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Should release dates for singles & albums be abolished?


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Old 30-10-2007, 10:49
2Legit2Quit
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I was thinking about this the other day, the charts are pretty meaningless these days especially the singles chart. The kind of people who download albums & singles want the music instantly so why do we still have the old-fashioned method of letting radio and TV play the song for around 3 weeks before us (the paying public) are allowed to buy it? Wouldn't it be a better idea that once the song is given to the media they allow people to download it straight away?

If you know where to look you can easily download for free tracks which aren't even officially released yet, yes the quality will be a bit crap as they're probably ripped from the radio but if you're not a die-hard fan of the artist you probably don't care.

So what are your opinions, are release dates old-fashioned and should the music be available to buy a lot sooner?
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Old 30-10-2007, 12:12
|Stefan
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I definitley think singles should be allowed to be downloaded a lot sooner, it seems stupid waiting for ages whilst the singles' steam runs out and people who would originaly have bought it wont by the time its released.
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Old 30-10-2007, 15:42
Scots_Dragon
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So would this be sooner dates for everyone or just a select few people? This thread seems a bit pointless to be honest. How are fans to know when a new album is being released without release dates, not everyone is connected to the Net so there goes a few hundred thousand sales right away.

You only have to look at the fiasco Argos made of the Halo 3 release to see that they are needed in some respect for the retailers benefit as well.
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Old 30-10-2007, 16:02
2Legit2Quit
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So would this be sooner dates for everyone or just a select few people?
Everyone obviously.

This thread seems a bit pointless to be honest.
Don't read it then!

How are fans to know when a new album is being released without release dates, not everyone is connected to the Net so there goes a few hundred thousand sales right away.
How would they download a track if they're not on the net???
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Old 30-10-2007, 17:59
oysterfrond
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The problem is that the industry's chasing its own tail here. The content providers are being led by the technology. As soon as something's finished and ready and goes beyond the four walls of the recording studio it's got potential to go half way round the world before anyone's even started to think about release dates. I'm not sure about actively abolishing release dates: as Scots Dragon points out when it comes to physical formats there's surely got to be a level playing field to be fair to retailers. It's a kick in the teeth for a retailer when you find out that some competitor down the road is breaking the rules and selling something too early; but in fairness that only seems to happen with console games these days. In the interests of retail sales and the idea of creating an 'event' I think the release date still matters, but where music is concerned I admit it's becoming a rather meaningless concept, especially the further away from the mainstream you get. It's ready when it's ready. For the big four though its principle function is surely synergised marketing and that must still be a big deal: you don't want the new single leaked until the video is ready and various TV and magazine deals are inked, etc.
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Old 30-10-2007, 18:00
oysterfrond
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The problem is that the industry's chasing its own tail here. The content providers are being led by the technology. As soon as something's finished and ready and goes beyond the four walls of the recording studio it's got potential to go half way round the world before anyone's even started to think about release dates. I'm not sure about actively abolishing release dates: as Scots Dragon points out when it comes to physical formats there's surely got to be a level playing field to be fair to retailers. It's a kick in the teeth for a retailer when you find out that some competitor down the road is breaking the rules and selling something too early; but in fairness that only seems to happen with console games these days.

In the interests of retail sales and the idea of creating an 'event' I think the release date still matters, but where music is concerned I admit it's becoming a rather meaningless concept, especially the further away from the mainstream you get. It's ready when it's ready. For the big four though its principle function is surely synergised marketing and that must still be a big deal: you don't want the new single leaked until the video is ready and various TV and magazine deals are inked, etc.
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Old 30-10-2007, 18:05
oysterfrond
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Apologies for duplicate post. The forum software's being a prig & won't let me edit.
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Old 30-10-2007, 18:21
AcerBen
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They've already started bringing release dates forward - the industry is slowly cottoning on to the fact people do not want to wait.
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Old 30-10-2007, 18:36
2Legit2Quit
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you don't want the new single leaked until the video is ready and various TV and magazine deals are inked, etc.
Yeah I'm not saying release the song on iTunes the day after it's finished but I can't see why a song isn't available for download as soon as it's given to the radio stations?

The whole concept of having the song played on the radio for a couple of weeks, then the video appearing soon after and then having the track available for download about 4 weeks later is so that everybody buys the song on the first week of release and so it gets a good chart position.

In this fast moving world we live in if somebody hears a song on the radio today they may want to download it today and not in 4 weeks time when it's legally available for download.
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