EUROPEAN VS. U.S. RECORD RELEASE DATES; WHAT’S THE POINT?

We get a lot of press releases from record labels here at the MetalSucks Mansion that announce release dates of bands’ new records. Oftentimes the U.S. and Europe (or other territories) have different release dates, sometimes several weeks or even months apart. In today’s modern world this makes absolutely no fucking sense.

I understand why record labels have traditionally set different release dates for different territories; if a label has an office in Europe, presumably that office’s staff is a lot better equipped and has the right relationships to better market a release in that territory. Makes total sense — if your marketing efforts hinge around old-world media like print, radio, and MTV. But the Internet is global; an email newsletter, e-card, or MySpace page can reach everyone across the entire planet, no matter how remote their location. And the Internet is increasingly the most important part of all music marketing campaigns, especially in the marginalized world of metal where radio and MTV are pretty much irrelevant.

With physical retail taking a back seat to digital — not that physical retail was ever really that important for metal releases — releasing albums by territory is even more of a moot point. Why divide your marketing assets across different arms of your company and to the detriment of the artist if you can reach everyone all at once?

It makes absolutely no fucking sense to pretend that someone in the U.S. isn’t going to pay attention when an album they’re eagerly anticipating is released in Germany a month ahead of the U.S. A determined, web-savvy music fan will find music the moment it’s available for purchase, whether that be finding the European Amazon store, ordering it directly from the label, or signing on to the International version of iTunes. A less morally-inclined or more impatient fan might just opt for a free download on a torrent site instead, since the option to purchase isn’t easy to find. In this case having separate release dates actually HURTS the artist.

So, record labels: what the fuck? Get with the program. It’s 2008. The Internet. Utilize it.

-VN