Have you noticed that many K-pop releases happen on Fridays? Understand the real reason behind this practice!
This Friday, the 7th, BTS fans were honored with the arrival of “Never Let Go”, a new solo single by Jungkook, prepared by the artist before enlisting in the South Korean army. The track, which is a gift to ARMYs, is part of the celebration of the group’s 11th debut anniversary. Listen!
Although, generally, many K-pop songs are released mainly at the beginning of the week at 6 am Brasília time (6 pm South Korean time), in recent times, it has become increasingly common for pop stars to South Korean releases their new releases on Fridays, around 1am here.
But why does this happen?
The trend of releasing music on Fridays actually started thanks to a great Western pop diva: Beyonce. This is because, from 1980 until 2012, the industry standard in the United States was for new releases to be released on Tuesdays, however, in 2013, the artist surprised everyone by releasing her self-titled album without prior notice on a Friday.
In other countries such as the United Kingdom and France, the standard was for songs to be released on Mondays, in Japan on Wednesdays, while in Australia and Germany the Friday method was already adopted.
In the past, when streaming platforms hadn’t even dreamed of existing and all we had were physical media, it was extremely important to maintain a fixed release date, so that record companies could prepare all the records to reach stores within the expected period, guaranteeing more time on shelves and presence on the weekly music charts, which were evaluated by experts at the beginning of the week.
The surprise launch of Beyonce, and the gigantic impact this caused, generated a series of discussions among industry professionals, even creating research carried out by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), as reported by the Café com Kimchi portal. In one of them, 7,251 people were asked which day they preferred new songs to be released, where 68% chose Fridays or Saturdays.
After numerous discussions, it was officially announced by IFPI in 2015 that Friday would be the global day for new album and single releases, claiming that, with the new date, it was expected to reduce public frustration in relation to the previous pattern, in addition to help prevent piracy.
In a statement to Billboard, Frances Moorehead of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, stated that because music fans live in the digital world these days, “A aligned global release day puts an end to the frustration of not being able to access releases in your country when the music is available on another country”.
“Let’s say Daft Punk, for example, makes an announcement that their album will be released today, but in the United States, while in Germany only on Friday. There is a gap of three or even four days,” Moore told AFP (via G1). “As a consumer, you can’t find it even if the artist says it’s released. So now they won’t need to look on a pirated website — our focus is on the legitimate market.”
Therefore, with the growth of K-pop around the world, companies that aim to expand their artists to the international market have increasingly adapted to the global standard, also releasing their music on Fridays.
Source: Recreio
