This didn’t catch me completely by surprise, my GWD co-captain Pablo had mentioned this happening as a possibility back in June or May, he works at Waterloo Records. Tuesday has been the day for years with me yet I can’t remember when I really started paying attention, I’ll go with only in the last ten years when I made a bigger effort to try harder on getting new stuff via Waterloo and the now deceased Cheapo.
The shift is partly stupid and moot. I’ll go with why I think it’s stupid first. Friday isn’t exactly the day most people will rush out to their local record store or big-box store to pick up the new releases of their favorite stuff. New movies hitting theaters and the thrill of the weekend kicking in tend to get all the attention. It’s no surprise that corporations and governments also let out shitty news on this same afternoon. New artists trying to get discovered by accident will suffer. Then comes the moot element. Thanks to digital downloads, streaming (a venue which has yet to generate an actual profit) and a younger generation which believes music (along with other forms of content) is/should be free…new material will just appear! Maybe people will pay more attention by looking over iTunes or AllMusic.com as Friday-morning ritual instead of getting around to it the following week.
Pablo told me the decision was being made by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Phonographic? Vinyl is making a comeback courtesy of Hipsters, why not) to create uniformity. I had read how new-music day varied in the Western countries. Some were Tuesday, some Wednesday, etc. Like the UK and the US/Canada weren’t the same plus Germany was elsewhere (or is it else when?). Of course it’ll have no effect on some of my favorite UK-Anzac acts from releasing the US versions of their stuff a few months later.
I guess I could make a new Friday ritual and regain the use of every other Tuesday night. The parking lot at Waterloo has always been small.