Remember when Beyoncé dropped her surprise self-titled, visual album? When Bey did that, she changed the game for album release dates.
When Beyoncé said that she “stopped the world,” she said what she meant and she meant what she said, okay!?
Beyoncé has always walked the walk while she talked the talk. The world saw this when she dropped her self-titled visual album, Beyoncé, back in 2013. Not only was it just a self-titled album, but it was also a surprise one.
You may be wondering “why does that matter?” Also, you may be wondering how did it affect anything? Well, let me tell you.
How Beyoncé Changed the Game for Album Release Dates
While keeping her album a secret, Queen Bee was able to drop her album on December 13th, 2013. No promotions, no teasers, no snippets, no nothing. Beyoncé did not feed the girls anything to let them know new music was coming. Was releasing an album without any prior promotion a risky move? At the time, yes. Yes, it was.
However, the surprise album drop was able to affect two things; the traditional album release day and the promotion of albums.
From Tuesday to Friday, Beyonce Changed The Album Release Days
After Beyoncé’s release, it sparked a worldwide debate in the music industry. Beyoncé dropping her album on Friday and garnering great success was enough to get people thinking. Billboard had a 7-month negotiation on switching the album tracking week to start from Friday’s. Among the reasons to switch was piracy issues as well as consumers preferring music on the weekends.
Beyoncé’s massive financial success and positive response from consumers helped in pushing forward the idea of Friday releases This effect is even seen ’till this day as Friday is regarded as the new music day worldwide. This change gives credit to Beyoncé’s risky move by initiating this change.
Beyoncé “Pulling a Beyoncé” When She Dropped Her Surprise Album
Queen Bee’s surprise album drop has changed the game for sure.
Not only did Queen Bey record an entire LP in secret, she was also able to film corresponding music videos for each of the 14 tracks. None of the tracks were leaked prior to its release which adds to its shock value. Yes, while Beyoncé’s album wasn’t the first surprise drop, her album was the one that shocked the world; while also leaving an impact on the music industry.
Many have made attempts to replicate the success of Beyoncé’s award-winning, self-titled album. Imitation of her approach has actually been coined, “pulling a Beyoncé.” But to replicate this success, if we’re being honest, requires an artist to be of great stature. So, I guess you can say that when an artist does pull a Beyoncé and it’s successful, that artist is in the same league.
Drake is one of the most influential rappers today and he was able to pull a Beyoncé with If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. Drizzy may be pulling another Beyoncé with his Certified Lover Boy album. Though the Toronto rapper announced the album back in October, it keeps getting delayed. Call it reaching, but Drake may be holding on to the album to attempt taking this tactic to another level.
In the end, to do something with this kind of impact, artists have to really rely on their status. You can thank Queen Bee herself for setting the bar high for every artist in the music industry.
