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Thursday, 26 December 2013
Beyonce Talks Working With Producer Detail On Drunk In Love
Check out Part 3: Run N’ Gun
Friday, 13 December 2013
Beyonce Shocks World With Surprise New Album
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.
Tuesday, 3 December 2013
Beyoncé Tops Bing's 2013 Most-Searched Celebrity List
Beyoncé was named Bing's most searched celebrity of 2013. According to Reuters, the singer beat out 2012 list-topper, Kim Kardashian, who came in second this year.
Beyoncé, 32, had a standout year kicking off 2013 with a performance at President Obama's inauguration in January, headlining the Superbowl in February and embarking on The Mrs. Carter Show world tour in April.
The singer also released a very personal HBO documentary, Life Is But a Dream, and covered Vogue and GQ magazines. No wonder her name came up in search engines more often than not!
Bing releases an annual list of its most-searched terms and phrases by categories including, entertainment, sports, technology and news.
This year's list was dominated by women, as Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Taylor Swift and Madonna rounded out the top five. Nicki Minaj and President Obama were among the top 10 searches.
Beyoncé is pushing to end her year on a high note. Her documentary Life Is But a Dream was released on November 25th and has already topped the charts in the UK. The Mrs. Carter World Tour continues until December 22nd.