here is a good answer to that question that i saw on billboard’s site:
Why Tuesday?
Keith,
I am an avid music buyer and have noticed that, for as long as I can remember, new music releases are always on a Tuesday. Why is this?
Thanks,
Mario Villegas
caldado22@hotmail.com
Hi Mario,
Geoff Mayfield, Director of Charts, responds:
During much of the '80s, the street date for new albums was actually Monday. Problems arose, however, as more and more stores received direct-from-the-distributor shipments on release date.
If your store was near the end of the UPS truck’s route, you were at a competitive disadvantage to stores that got their goods earlier in the day. In order to level the playing field, the industry thus moved to a Tuesday street date in 1989. Stores who receive their shipments on Monday or earlier are to withhold from selling new titles until Tuesday.
As you’re likely aware, in cases when a really popular album hits the market, some stores opt to have special midnight sales at the end of Monday evening, allowing them the earliest opportunity to sell the title without violating street date.
Although new albums street on a Tuesday, the tracking week for our sales charts runs Monday through Sunday. Given the many albums that have debuted at No. 1 over the past several years proves that a truly popular album does not need a full seven days to emerge as the week’s best seller.
Thank you for your interest in Billboard charts.