Beyonce Shocks World With Surprise New Album

Did you know a new Beyonce album was on its way before Christmas? No, neither did we. According to Billboard, only a dozen or so people at Sony knew that the new self-titled albums was going to appear on iTunes last night. The surprise release of 14 new songs came complete with music videos for each of the songs. It is available only on iTunes and none of the songs may be purchased individually until December 20, 2013. The album sold 80,000 copies in just three hours, and it looks like it may debut at #1 on the album chart even though it will have been on sale for only 1/2 of a normal sales week.

This isn't the first surprise release by a major artist in 2013. David Bowie surprised everyone when he released his new single "Where Are We Now?" on his birthday early in the year. More recently Lily Allen's "Hard Out Here" was a surprise release. However, neither of those match the scope of what Beyonce has launched.

The album Beyonce is a 14 track collection with contributions from Ryan Tedder, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, and Timbaland among others. With the accompanying music videos, Beyonce refers to the new release as a "visual album." Beyonce simply says she was "bored" with the usual way of promoting an album. The longer term impact of the surprise launch of such a major release can't yet be determined, but Beyonce has clearly rocked the establishment with her new collection. Visit Beyonce's official YouTube channel for more information on the album and previews of individual songs and videos.

he unexpected release of a new Beyonce album, straight onto iTunes with videos for every song attached, is not just about the singer putting out more tunes to liven up the Christmas party season.

It also shows the evolution of the music industry from the days when the internet was viewed with fear, as a beast pummelling top lines across the sector.

Beyonce's new album: What it tells us about the music industry

A decade ago, an album release by an artist of her profile would have been marked by previews to select journalists, possibly a couple of select single releases, and fawning interviews, to build a groundswell of excitement. In recent years, the tracks would almost certainly have leaked out onto the internet.

"I didn't want to release my music the way I've done it," Beyonce said in a statement accompanying the album. "I am bored with that. I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans."

Music industry analysts said it was also a shrewd business move.

"Beyonce has almost been like Apple in the move to keep everything quiet," Mark Mulligan, co-founder of media analysis company MIDiA Consulting, told CNBC.

"When you're an artist who's big enough, if you do something different it will get you lots of free marketing and exposure. And if it means that the album isn't leaked, that's a price worth paying."

Another new element to the release is the amount of videos put online – one for each song, and a couple of extras thrown into the mix.



"It feels like a digital age product. Most tracks only use one function of devices like theiPad, but videos on YouTube are one of the most popular ways to listen to music now – so people want the video as well," Mulligan said.

The album, called simply Beyonce, was trending on Twitter within minutes of its announcement Friday morning, and various different tracks made it onto Twitter's top ten global trends during the course of Friday.

The embrace of digital media is helping the music industry's slide level out. In 2012, global music sales rose for the first time since 1999, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) – although they are still less than half the $38 billion earned at the industry's peak.