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You may be used to picking up (or downloading) new albums on Tuesdays, but thanks to a pending agreement between major labels, that could change in the next year. In conjunction with the RIAA and IFPI, labels are currently hammering out an agreement that would establish Friday as a global, industry standard release date.
The effort is the latest in a long string of attempts to combat piracy, with the rationale being that cutting down on lag time in between releases would also cut down on piracy (ex: most albums release on Monday in the U.K., prompting some impatient U.S. fans to seek illegal downloads).
The new release protocol would not be without its issues, however. “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,” one label executive told Billboard. “Now, they could have two-thirds of their sales in one day.”
Billboard reports that the move was partially inspired by Beyoncé, whose surprise, self-titled album sent a shockwave through the industry in late 2013. Thanks to releasing worldwide on one day, BEYONCÉ was more immune to piracy than albums that released on different days in different territories.
If the measure becomes a reality, the new street date would go into effect in July 2015.
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