I’ve been noticing a trend in big Major Label releases. It’s all about the first 24 hours. More and more superstars like Kanye, Lady Gaga, and Lil Wayne are pushing for big sales up front because they know the longer their music is out after the opening day, the easier it will be for kids to share it.

Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV (which is a solid album btw, haters gunna hate) is poised to sell over 700,000 copies since it’s release on midnight after he played the VMA’s

 Lil Wayne could have the second-biggest sales week of the year, as industry forecasters suggest it may sell 700,000-850,000 copies by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, Sept. 4.

If “Tha Carter IV” launches with at least 700,000, it will immediately mark the second-largest frame of any album this year, behind Lady Gaga‘s 1.11 million debut with “Born This Way.”

The hip-hop icon’s new album, which was released at 12 AM (Aug. 29), follows a pair of top-two sets for Wayne in 2010: “Rebirth” (No. 2) and “I Am Not a Human Being” (No. 1). They launched with 176,000 and 110,000 copies, respectively, according SoundScan. –Billboard

This type of first day/week push works for huge stars but most bands probably won’t be using the same strategy. YES this is a good idea as Tigers That Talked proved with their graduated pricing model, but remember that most bands aren’t fighting piracy. They’re fighting obscurity. Keep your music as free as you can make it until you’ve established a solid fanbase that will be motivated enough to join you on a midnight release.

Music Consciousness
Voyno