Report: How The New Global Release Day Is Putting a Damper On Thanksgiving Week Sales

Adele: '25' Mitigates Effects Of Friday Global Release Date On Holiday Sales

Former BILLBOARD charts editor and UMG VP/Business Analysis And Research GEOFF MAYFIELD writes in a blog for MUSIC BUSINESS WORLDWIDE how "The Global Release Day Has Stuffed Thanksgiving Week In The U.S." here.

With all the chatter about how ADELE's "25" will approach the 3 million mark in one-week sales -- with reports indicating that figure represents 42% of all retail traffic -- MAYFIELD notes the new Global Release Day of FRIDAY has played havoc with one of the record industry's biggest weeks of the year.  MAYFIELD notes, in past years, the industry pushed up the THANKSGIVING week release day from TUESDAY to MONDAY to make sure its titles were shipped in time for FRIDAY, traditionally the biggest day of the year at retail.  The effect of not having this FRIDAY's releases in store for the weekend has virtually eliminated a week of NOVEMBER sales, even if ADELE doesn't seem to have been affected. TARGET, for one, has already announced they will not stock this FRIDAY's releases until after the weekend.

Still, as MAYFIELD concludes about the current situation, "If there's a negative from this THANKSGIVING shuffle, having a blockbuster the magnitude of ADELE's '25' in play surely mitigates the fallout this time around."

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