A rant about arbitrary release dates

[ZiggyPSB]

I might have touched on this last year here, but Robbie Williams or his management have for the second time given a pointless release date for a single. First it happened in January last year with Be A Boy, now its happened again with Shine My Shoes, from Take The Crown and Swings Both Ways albums respectively.

What do they have in common? The singles consist of just one track, that is exactly the same as those on their respective albums, a track that you could already buy on iTunes, Amazon etc., a track that has a video you could watch shortly after the single announcement, and its been serviced to radio at this point too. With all that taken into consideration, what happens on those digital music sites when the release date dawns?

Absolutely nothing!

Nothing new actually comes out relating to said singles. Everything about it has been released already. When management announces a new single that consists of a readily-available track and nothing else, why does the public need to know a release date? You already said in the announcement you can buy the track and listen to it now. Why do I need a release date when you got nothing new to offer on that date?

This is a crime that Pet Shop Boys never commit, because even if its just one shit remix, they are none the less bonus content on a single package that wasn't previously available before the release date.

ADD.: Funnily enough Shine My Shoes is a worse offender than Be A Boy because it was initially released, like PSB's Axis, as a teaser single two months before the album, then in January a limited 7-inch physical single of Shine My Shoes with a bonus track was released. Now its been officially released a third time with bugger all in terms of previously unreleased bonuses to justify the release date and incite the fans. So its been out 6 MONTHS already!

[PoloPony]

Forget about release dates, there is no point at all about releasing it or even making an official statement, there is nothing new being issued.