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Global Release Day (alternatively known as New Music Fridays) internationally sets a day of the week for releasing new music singles and albums. The new global release day went into effect on 10 July 2015 in more than 45 major recorded music markets worldwide, with new music being released on Friday as part of "New Music Fridays".
The need to set a universal release date mainly stemmed from issues with music piracy, with the change from Tuesday to Friday releases arising as a result of a trend of Friday releases that started with Beyoncé's 2013 surprise drop self-titled album.[1]
The official announcement was made on 11 June 2015 by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents the worldwide recording industry.[2] The move means that new music will be available on the same day worldwide rather than on varying national release days, being Mondays for releases in France and the United Kingdom, Tuesdays in United States and Canada and Fridays, for example in Germany and Australia.
Music releases are now uniformly available around the world on Fridays at 00:01 local time in all 45 signatory countries. Of these, 11 countries already had their release music on Fridays, while the remaining markets had to switch their day of release when the new albums and singles would become available. This move effectively ends the earlier phenomenon where new music was unavailable in one country when it was legally available elsewhere.[3]
However, in some markets, in particular, Asia, music intended for local markets will continue to be released on other days. For example, domestic artists in Japan will continue to release new music on Wednesdays, two days earlier than music from international markets.[2]
The move has changed earlier traditional days where charts were being published as the official country charts try to adapt to the new "global day" for releases such that they capture a full week's sales and streaming from Friday mornings to Thursday nights. The UK Top 100, for example, published by The Official Charts moved from being published on a Sunday to a Friday with the BBC moving its new Top 40 charts program from Sundays at 4 p.m. local time to Fridays at 4 p.m. local time.
Many publications have argued that 24 September 1991 was the greatest day for album releases of all time.[4][5][6][7] The date saw the releases of albums such as Nevermind by Nirvana, Blood Sugar Sex Magik by Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Low End Theory by A Tribe Called Quest, and Trompe le Monde by the Pixies. In addition, Badmotorfinger by Soundgarden was originally scheduled to come out on the date but got delayed to 8 October, and Screamadelica by Primal Scream came out the same week as 24 September.[4]
Similarly, many publications have argued that 29 September 1998 was the best ever day for hip hop album releases.[8][9][10] On this day, Jay-Z's Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life, Black Star's Mos Def & Talib Kweli Are Black Star, Outkast's Aquemini, A Tribe Called Quest's The Love Movement, and Brand Nubian's Foundation all released simultaneously.[10]
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