It’s been about six years since my colleague Steven Hyden wrote about how putting out new music on Fridays is a functionally bad idea, and it looks like change may finally be on the horizon. Next Monday, October 28, Tyler The Creator is set to release his eighth (or seventh, depending on what you count) album, Chromakopia. The next day, Earthgang looks to release their fifth album, Perfect Fantasy. It may have taken a bit, but it looks like New Music Tuesday might be back.
Here’s where we remind some of our younger readers that, once upon a time, new albums and singles used to come out on Tuesdays. We didn’t really think enough about it at the time to appreciate it, but it was glorious. You could buy the latest releases after school on Tuesday and spend the rest of the week actually listening to it, determining your weekend playlist between classes and on the way to and from school. You actually had time to share and discuss new music with friends and fellow listeners, to absorb and digest the new tunes throughout the week without distractions from other new media like movies and weekend activities that make it hard to just sit and take it all in.
Now, though, music and movies all come out on the same day. This means making choices. You miss out on something, and with so many new albums all coming out on Friday (Thursday night on the West Coast), there are too many projects clamoring for space on your playlist. By the weekend, well, you have plans. You might get to sit and absorb one or two of the latest releases, but then Monday comes, and it feels like a hard reset. Sure, you can still listen to all the new stuff through the week, but by now, you’ve probably forgotten about them all in the rush, save for the one or two highest profile releases from the biggest artists. Mid-level artists and indies get pushed to the side. It’s a bad scene for almost everybody involved.
Audiomack co-founder Brian Zisook (aka DJ Z) has been making the argument on social media for years that releasing earlier in the week drives more engagement. In August, he wrote, “Spoke with execs from four record labels this week, and none believe releasing new music on Fridays makes sense anymore. They’d gladly switch back to Tuesdays—better for artists, fans, and DSP partners alike.” Since Tyler announced Chromakopia would release on Monday, Zisook has beat the drum more steadily, noting, “Releasing music at midnight on Friday is incompatible with consumer behavior… Releasing earlier in the week, preferably during daytime hours, allows for greater engagement and conversation while people are in the same weekday routine!”
While many indie artists have followed this advice (to their benefit), this is the first time in a long time mainstream artists have moved a heavily anticipated release to earlier in the week. This gives us our first chance to test this oddly counterintuitive logic in the real world — especially since streaming became the de facto default consumption method for new music. Having two artists dropping earlier in the week signifies a shift in thinking. Should they see the kind of results Z and Hyden have been promoting for the past few years, you can bet the industry will take note. The next artist makes a trend; after that, the floodgates will hopefully open, allowing for an industry-wide change that will only benefit artists and their partners.