Jay-Z Bumps Up the Release of his New Album

By Keith Caulfield

Jay-Z will release his much-anticipated album "The Blueprint 3" on Monday, three days ahead of schedule.

The new date was posted on the Web sites of such retailers as Amazon.com, Best Buy and Rhapsody.com. Representatives for the rapper and his Roc Nation label could not be reached for comment.

The contents of the album were recently leaked online, although Jay-Z did not seem to be worried. He will perform at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.

Release dates are seemingly becoming more fluid as the ailing music industry marches toward the all-important holiday shopping season. Just last week saw Miley Cyrus' Wal-Mart exclusive EP "The Time Of Our Lives" scoot forward from an August 31 release to August 28 to tie in with the release of her clothing line. Whitney Houston's comeback album "I Look To You" jumped one day from September 1 to August 31 -- which ultimately triggered a near industry-wide shift for all September 1 albums to August 31.

Mariah Carey's upcoming "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" switched street dates twice, in the other direction, finally settling on a September 29 premiere so that she could record more tunes. Less than two weeks ago, Michael Buble's "Crazy Love" was given an October 13 release date. But days later his Reprise label said it would push the album forward by four days to October 9 due to "unprecedented demand."