Following a series of unorthodox album releases in recent years and growing frustration with staggered album releases for different parts of the world, the music industry has selected Friday as its new album release day.

Beginning this summer, albums will arrive globally at 00:01 local time on Fridays. In the U.S., that means the long-held Tuesday release format will be abandoned.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry said it consulted "with artists, musicians unions, record companies and retailers" before opting for the change.

"The move to an aligned global release day will also reduce the risk of piracy by narrowing the gap between release days in different countries," IFPI said in a statement.