‘New Music Fridays’ Campaign of Same-Day Global Music Releases Kicks Off This Week

“New Music Fridays” is the promotional name of a global campaign to release new music content to consumers on the same day throughout the world, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which is coordinating the campaign, in a Thursday announcement. The campaign was to kick off Friday and features new music released weekly in about 45 countries at 12:01 a.m. local time each Friday, IFPI said. “Until now, tracks and albums have been released on different days of the week in different countries -- from Mondays in markets such as France and the U.K., through Tuesdays in the US and Canada and to Fridays in markets such as Australia and Germany,” IFPI said. “The change means that fans can now get new music on the same day worldwide rather than having to wait for their own national release day. It replaces the patchwork of national release days, which meant fans were frustrated and unable to access music in their own country when it was legally available elsewhere.”