That there Entertainment Retailers Association (you know, them that used to be called BARD) has supported both the previously reported decision of EMI to make DRM free music available via iTunes, and Universal's previously reported proposal to move the day singles are released to Friday.
On the latter, they say that they, like Universal, believe that by releasing physical singles on a Friday, with digital releases the previous Monday, that singles sales may be boosted over all. I'm still not quite sure why they think that, though obviously there would be some hype around any release-day shift and that in itself may create a temporary boost. Either way, ERA is encouraging other majors to also consider the day swap, with co-chair Paul Quirk telling reporters: "ERA supports any record company that looks at new ways of attracting customers into high street stores and releasing singles on Friday is an excellent move by Universal which should add excitement to weekend sales".
On EMI's decision to make music available in non-DRMed formats in the digital domain (which, of course, stops files being locked to certain devices), the retailer trade association's Council were also positive, saying: "[We] have long believed that the failure by record companies to offer interoperable files has hampered the uptake of digital music and led to an increase in illegal file sharing".
Quirk added: "ERA applauds EMI for taking a step towards the unrestricted MP3 format. In a music environment where consumers have long been accessing content for free record companies have to offer consumers what they want".