Knowing what I know (not a ton, but not a little, either) about label politics and manager prerogatives, I can totally see managers of acts as big as Kanye and Beyonce having worried discussions with their labels to the tune of We release in 1Q09, there may not be a retail sector to release to. Don’t forget, Virgin will be gone by then, too, and all of the big boxes, not just Wal-Mart and Borders, are reducing music shelf space.

This is now the third time I’ve commented on it, but I find the Kanye rush-release, in particular, suspicious and troubling. He went five-six singles deep on Graduation, and except for the Chris Martin collabo, they all performed decently on the charts/at radio — so you’d think he’d kick back for another six months, at least. I feel like someone in a board room put a bug in his ear, challenging him to make the fourth quarter now that U2′s out of it, and (this would totally work on him) try to match his last opening-week sum while there are still retailers around to make such feats possible.

I am wondering if the situation is half-intentional, half-not, though. It just seems like the setup for a perfect storm of sorts.

Also, I don’t really agree with the premise here. Label politics influence a lot of things, but ultimately artists release albums when they have albums to release, these people just happen to have material ready for the 4th quarter. And even if the seemingly quick turnaround isn’t quite In Rainbows here, I think there is a model being followed, and if anything it’s Jay-Z. His last two albums have basically been announced around September with a preview single and released in November, with a big all-at-once promotional blitz and none of the delays that big event rap/pop albums suffer from these days.