At its most recent meeting, the NARM Board of Directors strongly reaffirmed that, since Tuesday is the agreed upon industry-wide street date, NARM will encourage adherence to that date. The Board felt that consistency in consumer messaging is most essential when releases are brought to market, and the consumer has been trained by us to look for new releases on Tuesdays. When a release comes out on another day, it can create consumer confusion, as well as retail workload and other logistical issues, possible advertising mistakes, etc.

It was acknowledged, however, that most labels made the shift from Tuesday to Monday for Thanksgiving week for the past few years, citing potentially enhanced sales opportunities and physical product replenishment benefits. The Board indicated there would be support for this exception if labels decide to make the move to Monday for Thanksgiving week in 2010. But, there was no interest in shifting the date to Monday or another day for other time frames such as Christmas week, Valentine’s Day, Easter week, or any other holiday.