The standard album release day may move from Tuesday to Friday. According to Billboard, the recording industry is working to establish an official worldwide release day, which would be Friday, in an effort to boost sales and subdue piracy. The global street date is expected to go into effect July 2015.
Currently, new music is released on Friday in Australia, Monday in the U.K. and Tuesday in the U.S. This staggered schedule means the music is placed online and can be pirated on Friday, enticing fans to illegally download it because it isn’t available for purchase in their home country yet.
As you’ll see below, some U.S. labels are already experimenting with different street dates. Brad Paisley’s new album will become available on a Monday.
Now for this week…
• • •
Chase Rice’s ”Do It Like This” is the top Country debut track, selling 15K, and coming in at No. 27 Country.
CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night To Rock aired last week, giving a track sales boost to artists who performed on the show. Those who experienced a week-to-week bump and landed in the Top 10 track sales are Luke Bryan, Tim McGraw Ft. Faith Hill, Miranda Lambert with Carrie Underwood, and Lady Antebellum.
Top 5 Country tracks (sales this week)
Jason Aldean, “Burnin’ It Down,” 107K
Florida Georgia Line, “Dirt,” 76K
Kenny Chesney, “American Kids,” 67K
Lady Antebellum, “Bartender,” 59K
Dierks Bentley, “Drunk on a Plane,” 57K
Top 5 Country Albums (sales this week)
Luke Bryan, Crash My Party, 16K
Brantley Gilbert, Just As I Am, 15K
Miranda Lambert, Platinum, 14K
FGL, Here’s To The Good Times, 10K
Eric Church, The Outsiders, 7.4K
(according to Nielsen Soundscan)
A slew of major releases will hit shelves before year’s end, plus a few that are yet-to-be-announced. FGL, Garth Brooks, and Jason Aldean are putting out albums, though no dates have been revealed. And is Taylor Swift sharing details about her next album on her Aug. 18 webstream?
Upcoming releases
Monday, Aug. 25 Brad Paisley
Tues., Sept. 9 Lee Brice
Tues., Sept. 16 Tim McGraw
Tues., Sept. 23 Kenny Chesney
Tues., Sept. 30 Lady A, Blake Shelton
Tues., Oct. 21 Little Big Town
Category: Featured, Sales/Marketing
About the Author
Sarah Skates has worked in the music business for more than a decade and is a longtime contributor to MusicRow.View Author Profile
