Posted August 23, 201014 yr Will iTunes pour cold water on pre-releases? 09:34 | Monday August 23, 2010 Source: MW By Ben Cardew iTunes.co.uk is understood to be offering increased support for tracks that go on sale at the same time as they are released to radio, in a move that could significantly impact record companies’ release plans. While most tracks in the UK are typically released to radio some six weeks before they go on sale in a bid to create pre-release excitement and maximise initial chart positions, there have been calls from some quarters of the industry – notably the MMF – for the two dates to coincide. MMF CEO Jon Webster believes that the long lead times between a record being played on the radio and its availability in stores creates fertile ground for pirates, with many genuine fans having no alternative but to illegally download a new track they have heard on the radio. Apple says there is no new editorial policy on iTunes and that all singles are considered for editorial coverage, which can include the free single of the week download, the free discovery download and the weekly new music email blast. However, several industry sources tell Music Week that iTunes.co.uk is pushing for radio and release dates to coincide and, while it will continue to stock the same range of tracks, the store is increasingly supporting songs which go on sale at the same time as they are added to radio playlists. “iTunes are just joining in and say it is a bit crazy to keep generating demand and not selling things to people,” says Webster. Already, record companies and managers are considering how to deal with such a possible move at iTunes, weighing up the considerable benefit of support from iTunes versus the importance of building up a head of steam behind a track before it goes on sale.
August 23, 201014 yr There's two sides to this, the one that says that of course people should be able to legally download a song as soon as they hear it. The counter argument is that this system is installed in the US and it creates a dull, static chart where some genres that in the UK get short runs in the charts atm never get in, and the gulf between the singles and album charts is enormous. For instance, a rock band with a huge fanbase in the US would consider it a success to go top 10 with the first release off an album and any future singles to reach the top 100. With the chart as it is in the UK, this is retty much a bare minimum requirement - there would be a lot of eyebrows raised if Kings of Leon, The Killers or Coldplay missed the top 10 with their next lead single. The UK charts have more variety due to the fact they move a lot faster so it gives a lot more songs opportunity to get in the higher reaches. A band with a stature like One Night Only or The Courteeners would never get a top 40 single in the US, they'd be lucky to go top 100 and would most likely stay marooned on the rock/alternative airplay charts.
August 23, 201014 yr Clearly it is a good idea every other country in the world has songs released to iTunes straight away why should we be any different. The record companies in the UK have no leg to stand on when it comes to bitching about illegal downloading. Take California Gurls for example this was available months before in every country apart from the UK so yeh I'm going to illegally download it. If it was available straight away I would have bought it. This method would also prevent $h!t like JLS getting to number 1 on massive front loaded sales. The US chart is only boring and static as they include airplay their iTunes chart is more exciting than ours.
August 23, 201014 yr Sometimes I think it would be a smart move to do this - and it would probably make it more true to what is the current popular track. But I don't like how they've worded the article. Like with many genuine fans having no alternative but to illegally download a new track they have heard on the radio No alternative? You can wait for the actual release you know - you're not obliged to illegally download it - it's like they're saying it's ok to illegally download
August 23, 201014 yr Sometimes I think it would be a smart move to do this - and it would probably make it more true to what is the current popular track. But I don't like how they've worded the article. Like No alternative? You can wait for the actual release you know - you're not obliged to illegally download it - it's like they're saying it's ok to illegally download There isn't an alternative. If someone wants to listen to the song on their ipod or in their car them they have to illegally download it. In my opinion I'm not going to wait 6 weeks to get a track on my ipod just for the fact I am illegally downloading it.
August 23, 201014 yr The alternative is to wait. But you only have to wait for lead tracks on an album - any songs released after the album is out - you can get straight away anyway. In my opinion there is no excuse to illegally download - if you have to wait a few weeks, then you should wait. What the article has done is say that it's ok to illegally download - the point of illegal means it's against the law. I am in favour of this though because it would give a truer reading on what is popular at that current time - however I do agree that it could make the charts stagnatic
August 23, 201014 yr The alternative is to wait. But you only have to wait for lead tracks on an album - any songs released after the album is out - you can get straight away anyway. In my opinion there is no excuse to illegally download - if you have to wait a few weeks, then you should wait. What the article has done is say that it's ok to illegally download - the point of illegal means it's against the law. I am in favour of this though because it would give a truer reading on what is popular at that current time - however I do agree that it could make the charts stagnatic I buy all albums and cd singles of artists that I am fans on. There is no chance I am waiting 6 weeks to download a song, I will continue to download illegally and unless record companies decide to release the songs sooner like they do in the US then that is their own stupidity. Everyone on here illegally downloads and there is no point in trying to pretend that 80% of the country doesn't.
August 23, 201014 yr It is annoying that the UK gets a lot of songs so late. Like other countries have had Dynamite for absolutely ages, and it did really annoy me when I saw songs like We No Speak Americano, All Time Low and Billionaire get into the top 40 on iTunes through compilation downloads, illegal versions, etc, and it was sort of like "If they're this popular, why are they still now out yet?" Teenage Dream, for example, should really be on UK iTunes now. On the other hand, it is true that it would lead to a much more static chart, and there'd be even more mainstream (urban) music in our top 40.
August 23, 201014 yr I buy all albums and cd singles of artists that I am fans on. There is no chance I am waiting 6 weeks to download a song, I will continue to download illegally and unless record companies decide to release the songs sooner like they do in the US then that is their own stupidity. Everyone on here illegally downloads and there is no point in trying to pretend that 80% of the country doesn't. I know the majority of people on here illegally download - but that doesn't make it right - and it's at your own detriment. If you want to risk having a law suit against you thats your call
August 23, 201014 yr I know the majority of people on here illegally download - but that doesn't make it right - and it's at your own detriment. If you want to risk having a law suit against you thats your call I think the sites that let you illegally download should be more worried about lawsuits than me :P
August 23, 201014 yr This probably explains why iTunes are so slow to remove illegal releases, like the Taio & Travie tracks from that compilation the other day.
August 23, 201014 yr Will iTunes pour cold water on pre-releases? 09:34 | Monday August 23, 2010 Source: MW By Ben Cardew iTunes.co.uk is understood to be offering increased support for tracks that go on sale at the same time as they are released to radio, in a move that could significantly impact record companies’ release plans. While most tracks in the UK are typically released to radio some six weeks before they go on sale in a bid to create pre-release excitement and maximise initial chart positions, there have been calls from some quarters of the industry – notably the MMF – for the two dates to coincide. MMF CEO Jon Webster believes that the long lead times between a record being played on the radio and its availability in stores creates fertile ground for pirates, with many genuine fans having no alternative but to illegally download a new track they have heard on the radio. Apple says there is no new editorial policy on iTunes and that all singles are considered for editorial coverage, which can include the free single of the week download, the free discovery download and the weekly new music email blast. However, several industry sources tell Music Week that iTunes.co.uk is pushing for radio and release dates to coincide and, while it will continue to stock the same range of tracks, the store is increasingly supporting songs which go on sale at the same time as they are added to radio playlists. If iTunes really wants to put the $h!t up the record companies, they should tell them they will switch their support to the opportiunistic rip-off covers, if the genuine song is held back... :w00t:
August 23, 201014 yr Author It will certainly stop the frontloaded sales for a Tuesday, the chart will slow down even more I think, with singles staying a long longer in the chart, also iTunes do have the largest share maket over other download sites. I'm just worried there will be a weekly turnover at #1 and it be a regular occurence. I do like tracks that stick around much longer, still waiting for a 4 weeker since last March (2009). I can't see any act breaking 3 weeks in the near future it seems a struggle, unless something big comes out, like a Charity track, saying that the Haiti single was a disaster. I love to see an act with 7 weeks at #1 for a change, but in this climate the singles are in, it will never happen. Unless a miracle happens.
August 23, 201014 yr Ah for the days when we had no alternative but to patiently wait until the CD was actually in the shop! I bet record companies are kinda wishing the download had never happened.
August 23, 201014 yr Ah for the days when we had no alternative but to patiently wait until the CD was actually in the shop! I bet record companies are kinda wishing the download had never happened. Thats what I mean. Maybe I hold onto that notion cos thats what it was like when i was a kid - groups like Steps, Spice Girls, B*Witched etc i would first know about their new tracks when they debuted the video on The Box and I used to love watching their numbers coming up on the screen where people had voted for it. Then I would find out the release dates from magazines such as Smash Hits and Top of the Pops Magazine, and then watch them perform on Live and Kicking, CD:UK, SM:TV etc - there would be a few weeks wait. Then Monday morning, they would be on GM:TV, I'd watch that go to school and as soon as school was finished I would rush to ASDA to by the single on the way home. Maybe it's because I'm reminising, but it felt more like an event, something to get excited over - and as the promo uped a level each week it would get more exciting. There's something about being able to just download a track without a build-up that seems so deflating. The excitement can't build up the way that having to wait a few weeks for the cd to be in stores, so you can rush down on release, buy it, rush home and put the cd in the stereo. Adding to this why the hell isn't Top of the Pops back on TV? In a world now where people download tracks as soon as they've heard them on a TV programme, you would have thought record companies themselves would fund TOTP to be back on Edited August 23, 201014 yr by Knightr634
August 23, 201014 yr It will certainly stop the frontloaded sales for a Tuesday, the chart will slow down even more I think, with singles staying a long longer in the chart, also iTunes do have the largest share maket over other download sites. I'm just worried there will be a weekly turnover at #1 and it be a regular occurence. I do like tracks that stick around much longer, still waiting for a 4 weeker since last March (2009). I can't see any act breaking 3 weeks in the near future it seems a struggle, unless something big comes out, like a Charity track, saying that the Haiti single was a disaster. I love to see an act with 7 weeks at #1 for a change, but in this climate the singles are in, it will never happen. Unless a miracle happens. You're never again going to be able to get long-running #1s AND an exciting chart, as we've seen with the sharp contrast between 2007/8 (average songs hanging around forever) and now (lots of one week #1s, only the most popular stick around). For me I'd rather have the latter, it can be said it devalues the #1 slightly but it stops songs that are marginally popular stalling in the teens then hanging around forever. Songs like "Hey, Soul Sister" are a rarity, ones that have outlasted #1s because they've been far more popular than the low peak suggests. The last couple of years of the last century and the first couple of years of this were really interesting charts-wise, I'm happy we're returning to that.
August 23, 201014 yr I think everyone misses the rushing out to buy a single on a Monday that used to do this. However, times have changed and the UK market is so far behind the rest of the world. When a song premiers at radio in the US it is immediately available on iTunes why can't we have that here. Many artists like Katy Perry also release several singles to iTunes to promote the album before release to build excitement. It would also help record companies get their ass in gear with regards to releasing videos sooner. It would also help overall sales. Therefore, I don't see why anyone would be against this you can get the track sooner and on better quality why the feck would you want to wait an extra 6 weeks just because a songs chart run would be weird.
August 23, 201014 yr Adding to this why the hell isn't Top of the Pops back on TV? In a world now where people download tracks as soon as they've heard them on a TV programme, you would have thought record companies themselves would fund TOTP to be back on Simple - nobody watches it anymore. In it's golden years people of all ages would watch TOTP, because the charts were representative of so many tastes and genres, but now they're dominated primarily by R&B and rap, whose primary buyers are young teens. There isn't a big enough audience to warrant it going back on TV, because the charts simply aren't as varied anymore.
August 23, 201014 yr I agree with this! Why should we have to wait a month a half to be able to buy a song? 'Dynamite' has been on US iTunes since his album release, why should his HOME COUNTRY have to wait another 3 months to get it?! Second singles who coincide with album release (Love The Way You Lie) proves that this works perfectly well! That song took off on it's own and had minimal airplay and has managed to stay in the Top 3 of iTunes forever. And I love the album-build-ups they do in the US. However in the UK it would probably mean a big act (like Eminem, JLS, BEP etc) would be hitting the Top 3 each week with a different track. RACKING up hits before the albums even out! It's such a clever marketing technique. I think the UK needs to step up and understand 'official' release dates for singles are utterly pointless and just harm the singles overall sales. Imagine all the sales Dynamite has lost thanks to its late release (not that it seems to have mattered).
August 23, 201014 yr Second singles who coincide with album release (Love The Way You Lie) proves that this works perfectly well! That song took off on it's own and had minimal airplay and has managed to stay in the Top 3 of iTunes forever. This is such an exception though, it's two massive artists where the hype behind the track was nothing to do with the song itself. The first couple of weeks of its run it was selling on name alone, then since then it's been on merit and, for the last couple of weeks, on the video as well. 99% of songs won't build and hold up like LTWYL, they'll just make the charts duller and duller. I think the UK needs to step up and understand 'official' release dates for singles are utterly pointless and just harm the singles overall sales. Imagine all the sales Dynamite has lost thanks to its late release (not that it seems to have mattered). Not that many? As proved by the fact that it's looking to shift well over 100k this week. If it wants to sell on merit it'll hold up just fine, as "California Gurls" and "Pass Out" have done. I find it odd how peoples' main argument against held back releases is that they can't access the track straight after they heard it. Utter crap, if you're that desparate I don't think Taio Cruz will care if you downloaded "Dynamite" illegally weeks ago, he's still making a fortune off it and getting his #1.
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