New Stuff Tuesday
by Steve Watters on 05/05/2009 at 2:46 PM
Does anyone know why CDs and DVDs are released on Tuesdays?
Like for instance, today's the day Hollywood released The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and the Blu-Ray version of Ferris Bueller's Day Off--a movie I'm depressed to say I saw at the theaters before some of our readers were born.
I was excited to see a new CD released by The Newsboys today.
Books don't always follow the Tuesday trend, but today also happens to be the day a new book by Dr. Al Mohler was released. It's called The Disappearance of God: Dangerous Beliefs in the New Spiritual Openness. It's inexplicable how Dr. Mohler finds the time to write as much quality stuff as he does...and to say interesting things on Twitter on top of that.
Hope you enjoy the newness of this Tuesday.
1. NeedACatchyName said the following at 3:00 PM on May 5:
Hmmm...I'm not entirely sure, but here are a few theories:
1) There isn't as much traffic in retail stores in the middle of the week as in the weekend, so releasing stuff on Tuesdays allows stores to get people to shop on a day they wouldn't otherwise shop.
2) Also, since stores are busy on the weekend, this allows them to get the merchandise delivered to them on a less busy Monday and spend the day prepping in the back for a big Tuesday release.
3) It also allows for a gap between the release of movies on DVD/Blu-Ray (Tuesday) and the release of movies in the theatre (Friday), so there isn't as much competition for attention between the two.
I do know that the reason why there is a uniform release day of the week is so that stores will have at most one day a week where people are camped outside waiting for the store to open so they can pick up a copy before it sells out. Of course, there won't be a hot item released every week, but at least when one is released, the store can plan their usual "hot item release" protocol around one specific day every week.
2. Jorden said the following at 3:13 PM on May 5:
Shameless plug:
My favorite website(aside from Boundless ;) ) is NewReleaseTuesday.com It's a Christian music website. Right now they're previewing the Newsboy's new album for free :D.
3. Joanna said the following at 4:29 PM on May 5:
I would assume it might be something to do with on which day of the week they start counting for the music/film charts to give the new releases the best shot at a good ranking in their first week. I'm pretty sure thats how it works here in australia anyway.
4. Steve Watters said the following at 8:40 PM on May 5:
Thanks for adding the newreleasetuesday detail Jordan. I accidentally left that out of my post.
5. BDB said the following at 10:52 PM on May 5:
Tuesday is a very light retail day. The USPS recently suggested stopping mail delivery on Tuesdays.
Weekends are the most difficult days to staff consistently in retail. If you do a 5-day week, with Saturday your biggest day, then having full-time staff work Tuesday-Saturday gives them two days off together - a plus for employee morale and retention. It usually means light staffing on Monday, however.
If I remember correctly, Christmas and 4th of July are the only two national holidays that might end up on a Tuesday. There are 9 others that often fall on Mondays. Plus Columbus day. While retail stores tend to be open those days now, there are usually retail promotions built around the holidays already. No need for additional traffic-driving events on Mondays.
Though this Washington Post article from four years ago suggests that Tuesdays don't matter too much anymore...
6. BDB said the following at 10:56 PM on May 5:
Though the cynic in me thinks that the average band spends the weekend playing a gig somewhere Saturday, followed by a party...then the hangover...one presumes that the average band is recovered enough by Tuesday to make it to the release party...
7. Dan Real-Name said the following at 2:13 AM on May 6:
I don't know why CDs/DVDs are released on Tuesday's, but I will never forget the day I picked up the new releases by POD (Satellite) and Michael W. Smith (Worship) when they arrived in stores - September 11, 2001.