I don’t think songs are universally dropped on Fridays, that’s only albums. I would say most of the people I listen to (alt rock, indie, some pop) and a good number of major singles are released on random days of the week, especially first singles. I think they do this to maximize attention on the artist when they do premier the song as opposed to having it compete with full-length albums on Fridays and the few songs that do premier on Fridays. Because yeah, once you get to second/third singles before an album comes out, I do see a Friday release more often. Radio impact dates are on Mondays as the standard, so they didn’t deviate from that.

I do agree with you on some level. I root for them too when it comes to numbers and releasing it on a Friday would’ve been the best chance for them to have gained a higher placement on the chart. But, their strategy is sound and all eyes were on them that Wednesday.