New Music Release Day Change from Monday To Friday

So, now that I spend so much time following bands around, I try to keep more up to date with music industry news. I kind of fell out of the loop after I finished working on the radio, and have been playing catch-up ever since.

So when I heard rumblings on social media sites that the hashtag #newmusicmonday wasn't going to be as relevant anymore, I was quick to do my research. It turns out, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) have implemented a blanket global music release day, to combat piracy, increase record sales and help artists with their social media campaigns. That day is now Friday - it was previously Monday in the UK.

Some of the major radio stations have used #newmusicmonday as show fodder for years, it's one of the most popular hashtags on twitter.

I'm so interested from a social media position to see what effect this has on the online campaigns of some of the bands I like to follow. It won't change much for The Turner Brothers, until it comes time to release a new song. Although I am going to have to change the hashtags we use, #newmusicfriday doesn't have the same ring to it, it will be interesting to see what emerges.

In case you are interested, the official reasons for the change are:

• Reducing music piracy by implementing release in different countries on the same day (highly controversial as a reason for the change in most of the things I have read. I would imagine that allowing bands to release their product when they wanted would be a better way to reduce the time their music is sitting around waiting to be released)
• Allowing more cohesive social media campaigns relating to album and single release as the release day for each country will be the same. 
• People are more likely to buy music on their pay day or over a weekend when they have more free time.

The decision is a culmination of 8 months of research and discussion. I have no idea what impact it will have on record industry sales. I'd love to hear from my social media friends who do projects related to the music industry whether they feel it is a positive change or not :)

On a slightly related note, The Turner Brothers are about to launch a competition to win tickets to see them at an exciting upcoming festival - I can't wait to see what response we get - this is the first time I have been involved in something this big - please follow @turnerbrosmusic on twitter, like them on Facebook or spy on the band through Instagram,