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Report: Music Release Dates Moving From Tuesday to Friday

The International Federation of Phonographic Industry introduces new rules.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry is implementing changes for album release dates. Instead of Tuesday, the IFPI will likely move the day to Friday, Music Week reports.

An updated global release day will align the U.S. and U.K. with the likes of Germany and Australia, but the change won’t be without protest. Music Week forcasts that tetailers could pull music from their stores as a result. Target however is not among them.

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The retailer has “no plans to stop selling music” in stores and online, a spokesperson for the company said in a statement to BET.com. “Target completely supports the music industry's efforts to fight piracy and we are aligned on having one global release date. Music has long been an important part of Target’s brand and we have a history of collaborating with world-class musicians across a variety of genres.”

Artists like Nicki Minaj, Eminem and Kanye West have already bypassed the traditional Tuesday drop date in the past.

The change up is expected to help album sales. “The whole dynamic of the global release day consultation has been driven by one thing and one thing only — how best to serve the music consumer," explained IFPI CEO Frances Moore

"We've had a long consultation involving retailers, artists and record labels, and we have looked at a large amount of insight and research. The good news has been the widespread support we've seen around the world for global release day — no one has seriously questioned the concept, the only debate has been about the day. The artist organizations and many retailers and record companies internationally support Friday, and this is backed by consumer research in many countries.”

Moore noted that “there are other voices” opposed to the idea. “It would be very surprising if a project like this, involving over 50 national markets, didn't lead to some objections in some markets,” she said. “However, there is no doubt we have had a long and thorough consultation with the stakeholders involved and we now intend to make an announcement as soon as possible."

Martin Mills, leader of the Beggars Group, which houses several independent labels in Europe, is among those “other voices.”

Mills expressed “concerns” about the swap, citing an exclusion of indie imprints. “I fear this move will also lead to a market in which the mainstream dominates, and the niche, which can be tomorrow’s mainstream, is further marginalized,” Mills said during a speech at the Entertainment Retailers Association conference in London, Tuesday (Feb. 24). “I fear it will further cement the dominance of the few — and that that is exactly what it is intended to do.”

It’s unclear when the IFPI will make an official announcement. 

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(Photo: Elena Elisseeva / Getty Images)

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