at the same time,” says Benji. “The Internet just isn’t about that.”
Check out the full interview with Benji Rogers HERE.
When are your fans most active online? What do you think of World Release Day? Let us know in the comments below.
[Photo of record bin by Radu Bercan / Shutterstock.com.]
