Major record labels in “sensible move” shocker

Sensible doesn’t mean timely – this should have happened about ten years ago – but at long last two major record labels have wised up: they’ll no longer release records to radio months and months and months before anyone can buy them.

David Joseph, the chief executive of Universal Music, said: “Wait is not a word in the vocabulary of the current generation. It’s out of date to think that you can build up demand for a song by playing it for several weeks on radio in advance.”

Better late than never, eh?


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0 responses to “Major record labels in “sensible move” shocker”

  1. Used to work for a band that did a release on Universal Music. We did the PR circuit in January for the album release and tour in April. With predictable results.

  2. Gary

    Heh. What I don’t get about this is that it’s gone on for so long: surely everybody knew that such a gap was silly, and that throwing everything into week-one sales was dumb?

  3. The really ridiculous thing was that by the time they did the UK release, the album had been out in the US for almost a year. UME refused to acknowledge any fan communities that they did not themselves create, therefore seeing no MP3 swaps, hearing no MP3 swaps, speaking no MP3 swaps.

  4. I think I can see why it took them so long.

    But the success of selling the winner’s single immediately after the X Factor final has made record bosses think again.

    Ten years of file-sharing didn’t make them twig, but the bloody X Factor did. They’re incapable of processing information from outside their industry bubble.

  5. Gary

    I think you’re right. A definite herd mentality.

  6. Gary

    That’s insane.

  7. I remember liaising with a PR girl at UME about the band’s promotion and her exact words were – “Please do not send ANY fans to me, UGH.” Who does she think pays for her cocaine?