Why Nov 8?

[marik]

if the new single is hitting radiowaves this friday, then why wait two more months to release an official single for people to buy? that makes absolutly no sense to me. isn't that bad business sense? i mean, a copy of the radio song will be on the net in mere hours and fans will have the song for two months before they could even actually pay for it. even when nov 8 rolls around, why would you buy a single when you could wait two weeks to get the full album. if they released the single right when it first hit radio then people would be excited about hearing it and not want to wait two months till the full album and they'd buy the single to tide them over till then. is there something i'm not seeing?

 

[mofo82]

this isnt highly philosophical but i think u2 knows they arent a 'flash in the pan' band who needs to rush anything. i agree that it seems a little long to wait between the radio release and the official single release in stores, but i dont know that they have anything to gain financially or in popularity by moving any faster. it'll build some steam and get more people frustrated to want or NEED to get it asap. i was thinking today about how drawn out this whole process has been in recording 'atomic bomb' and most other bands would be committing pop music suicide by going this long after a hit like atyclb. its amazing what some tenure in the music business and great talent can do for sustaining a career.

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

if the new single is hitting radiowaves this friday, then why wait two more months to release an official single for people to buy? that makes absolutly no sense to me. isn't that bad business sense? i mean, a copy of the radio song will be on the net in mere hours and fans will have the song for two months before they could even actually pay for it. even when nov 8 rolls around, why would you buy a single when you could wait two weeks to get the full album. if they released the single right when it first hit radio then people would be excited about hearing it and not want to wait two months till the full album and they'd buy the single to tide them over till then. is there something i'm not seeing?

marik i agree with you 100%, it makes no sense to me whatsoever from a business standpoint. The day Vertigo is released it should be available FOR SALE to people who are excited enough to buy it. This is what i have always believed to be the cornerstone of business, "supply and demand". By the time Nov 8th rolls around the demand will have fallen for a song that hit the net a month and a half earlier. I would like to know what the record company and Paul McGuiness have to say about this ?

 

[Axver]

Wait two months? Are you reading a different calendar to me? 24 September to 8 November is only a month and a half, and it is my understanding songs normally go to radio a month before their release in the shops, so this isn't the big deal you'd make it out to be. Singles don't earn much actual revenue through sales in shops, and in some countries (most notably the US), there won't be a single release of Vertigo.

Who really cares anyway? The time difference won't change who'll buy the single and who'll download it.

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

Who really cares anyway? The time difference won't change who'll buy the single and who'll download it.

I disagree totally, some people who would be willing to pony up the cash a couple days after the radio release are not necessarily going to buy it a month and a half later. We live in a era of sound bites where the average attention span is not much longer than a mosquitoes. Of course us die hards are gonna buy it, hell we've been waiting 4 years but that's not how casual fans buy things.

 

[Axver]

I disagree totally, some people who would be willing to pony up the cash a couple days after the radio release are not necessarily going to buy it a month and a half later.

I guess they never buy singles then, huh? To my knowledge, there's always a significant delay between radio and shop release.

Of course us die hards are gonna buy it, hell we've been waiting 4 years but that's not how casual fans buy things.

Who other than the diehards buy singles nowadays anyway?

 

[mofo82]

i think the band and its promoters are at something a little deeper than just throwing the new album out to a pack of hungry wolves. as i said earlier, nothing about this album has been rushed, even with the 'scare' of losing the cd. the month and a half will give everyone some time to warm up to the new sound. i'll say that when 'beautiful day' and 'electrical storm' first got air play that i was not that excited to the point where i'd buy the album/ single right away. i was not as hardcore then either but i think thats the typical listeners' mindset, so warm up the audience and build the hype machine.

another note, if this is a political album of sorts, i think the message might be along the lines of 'taking time to do whats right versus not rushing in too quickly' if you get my drift, so add that to what i said a second ago about them taking their time with this album. i think they wouldnt want to be to hypocritical by rushing this.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Who other than the diehards buy singles nowadays anyway?

Bingo. The single won't be around in 2-3 years other than as a collectors item for hardcore fans of whatever artist.

You'd be surprised how quickly pop-time flies. A month between radio and stores is a good amount of time for a band the size of U2. You have to remember the non-U2 Fan people are who they need to sell it to. 'Vertigo' was sold on most of us over 20 years ago. But it has to have a bit of time to soak into the brains of those who may or may not even be able to name 5 U2 songs. Do you get what I mean? Singles are only bought now by teenagers and hardcore fans. The hardcores will buy it anyway, even if it wasn't released for 3 months. The teenagers need to have it soaked into their subconscious for a few weeks. Start to like it, get it to get more spins on the radio rotation, hit them up with the clip... It's a slow roast not a microwave.

 

[mofo82]

... It's a slow roast not a microwave.

sweet line

 

[Earnie Shavers]

The other thing is to remember that U2's promotion so far has equalled exactly 0.00. Zilch. Nothing. The single will hit the radio this Friday with 99.9% of the public not even aware that U2 have anything coming out. Straight out of left field for most people. Let that soak in for a couple of weeks, let the song sell itself for a little while, then hit them with the video, and then you can bet that by mid-late October, with the build up to both the single and album in stores, and the US elections, Bono will be taking his politics and his band onto every tv and radio spot possible. Then this $17million marketing budget will kick off. The single will go on sale. The band will be everywhere. The reviewers will start going nuts for this "highly anticipated work of genius" etc and the album will hit the stores.

 

[Axver]

Earnie, you make a wonderful point in that nothing has been spent on promotion. The general public do not realise this is coming like they would with a normal single release, so the one-and-a-half month wait will probably equate to the normal month of most singles. U2 know exactly what they are doing and they are going to hit the world like a storm.

This is a great time to be a U2 fan.

 

[staring_at_the_moon]

I disagree totally, some people who would be willing to pony up the cash a couple days after the radio release are not necessarily going to buy it a month and a half later. We live in a era of sound bites where the average attention span is not much longer than a mosquitoes. Of course us die hards are gonna buy it, hell we've been waiting 4 years but that's not how casual fans buy things.

Just look at movies these days. About 3-4 months after they leave the cinema they're released on DVD/VHS (hopefully to reduce piracy).

Not so long ago (under 5 years) it took them over a year to be released on DVD/VHS.

 

[riderka]

Why nov 8???? 'cause it's my birthday!!!
I'm so looking forward on it! It would be the greatest gift they could give me!

 

[Lo-Fi]

I think last time, when we heard Beautiful Day for the first time was August, that didn't come out 'til October, and went straight in at No. 1 in the UK.

Also there are rumours Vertigo will be on I-tunes on the 27th of September, people will buy that, then they'll have everyone buying the singles as well with the additional tracks and video's come November. Makes perfect business sense to me if you break it down that way!

You might even get the album ahead of it's offical release through I-tunes, here's to hoping.

 

[U2girl]

I'm confused by that gap too.

Sure there will be the video to fill the gap in October, but isn't 6 weeks a bit much, for someone of U2's status?

 

[EvolutionMonkey]

Just look at movies these days. About 3-4 months after they leave the cinema they're released on DVD/VHS (hopefully to reduce piracy).

Not so long ago (under 5 years) it took them over a year to be released on DVD/VHS.

In a month it will be a distant memory to most people (not us), they will have moved on to a new set of hit singles and groups they like, just look at all the albums that are coming out in November alone. Most people live in a world of singles and when that single starts falling in the top 40 then it loses it's magic. Not to mention all the people who will already have it downloaded on their hardrive and feel no need to buy it.

DVD's have extras that make them worth buying especially the price which in my opinion is very reasonable. I can't say the same for most music out there, there's usually a couple good songs and the rest is fluff. Die hards will buy singles regardless of when the single comes out but most people buy the flavour of the month and then move on that's just a fact. Honestly it doesn't take a rocket scientist to say that waiting a month and a half is bad business.

Just think when a person is in a record store and has just heard Vertigo what do you think he's going to ask the guy at the store ? "Do you have the new U2 Vertigo single ?" and the salemen will reply "sorry it's not coming out for another month and a half". Not every one of those potential customers is going to still be interested in it a month and a half later when the new Britney's Greatest Hits will be coming out

 

[lady luck]

Why Nov. 8?
Because it's my birthday!

 

[kobayashi]

Just think when a person is in a record store and has just heard Vertigo what do you think he's going to ask the guy at the store ? "Do you have the new U2 Vertigo single ?" and the salemen will reply "sorry it's not coming out for another month and a half". Not every one of those potential customers is going to still be interested in it a month and a half later when the new Britney's Greatest Hits will be coming out

i think youre missing the point.

very few will be buying the single.

the song will hit radio in early fall with the single being commercially available later in the fall to generate whatever renewed interest can be generated for the christmas shopping season release of the album.

'renewed interest' would involve radio djs mentioning the upcoming sale of the single as a precursor to the sale of the album soon after. it is as if 'vertigo' will be given fresh legs for a couple of weeks heading into the album release/christmas shopping season.

 

[u2ulysses]

CD singles, barring a few exceptions, are not big sellers in the U.S. Hence there is no huge rush to deliver any single in commercial form in this country.

In other countries, CD singles still sell well. However, releasing the CD the same day as a radio release isn't logical. Radio is acting like a salesperson - hyping up the song. When the CD single is finally available, people will rush to buy it. In countries like the U.K., often a single's first week is its biggest (highest ranking) week. Therefore, one needs to get that big demand up front, which is why there is this delay between radio and CD single release. It takes time for a radio station to get a song into heavy rotation (or even light rotation).

But mostly, the purpose of any single is to promote the album. Years ago, this wasn't true - singles sold better than albums (like in the Beatles' era). But now, albums are the big thing. Hence, a later CD single release might cause some people to bypass buying the single, but buy the album. This will, in turn, promote album sales - and that's what McGuinness really wants.

 

[lady luck]

Is really Britney doing a "best of"

Oh Gosh, what is she putting inside? Two songs? Her entire production?

 

[FullonEdge2]

It is true that singles don't sell well in the U.S. Mainly hardcore fans are going to be the ones buying it.

That said, I think U2 are using the principles of supply and demand to maximize chart position for the single as well as single sales. I remember in other threads Sting2 has emphasized that chart position now-a-days is based almost exclusively on radio airplay. By putting off the release of the commercial single 6 weeks, people are forced to come to the radio to hear it. I know that many people will tape it, and some may forsake the radio immediately after they have taped it, but demand for it to be heard on radio will still be increased.

Now some of you are saying that no one will buy the single because it's only 2 weeks before the album release. Well, the single is going to be aimed at hardcore fans and believe me, after hearing just an unofficial recording of vertigo for a whole month, you are going to want anything official, ANYTHING. A lot of us aren't going to want to wait another two weeks for the song. Besides, what if "Are You Gonna Wait Forever" is a great B-side?

They know what they're doing.

 

[Zoocoustic]

Not a good business decision.

I personally would have rushed out and bought a copy of the single, had it been available for sale Friday, or even a week later.

However, Nov 8th is too long. I'll just wait the extra 2 weeks and buy the album.

 

[babyman]

i think they don't care about the sales of the single, otherwise there isn't any other explanation, they care about the sales of the record, you listen to the single for a month and a half, then you buy the dvd with the video,the interviews and other stuff and at last you get immerged on the rush to the near forthcoming album! that's it!

 

[u2ulysses]

That said, I think U2 are using the principles of supply and demand to maximize chart position for the single as well as single sales. I remember in other threads Sting2 has emphasized that chart position now-a-days is based almost exclusively on radio airplay.

They know what they're doing.

What Sting2 wrote applies for the U.S. The Hot 100 charts - the main singles chart in the U.S. - often has its top songs based solely on the amount of airplay they receive. U2 are not the only artists no longer releasing CD singles. It's just too expensive and there's no longer enough sales to support massive CD single launches. Again, there are always exceptions, but in general this is the rule.

In contrast, other countries have two charts or base their charts solely on sales. For example, Canada used to have a chart for airplay and one for sales. The U.K.'s singles chart is based completely on sales. Some combine the two - like the U.S. But again, as I wrote, CD singles sales are so slow in the U.S. that they often do not reflect the popularity of a song. For example, the top selling CD single might only sell 3000 copies in a given week. However, this song might not even be in the top 10 or 20 because of limited airplay. Hence why Billboard emphasizes airplay over sales.

I do agree with your last statement - U2 and their label/management do know what they are doing.