Industry Sets Global Record Release Day, Martin Mills and Brian Message Take On Major Labels, and More in This Week's Labels Digest

TOP STORIES Industry Sets Friday as Global Record Release Day  After seven months of semi-public back-and-forth, a conversation begun in party by Aussie piracy and Beyonce's surprise release in December of 2013 has resulted in the global recording industry accepting Friday as the release date for new albums. Read Rob Wells and Lucian Grainge's Memos to Employees, Following a Surprise Departure  Rob Wells and Lucian Grainge open up on the surprise exit of Universal's respected digital executive. Drake Tops Billboard Artist 100, Imagine Dragons Fire Up to No. 2  Drizzy's No. 1 for a second week, while Imagine Dragons roar 22-2 thanks to the start of their album "Smoke + Mirrors." Martin Mills and Brian Message Take On Major Labels, Billboard 200 in Launch of Plan to Save Music Retail  Less than a week after umbrella trade body UK Music launched a five-point policy plan to develop the music business, Britain's Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) has followed suit with its own manifesto for growth. Long-Serving Universal Digital Exec David Ring Exits  Ring had been with the company in key digital roles for more than a decade. Japanese Recorded Music Market Down Nearly 5% in 2014  An unsurprising decline in physical sales last year led to a 4.6-percent declined in recorded music revenue in Japan, the world's second-largest recorded music market and one that remains reliant on the CD format. Breyon Prescott Heads Urban A&R at Epic  Epic Records appoints Breyon Prescott as head of urban A&R. Billboard's Charts Department Responds to New Global Street Date  Now that the major record labels have officially announced that they are moving to a Friday release day, the time for debating the logistics behind what the move could entail is over -- it's time to make some decisions. Republic Records Taps Patch Culbertson for A&R Director  Patch Culbertson has been promoted to director of A&R at Republic Records, where he's worked since 2009. IFPI CEO Frances Moore Talks Global Release Day: 'People Have to Accept Change'  The CEO of the IFPI, the trade body behind the push for a global release day, talks to Billboard about the momentous change for the recording industry.