i think a streaming release through a single site (perhaps the band's own?) the day before it goes to purchase outlets would probably solve this problem pretty easily.

Where's the thread on the Paramore song? Im interested see what everyone thinks of it...

Originally Posted by CBKRP

Where's the thread on the Paramore song? Im interested see what everyone thinks of it...

http://absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=3018982

Originally Posted by bobsheiskawy

i think a streaming release through a single site (perhaps the band's own?) the day before it goes to purchase outlets would probably solve this problem pretty easily.

This. I'm all for using every possible method of social media to promote work because it makes it maximizes accessibility, but coordinating an initial release should not be chaotic and multifaceted. Release the song on your site (and possibly foreign mirror sites at the same time?) and then follow up with releases on YouTube, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, etc.

Speaking strictly on "Now": A guy already had a lead guitar cover up on Youtube by the time I listened to the song, which was maybe 45 minutes after it went live on Paramore.net. That's pretty frustrating for a guy who thought the song went live at midnight (because thats what the band had said) then it went live more like 10:30-11:00.

Broader terms: If a song comes out on Tuesday around the world, then the band should have it streaming on their website on Monday.

Originally Posted by bobsheiskawy

i think a streaming release through a single site (perhaps the band's own?) the day before it goes to purchase outlets would probably solve this problem pretty easily.

I think that sounds like the best way for everyone to hear it at the same time + put your pre-order packages up with it.

What I'm curious about is if you want that first "listen" to be a purchase ... like your goal (like it seems this release was) is to sell the thing on iTunes / Amazon ... that HAS to be timed better, otherwise as soon as it hits the first country ... your entire plan to turn a sale is fucked.

So yeah, do it on YouTube with ads on your own site if you wanna monetize your stream, then push people to purchase the day after and not worry about when it gets rolled out. OR these digital outlets need to allow an artist more control over timing of releasing it.

Could it be billboard's fault? Y' know, same reason Europe gets their albums a day earlier. Don't want to release a song 'too soon' and have its chart performance split.

Related: Looking at iTunes charts now ... did "Now" chart higher anywhere last night (see it at 39 now)?

That's right Jason, it isn't possible.

Originally Posted by danperez

That's right Jason, it isn't possible.

Hmmm. I was afraid of that ... should be fixed.

This should just encourage bands (even the big ones) to explore direct-to-fan modes of selling their music. Bandcamp doesn't take as big of a cut as iTunes. Paramore could have put the single up on Bandcamp and linked everyone there - the most interested fans will be the first to listen, and be the first to buy it, and you make a little more money per sale. Then have it available in every other outlet the day after, for the lazier / less interested folks.

Comes down to lumbering majors versus nimble indies. I'm sure many of the dinosaur labels think regional markets somehow make sense for digital content simply because they've been doing it with physical product for so long. The fact that it's logistically easier to just do a simultaneous worldwide launch nowadays makes it all the more hilarious - majors end up spending extra money just to undercut their own sales.

This kind of stuff is actually my day job... It's really, really hard to co-ordinate the digital release of new music with digital partners. The easiest way to control the initial output would probably indeed be to upload everything to a channel you can 100 % control yourself, like YouTube (first make the track hidden, when it's processes you can make it public whenever you want). Obvious downside is - as remarked above as well - that you're missing out on sales and charts. The theory is that once some buzz gets going those will follow anyway but there's no way of knowing that, of course.

That being said, there's other somewhat less precise ways as well; what you ideally want to do is make sure the music is released through one business partner first, and promote that heavily. Partners such as Deezer, Spotify and iTunes all try to offer the best packages for "your" artists (I work for a major in Belgium) and obviously want exclusivity on new stuff. Most of the time, they do not get this, but there are cases in which it does indeed make a lot more sense to do a pre-order on iTunes and release the album or single a day sooner there than via other channels. Downsides of this are you can't possibly control what happens between the time you sent it through for release and the release itself. This takes at least a couple of days, with polishing, technical stuff from the Apple side, and all that, and the music passes through multiple people's hands... so it's hard to definitively control the output and you can never fully guarantee a leak won't happen before it's on iTunes.

There's a whole load of things to be said about major labels / their tendency to indeed still focus on local markets instead of seeing the bigger picture and this obviously is a big factor in all the above but at least for the one I'm working for, we're at this time actually steadily making strides to get with the times. But that's a different conversation altogether so I'll leave it at that :)

Originally Posted by Jason Tate

Related: Looking at iTunes charts now ... did "Now" chart higher anywhere last night (see it at 39 now)?

No where to be found on our iTunes Charts. And we love then here

Parkway drive did no1 when new 1st single Dark Days got released and they're metalcore