When did Tuesday become the official release date?

[tjluke68]

When and why did Tuesday become the official release date for new LPs/CDs? Any information would be helpful - just curious...

[alankin]

When did Tuesday become the official release date for new LPs/CDs?

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It happened on Tuesday.

[GA Russell]

I read somewhere about that, but I can't remember what the answer to the question was.

I do remember that it became important that everyone wait until the same day to start selling an album. Why, I don't remember, but perhaps mail order had something to do with it. I remember that retailers who were near the point of shipping received their stock a few days before those who were far away, and for some reason that made a difference to those who were far away.

Nowadays with Soundscan tracking album sales, the public now knows that albums do not climb the charts as had been fraudulently reported for decades. Instead, they start at the top the first week of their release, and then slide down the chart.

[wesbed]

This is just my opinion: It makes sense to me that Tuesday works well in the world of retail. Monday is slow but is spent recovering from the weekend's sales activity. Tuesday is the first slow day after the weekend. Tuesday gives the retailer a starting point for the rest of the week, to get the new product on the shelves, organized, and priced before the next weekend's sales activity begins on Friday evening.

[JSngry]

On the second day, god created the heavens.

Always the marketing hotshot, that god!

[mjzee]

The official relase date is Tuesday so that all stores will have the product to sell by the weekend (and give them time to display it, promote it, etc).

Most stores receive the product sometime before the prior weekend, but to level the playing field, no store is allowed (by the manufacturer) to sell it before Tuesday. If they disobey, they could have ad dollars taken away from them.

[chandra]

Nowadays with Soundscan tracking album sales, the public now knows that albums do not climb the charts as had been fraudulently reported for decades.  Instead, they start at the top the first week of their release, and then slide down the chart.

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'...as had been fraudulently reported for decades" - What are you referring to? Just curious.

Regarding the album behavior on the charts, the slide down is certainly true for the hot shot debuts but there are many who still climb the charts for whatever reason.

[GA Russell]

Nowadays with Soundscan tracking album sales, the public now knows that albums do not climb the charts as had been fraudulently reported for decades.  Instead, they start at the top the first week of their release, and then slide down the chart.

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'...as had been fraudulently reported for decades" - What are you referring to? Just curious.

Regarding the album behavior on the charts, the slide down is certainly true for the hot shot debuts but there are many who still climb the charts for whatever reason.

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Chandra, I remember reading about the industry's response to Soundscan when it started up. The industry massaged its numbers and its promotions with the Billboard charts to give the impression that a record was growing in popularity. It would climb the charts. The idea was to give the record the aura of a winner. After weeks of climbing the charts, it would peak and then quickly fall down and off the chart.

Soundscan measures the actual sales, so the promotions departments could no longer play their little game. In actuality, most record sales occur when the record is brand new. Most records do not increase in popularity.

I am referring to popular rock and country and R&B albums. The sort of music that makes up the industry as measured by Soundscan. It probably is also true for Wynton Marsalis and Joe Lovano, but jazz sales are so miniscule that if the sales pattern for jazz differed from the norm it wouldn't surprise me.

[Jazzmoose]

Probably off the subject somewhat, but I remember while growing up that Tuesday was always "new comics day" as well. This was back in the sixties well before the current "direct sales" era...

[GA Russell]

Years ago when I worked at Borders, Monday was a slow day, and the record department would spend the day getting ready to put out all the new product first thing Tuesday morning. At the close Monday, everything would be on carts ready to roll out onto the sales floor.

[GregK]

Years ago when I worked at Borders,  Monday was a slow day, and the record department would spend the day getting ready to put out all the new product first thing Tuesday morning.  At the close Monday, everything would be on carts ready to roll out onto the sales floor.

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I wish the Borders close to my workplace was like that. When I go in on a Tuesday on my lunch hour to get something I've been waiting for, I always have to ask someone to find it, which involves people digging through bins and searching carts until they finally locate it. Many of the new releases don't hit the shelves until Wednesday

[A Lark Ascending]

In the UK Monday is the official release date.

[Alexander]

Years ago when I worked at Borders,  Monday was a slow day, and the record department would spend the day getting ready to put out all the new product first thing Tuesday morning.  At the close Monday, everything would be on carts ready to roll out onto the sales floor.

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Same thing at B&N. When I managed the music department, I made sure that all of the new releases were sale stickered and ready to go for Tuesday morning. Brian P., who sometimes posts hereabouts, was the Tuesday opener and he was always sure to get everything shelved and displayed by the time I came in at 11. I often find myself wishing that other record stores were as dependable as we tried to be!

[mjzee]

Chandra, I remember reading about the industry's response to Soundscan when it started up.  The industry massaged its numbers and its promotions with the Billboard charts to give the impression that a record was growing in popularity.  It would climb the charts.  The idea was to give the record the aura of a winner.  After weeks of climbing the charts, it would peak and then quickly fall down and off the chart.

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Before Soundscan, the industry itself didn't have these exact figures. They could ask the store owners how sales were, but they were never connected to the sales registers. The Soundscan results surprised everyone.

[Jazz Kat]

All these hassles. Geesh..