Why do Albums get pushed back?

illapino

New member
The CD is done and a release date is set, yet their record labels always change their minds and push it back, giving the artist no control whatsoever; busta rhymes, rick ross, 50 cent, everyone. Why? What are the business reasons behind a delayed release? I know of one A&R on this forum, so please explain it to me. And don't just say "hype".

thanks
 
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i was watching a video a couple weeks ago that said most albums get pushed back because of how long the copyright registration process takes. it takes like 5-7 months to get the actual certificate of registration. i could be wrong though.
 
it could be an infinite number of things. its almost as bad as saying "theres a squeek coming from my car, what is it?"

but i'll give a few examples:

Sample clearing, marketing timing, business problems related with people associated with the project (forget who it was but one dudes album got held up cuz at the last minute mary j blige wanted her song taken off the album), money problems, distribution hang ups, copyrights, gut feelings, last minute changes, appearances not getting cleared, production not getting cleared, the list goes on and on....
 
There are a number of reasons why albums get pushed back. Most of them are to HELP the artist....

-Sometimes albums get pushed back cause they can't clear a sample. And it might be an important track.

-SOmetimes they can't clear an ARTIST....alot of artists have that problem when they put lil wayne on a song! lol

-When a bunch of records off the album leak, they push albums back. Maybe to record to songs, or add to the old ones so there will be changes.

-The timing could just be wrong....like if there isnt enough promotoion and marketing. They want the first week sales to have the HIGHEST numbers, so the timing has to be right.

-The label might feel like the artist aint worth spending extra money, so they keep pushing it back until eventually its shelved!

-Sometimes it could be for publicity. To add fuel to the album...
 
alright, great points you guys put up.
I'd be more interested in the "marketing/timing" reason though: How these corporations can actually determine when "the right time" is, and why they would even declare a 'first' release date to begin with if they really do know when the right time should be.
 
My first vote would be laziness. But I believe Jaylien has the best post in this, so I could be wrong.

I think another good reason why albums are pushed back is because of lawsuit/felony/court issues. Capone-N-N.O.R.E.(aga) are perfect examples. As far as I know, they've either been screwing around or having court issues, post-poning their time to record anything. Think C-N-N's The New Religion album. It's been "in the works" since the release of the Def Jam: FFNY game.(Of course now it turned into Channel 10)

Capone's Pain, Time & Glory debut was predicted since the 2000(-01) release of The Reunion under Tommy Boy. It was released in 2006, but it turned out that 'Pone had it finished since 2004, the time it was supposed to be released. But because of some bogus gun charges, he had to attend court and eventually drop it on another date. I think N.O.R.E. had the same issue.(Global Warming turned to Noreality, then after, a reggaeton album)

Just saying....

-Nolij
 
Albums get pushed back for a number of different reasons. I'll address the marketing/promotion aspect first...


The success of an album is directly related to what else is going on in the industry/world around that particular release date. Like you wouldn't drop your artists CD within a few weeks of a superstar like Jay-Z, Kanye West or 50 Cent releasing their albums...because your artists album would be ignored...

Did you know that the industry's favorite ghostwriter, Madd Skillz (the guy who does the year end Rap Up songs) released his debut album on the same day as The Score by The Fugees and All Eyez On Me by 2Pac??


EXACTLY!!

Those are 2 of the biggest selling albums in Hip Hop history, by some of it's biggest stars...nobody even knew Skillz had released an album, let alone paid attention to it!!


On the other hand, Paul Wall dropped his debut CD on like the second Tuesday in September...and that particular date had NO OTHER hip hop music of any significance being released anywhere CLOSE to his date...and he scored a #1 album on Billboard, and it shot him into stardom.


So the timing thing is based upon other artists release dates, and the season. Like Christmas is a really popular time to release an album...that's why you see superstars releasing albums around that time...as well as June...which is the beginning of the summer, and the kids are getting out of school, getting jobs, riding in their cars, etc.


But that's the quick and dirty reason as to why albums get pushed back, based on "timing".


The other reason albums get pushed back is because they either don't have a single that's catching on with the public, or the album got less than favorable results when previewed by the media/critics.

This is what happens (IMO) in most cases of release dates being pushed back. Say in the case of a Keri Hilson. She's had multiple release dates, but they couldn't get a single to catch fire. Energy didn't do it. Neither did any of the other songs that were "leaked" or released...But now that she has this Turnin Me On single burning up the airwaves, I guarantee you we're gonna see her album before May 1.


When albums get pushed back because of this reason, the labels send the artist back in the studio to record more songs. Then once the album is "freshened up", they send out the preview copies, and get feedback. If the feedback is good, then they throw out another single and hope it catches. If it does, then the album follows roughly about 2 months later. If the feedback isn't good, or the single doesn't catch on, then the cycle is repeated.


The artist has no control over release dates, marketing budgets, nothing like that...that's all the record label.


Hope this helps.
 
In other news...they should've pushed J. Holiday's album back because Dream is dropping the same day as him because of how sour their relationship has turned in the last year or so.......
 
Yeah man, that helped alot.

And about an album being pushed back "because the singles weren't catching on", has there been any rap album who dropped a pre-released single from its track listing for that reason? I'd find that amusing, coz what I've seen all my life is that singles always make it onto a rap album, whether or not it's catching or whether or not a second single is the one to take the torch. I'm not arguing here, but I'm just curious if it's happened. A single getting trashed from the album?
 
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Take a minute to understand the current state of physical retail for the CD album format and your answer for why the push backs (and more importantly the NEVER going to be released albums) are occurring will become clear as day.
 
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illapino said:
Yeah man, that helped alot.

And about an album being pushed back "because the singles weren't catching on", has there been any rap album who dropped a pre-released single from its track listing for that reason? I'd find that amusing, coz what I've seen all my life is that singles always make it onto a rap album, whether or not it's catching or whether or not a second single is the one to take the torch. I'm not arguing here, but I'm just curious if it's happened. A single getting trashed from the album?

Well not that they would be trashed but if a single is leaked/released WAAAY before the album releases it can get cut.

Recent examples:

Every single track on the bonus disc of Tha Carter III.
Big Dreams - The Game
 
Jackpot ProductionZ said:
In other news...they should've pushed J. Holiday's album back because Dream is dropping the same day as him because of how sour their relationship has turned in the last year or so.......


Dreams album ain't gon do no numbers...that joint is just as half assed as they come.

The first one was brilliant...the second one is horrible.
 
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