The new policy is basically this - Once a song hits the airwaves, it will be immediately released to iTunes. This is the end of sales repressions, which labels have used to get their singles to a higher peak.
Now, while this might raise the single sales, it might actually hurt the songs peak.
I don't really see how it could hurt singles' peaks.
Haven't a lot of songs recently been released to iTunes as soon as they are released, and climbed to the top 5/10 in less than 24 hours?
Till the World Ends
Born This Way
ET (Kanye)
?
Well, IDK about this because download repression in the UK doesn't work in the same way as the US.
Are we talking about the UK?
Everywhere. BTW is an example -- It has sold great in the UK, but it probably reached it peak, while it could have peaked at #1 if released after the MV.