STREET DATE CONTROVERSY:
THEY DON’T LIKE FRIDAYS

The IFPI’s recent proposal that the music business adopt a worldwide Friday street date is drawing vehement opposition on both sides of the Atlantic. Opponents of the move from Monday (internationally) and Tuesday (North America) to Friday (recently adopted by Germany and Australia) assert that it would result in a significant fall-off in CD sales and hasten the demise of physical product.

According to critics, the switch to Friday would require the mass merchants to hire additional personnel to work specifically on music product over the weekends (the release date for video and books is Tuesday), resulting in increased overhead, while the back offices of both retailers and distributors would have to stay open on the weekends in order to make and process orders, respectively. More critically, opponents claim, stock problems that occur on the weekend couldn’t be remedied until sometime the following week, meaning a loss of sales, particularly affecting fast-selling and over-performing releases.

The underlying questions: Where is the pressure for this change coming from, and will the Friday street date be adopted despite these widespread protests?