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| Beyonce |
It was a surprise that she released an album without any fanfare and any notice. However that didn’t stop or affect the sales of the album. In fact, it seems the unannounced release of the 14 songs, 17 videos visual album fueled the sales of the visual album.
Yesterday Apple reported that Beyoncé shattered iTunes Store Records with 828,773 albums Sold in just 3 days. Apple also stated that the Beyonce also broke the US first week album sales record with 617,213 sold and proved to be a global success going to number one in 104 countries.
The pop diva kept her album secret until it debuted on the midnight of Dec. 13 — a departure from the typical practice of releasing an album on Tuesday to allow a full week of sales.
“I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it,” Beyoncé explained on her Facebook page after the initial shock set in.
“I am bored with that. I feel like I’m able to speak directly to my fans. There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give that message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready from me to my fans,” she continued.
Target, the second largest discount retailer in America is not happy with the fact that Beyonce chose to release the track online alone.
“At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections,” a spokeswoman for Target, Erica Julkowski, told Billboard.
“While there are many aspects that contribute to our approach and we have appreciated partnering with Beyonce in the past, we are primarily focused on offering CDs that will be available in a physical format at the same time as all other formats,” she continued. “At this time, Target will not be carrying Beyoncé’s new self-titled album ‘Beyoncé.”
The superstar has now released her music videos for “Drunk in Love” featuring rapper husband Jay Z and “XO,” a video directed by Terry Richardson filmed at Brooklyn’s Coney Island, in full.
