The game of visibility is powered by strategies, resources and machines that are not accessible to almost everyone. Nothing classist about it. Just an order of things that cycle in the music industry. Though traditional conglomerates still thrive, this digital age has redefined music and how it used to be distributed. For example, before release days collectively changed to Fridays in the US in 2015, music was released on Tuesdays. In some other places like Germany and France, it used to be Mondays and Wednesdays. For Nigeria, it has been Fridays. But things keep evolving.
In recent times, we have seen an increasing number of music artistes taking ownership of their career, exploring and experimenting with different strategies for music release. Worldwide, it is now part of music release plans to be as intentional and tactical as ever, about not just the date but the particular day of the week that music launches into public space.
What might have seemed like ‘taking a different route’ is slowly turning out to be the culture especially in the underground music scene.
After some artistes have tested the formula of putting out music on days between Monday to Wednesday, and not on Friday: the universal music release day– results showed they gained more tractions, engagements, streams and visibility than they would record on weekends. Music creators, especially those independent, in the underground or yet to be known— they all now tend to release content on days the music space wouldn’t be saturated with a storm of records and noise of the bigger players. That isn’t to be mistaken as envy or fear, but a calculated decision that reduces the possibility of unpopular music and profiles not reaching a wider audience.
Alternative period for music-release (not days that fall at the weekend) is getting popular and utilized so much now. But some people would agree it has in fact been happening for a long while, many people just weren’t paying attention. When you see music releases that fall on Monday to Wednesday, look deeper. Creators now understand they don’t have to be conventional anymore. They understand the current high level of music consumption, and even that the consumers are not conventional as they used to be. Unlike the business model or notion that discerns that people, the listeners and customers, are busy with their day jobs from Monday to Thursday and only dedicate their weekends to caring about new music or music in general— which is a potential contributor to the streaming services placements and climbing high on charts. The number game is not a sin and not nothing to aspire for— in fact it’s now a goal and leverage for music artistes to record big numbers on their records, but chances of a small brand (without any machinery behind it) to go unnoticed is higher than getting a momentum especially on a Friday that is considered the ‘holy day’ in music industry as fans are supplied surpluses of new music music. It’s the day when streaming services refresh their catalogues by offering their audience new music.
For visibility, better engagements, massive attention and buzz, artistes have been noticeably releasing music on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays even with conceptual ideas that make their intents stick. Also, it’s now a trendy topic some music industry workers and influencers have added to their bi-weekly online educational guide for recording and performing artistes. The struggle is real, but its beauty is in talents that decide to unveil at these early days of the week. If you’re looking for some of the best-made and most outstanding songs and artistes, you should always dig for releases between Monday to Wednesday.
Beyond that, putting out music at the start of the week has reshaped the outward look of music. It makes music look more than just cocktails to enjoy on recreational time. It presents music as serious products with varieties for unique preferences and settings. The music could be light-hearted, serious, funny, sad, eclectic. Whatever the content is, it doesn’t beg the creator to attribute their events to certain days. Neither does the listeners necessarily want to listen to music on only days they are not ‘working’. Paying attention to music released on non-weekend days is the trick to enjoy some of the best styles and quality of music that are not sounds forced by the mainstream and algorithms. If you are looking for some of the Nigerian talents that offer dynamic sonics and released music between Monday and today, a Wednesday, check out offerings like Vis-a-Vis by Mo’Gunz and IDVH and Retrograde Blues by Ravington.
By Alagbe “VRSD” Akintomide
