Industry News: Why So Many Artists Pushed Back Their Albums During the Pandemic
On the latest episode of Billboard's “Pop Shop” podcast, the team discussed the rapidly shifting album release schedule & why artists are choosing to go this way.
Under normal circumstances, the world would be listening to Lady Gaga's new album “Chromatica” right now. It was scheduled for release on Friday, 10 April, but has been pushed back to an unannounced date, as the pop superstar said it didn't feel right to release it in the middle of a pandemic. And “Chromatica” is just one of several albums by A-list stars to be delayed.
Before that there were Alicia Keys' “Alicia” (originally due on 20 March, now 15 May), The 1975's “Notes On A Conditional Form” (originally due on 21 February, then 24 April, now 22 May), Luke Bryan's “Born Here, Live Here, Die Here” (moved from 24 April to 7 August), Haim's “Women in Music Pt. III” (from 24 April to 21 August) and Sam Smith's upcoming album (previously titled “To Die For”, moved from 1 May to an unannounced date).
On Billboard's new Pop Shop Podcast (listen below), the team discusses why these albums were pushed back while others kept their release dates, such as rock band The Strokes and singer-rapper Rod Wave.
Many artists will feel uncomfortable releasing and promoting a new album during the pandemic, while others may face striking limits on traditional album launches and promotion (including no appearances on music shows or promo tours, and many record stores temporarily closed).
For some other artists, though, the release schedule stays the same, because they don't rely as heavily on retail sales or physical albums. Rod Wave's “Pray 4 Love”, for example, was released on 3 April and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, with 97% of its first-week total driven by streaming (it earned 72,000 equivalent album units in the week ending 9 April, according to Nielsen Music/MRC Data).
Also on the new podcast, Billboard discussed news from Drake (who scored his seventh No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with “Toosie Slide”), The Black Eyed Peas (who reached the top 10 of the chart for the first time in more than a decade) and The Weeknd (spending a third week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 with the album “After Hours”).
