Retailers Would Prefer These “Digital Pre-Releases” Come To An End

Dan Gibson | June 27, 2008 2:30 am
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Bands like the Hold Steady and Stars have managed to hold on to some cash that would have likely been lost to pre-release piracy by releasing their albums digitally before the product was ready for stores. But, not surprisingly, retailers would really appreciate it if bands and labels would knock it off. The National Association of Recording Merchandisers claimed in a statement yesterday that a unified street date helps spur on competition and lower prices for consumers. The release also stated that “over the past few months, there have been instances where release dates for physical and digital versions of albums did not coincide, creating unnecessary and unwelcome marketing obstacles, consumer confusion and, most importantly, missed sales opportunities.” Somewhere in the halls of Apple, Steve Jobs was seen silently chuckling over the unfortunate loss of “sales opportunities” for brick-and-mortar music retailers. [Billboard.biz]