New Music Friday - Tyler The Creator
Tyler, The Creator’s most recent album “Chromakopia” has been met with an overwhelming response, making a significant impact on both the charts and his fanbase. In its first week, Tyler had his highest album debut at 299,500 album units achieving impressive numbers in terms of streams, sales, and overall engagement. This success came despite a very brief rollout. This approach, which differs from the more traditional, heavily marketed album cycles, only added to the buildup around the project.
What stood out to me the most was the choice to drop his album on a Monday morning instead of the usual Friday release. We’re all accustomed to staying up late on Thursday nights, eagerly waiting for new music to drop at midnight. But Tyler, as always, took a different approach. While the casual listener might not give it much thought, I believe it was both a bold and smart decision. The tracking week for music charts runs from Friday to Thursday, with all streams and sales being tallied during this period, and chart placements and first-week numbers released the following week. By choosing to drop Chromokopia on a Monday, Tyler knowingly lost three days of the tracking week. This decision only further highlights how little he conforms to traditional industry norms. Tyler was confident in his album and he knew his fans would show up for him, regardless of when it was released. This makes me wonder: now in 2025, will we see more of this? Will we see a trend of artists starting to release music on different days?
Originally, music release days were on Tuesdays. It was more convenient because, back when people were buying physical copies, it allowed enough time for distribution and maximized sales. The trend of Friday music releases can be traced back to Beyoncé’s surprise drop of her self-titled album in 2013. This groundbreaking move not only disrupted traditional release patterns but also set a new precedent. Just two years later, Fridays were officially announced as the global release day, stamping this practice as the new music industry standard.
In a 2023 interview with Nardwuar, Tyler expressed his desire for artists to return to dropping albums on Tuesdays. He explained that with Friday releases, albums often don’t get the thorough attention they deserve over the weekend, as listeners are distracted by other activities. Tyler believes releasing music during the week increases the likelihood of intentional listening, allowing fans to fully immerse themselves in the project. It’s possible we could see this shift happen sooner than expected. However, many artists are heavily focused on sales numbers, and without a strong fan base to rely on, they might hesitate to take the risk of breaking away from the Friday release norm. While it may take time, I believe that eventually, more musicians will start pushing boundaries and challenging the structure of certain elements within the music industry.