An album release date is an extremely important date in an
artist’s career. They work months and
even years on an album, so they utilize many strategies to prep their audience
and get them excited. When an artist is
making a comeback after years of no new music, like Justin Timberlake, promotion
and marketing is vital to get him back in the public eye. Promotion for Justin Timberlake’s new album, The 20/20 Experience, was everywhere
that it was hard to miss. Kyle Anderson,
author of the article “Beyond Beyonce” states, “The 20/20 Experience included a spot on the Grammys, a weeklong
residency on Late Night With Jimmy
Fallon, and cross-promotional ads with Budweiser.” JT’s campaign was huge, and it was
well-received by his audience because he was spread across many different
platforms. This traditional approach helped to make his album a success, but
Beyonce used a completely different approach to make her album just as
successful.
Beyonce released her most recent album without any
promotion. She even surprised her fans
with 17 videos that went along with the songs.
This strategy worked in her favor for a reason. Anderson says, “Beyonce
has massive leverage. David Bowie has massive leverage. This is not something
an emerging or middle-class artist can do.”
Since Beyonce has constantly been in the spotlight and updates her
social media to connect with fans, she didn’t need a month-long campaign to get
them excited. To sum it up, her presence and fanbase are strong enough to help
her records go platinum.
According to “The 'Beyoncé', The 'Drip Feed' & 6 Other
New Album-Release Strategies” by Jeremy Allen, Beyonce’s strategy has become
known as “the big bang method.” Allen
states, “It certainly didn’t harm sales – ‘Beyonce’ went on to sell 828, 773
copies worldwide in three-days, the fastest selling album in iTunes
history.” This big bang method
definitely changes the music game. It’s innovative and fresh and potentially
creates more excitement than an album that we know is coming. As album sales have been declining in the
past few years, this might be exactly what certain artists need to get back on
top.
Another artist that is following Beyonce’s style is
Pharrell. Forbes recently released an article titled “For Pharrell, Marketing
An Album Release Means No Album Marketing At All,” which talks about his plan
to have no promotion. With his seven nominations at the Grammys, his
performance on the Oscars, and new hit “Happy,” Pharrell hasn’t had to do much
to stay in the public eye. All of his
exposure has clearly given him the confidence to release an album without
warning. He pulled a “Beyonce” and
announced his album release only a few days before it was available on iTunes
Radio. According to the Forbes article, “Without specifically
promoting an album release, over the past few months Williams has positioned
himself in the spotlight and primed his audience, allowing him to quickly
release an album to fans that are ready and waiting” (Buli). Fans aren’t overwhelmed by a long campaign,
and the switch in promotion (or non-promotion) can be more enticing for them.
Pharrell is defying the norm, just like Beyonce, which might be what the
industry needs.
Promotional and marketing campaigns have always been
essential to an artist and product’s success.
It has become the norm, but only certain artists are brave and fortunate
enough to break the pattern. While JT
had success with his campaign, Beyonce had success with her lack of campaign.
Without a campaign, an artist takes a big risk, but it could yield outstanding
results. Do you think this is a route other artists are going to take in hopes
of reaching success with their albums?
Works Cited
Allen, Jeremy. "The 'Beyoncé', The 'Drip Feed' & 6
Other New Album-Release Strategies." NME.COM.
26 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Anderson, Kyle. "Beyond Beyonce." Entertainment Weekly. 10 Jan. 2014:
15-16.
Buli, Liv. "For Pharrell, Marketing An Album Release
Means No Album Marketing At All." Forbes.
05 Mar. 2014. Web. 29 Mar. 2014.
Beyonce’s tactic of releasing her album without any promotion was bold and innovative. I have loved Beyonce, since she was in Destiny’s Child. I always buy Beyonce’s albums because I want to support my favorite artists. I bought her album the first day it was released on Itunes. I found out about her album release through Twitter, and I immediately purchased the album. I was confused about why I hadn’t heard about her album before the release, but I was very surprised and excited for the new album. For the next few weeks, most of my friends were talking about Beyonce’s album and the strategy she used to release it. I believe if major artists such as Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, or Taylor Swift were to use the same strategy Beyonce used, they would be able to sell many records, possibly create more buzz, and save money by not paying to promote their new album. These artists have large followings, who would use social media and blogs to promote the new releases. Beyonce has a strong social media presence and was able to tell a large number of fans about the surprise visual album. According to “Beyond Beyonce”, famous celebrities can use the strategy Beyonce used, but it needs to be the right artist. I believe if lesser known stars such as Sara Bareilles or Lana Del Rey, who have had success with their songs but don’t have a large loyal following, employed the same strategy they would not see a large amount of records sold.
ReplyDeleteAccording to “Beyonce Has Gone to War Against Amazon and Target for Refusing to Stock Her Album”, Amazon and Target refused to sell Beyonce’s album because she gave Itunes a one-week exclusive. Amazon eventually decided to sell an MP3 version, but Target still refuses to sell any version of Beyonce’s album. I believe because Target and Amazon were very upset by Beyonce’s decision, this will effect whether other artists decide to employ Beyonce’s strategy. I believe artists such as Sara Bareilles or Lana Del Rey won’t use Beyonce’s tactic for many reasons, but one of the most important reasons is that this tactic will harm their relationship with stores such as Target and Amazon, where they probably receive a large portion of their sales.
There is no doubt that Beyonce has changed the music industry not only with the release of her album without promotions, but also with the content in her visual album. A visual album creates an experience for fans, and is more than a music video. I think we are going to start to see other artists create visual albums. The music industry is going to change because artists such as Justin Timberlake, Beyonce, and David Bowie are creating new ways to market and promote their music. Artists are coming up with new and innovative ways of surprising fans and keeping fans interested. I think we will begin to see artists becoming more creative and using numerous strategies to deliver their music.
Anderson, Kyle. "Beyond Beyonce." Entertainment Weekly. 10 Jan. 2014: 15-16.
Edwards, Jim. "Beyonce Has Gone To War Against Amazon And Target For Refusing To Stock Her Album." Business Insider (Yahoo Finance) 22 Dec. 2013. Web.
By Emily Barry
Like we said last week in class, Beyoncé did well with her “no promotion” sales because she is a well-established artist. In addition to this, like the Beyond Beyoncé article explains, she has a fan base that is willing to “embrace” a digital album. In the first week, when the album was exclusive to iTunes, 600,000 copies were sold and sales continued to climb after that (Edwards). However, if artists who are not that popular or do not have a young enough fan base decide to do this, it is almost guaranteed that they will not be as successful as Beyoncé. 2013 truly was “the year of Beyoncé.” (Anderson)
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if other artists will start to take this route. It seems pretty risky to me, but they do have Beyoncé and now Pharrell behind them, so maybe it would be a thing to try. While, in my opinion, Pharrell doesn’t have quite the same “star power” as Beyoncé, his song “Happy” has been number 1 on the Billboard top 100 for the last 5 weeks, several spots above “Let it Go,” the winner of the Grammy for Best Original song, which Happy was also nominated for. The song was also most recently featured in Glee’s 100th episode. So, at this rate, I’d say he definitely has the potential to succeed going the “no promotion” route. At the very least, his infamous hats at the Grammys and Oscars have only helped his rise to fame.
But then we also have the opposite, and arguably more traditional, approach of endless promotion like the efforts of Justin Timberlake with The 20/20 Experience. We saw JT everywhere from his Budwiser ads to his appearances on Jimmy Fallon night after night. And we all saw what that got him: the best selling album of 2013 and a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album.
I think James Donio’s quote from Beyond Beyoncé sums it up very well. He says, “Is there a right way to [market an album]? The answer is no.” Some things that work for one artist might be disastrous for another. Either way, like Emily said, artists are finding new ways to get more creative, because in the end, that’s what sells. If they don’t make it interesting, we’re not going to download it, let alone pay for it.
The MTV article says that because Millenials grew up with free downloading, the only reason we will pay for music is out of respect for the artist. “81% say the closer they feel to an artist, the more likely they are to support that artist by purchasing music rather than downloading for free.” (Hillhouse) And I think one way to “get closer” to your audience is to promote yourself whether it’s through talk shows, concerts or exclusive content, and giving us more than what we expect.
- Anderson, Kyle. "Beyond Beyonce." Entertainment Weekly. 10 Jan. 2014: 15-16.
- Edwards, Jim. "Beyonce Has Gone To War Against Amazon And Target For Refusing To Stock Her Album." Business Insider (Yahoo Finance) 22 Dec. 2013. Web.
- Hillhouse, Allison. "MTV's 'Music to the M Power.'" Blog.Viacom 5 June 2013. Web.
Despite the fact that I am not a Beyonce fan, I still admire the way she was able to release an entire album and 17 music videos in such a discreet manner. I commend this marketing tactic because she was incredibly successful due to her loyal fanbase - which speaks volumes about how dedicated Beyonce fans are. Justin Timberlake on the other hand, although he was successful in his marketing campaign to promote the 20/20 Experience, there was no getting away from it - even if you weren't a JT fan, you were forced to see him and listen to his music everywhere due to the bombardment of marketing material used to promote the album. By the time the album came out, even if you weren't a fan, you may have downloaded or purchased a song because you grew fond of it from the immense amount of advertising used to promote it. In this case, although Justin may have been successful, I believe that Beyonce's strategy demonstrated a greater success in terms of a loyal, devoted fan base, that's not to say, however, that Justin wasn't successful in other aspects as he "scored the top-selling album of 2013 with his 'The 20/20 Experience'" (Lewis 2014).
ReplyDeleteIn regard to the question, is there a right way to market an album whether it be like Beyonce's or JT's, I would have to agree with James Donio, president of the Music Business Association as he states "The answer is no" (Anderson 20140). I believe it depends on the artist in particular. For example, an artist like Kelly Clarkson would not be able to execute Beyonce's marketing strategy well, but an artist like Taylor Swift would be able to.
As for music downloads, as stated by Alison Hillhouse in MTV's 'Music to the M Power,' "Millenials understand that the system of getting free music/streaming means artists have to make their money somewhere" (Hillhouse 2013). Fans need to decide whether or not they want to fully support their artist and thank them for their hard work by purchasing their album, or they can choose to download the material illegally (which many do). I believe that by surprising the audience with an album, you're more likely to obtain actual purchases of the album versus illegal downloads. As a society today, we thrive off of instant gratification, therefore, we would be more likely to buy the brand new album to get it as quickly as possible, which definitely works in favor of the artist in terms of their financial gain and legal downloads.
Anderson, Kyle. "Beyond Beyonce." Entertainment Weekly 10 Jan. 2014: 15-16.
Hillhouse, Allison. "MTV's 'Music to the M Power.'" Blog.Viacom 5 June 2013. Web.
Lewis, Randy. "Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke Post 2013's Top-Selling Album, Single." Los Angeles Times 3 Jan. 2014. Web.
Cara Gilmartin
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to promotion and marketing of an artist’s album, I still feel as though continuing to create hype around the release date cannot hurt sales, so why stray away? Beyoncé’s tactic of surprising fans with the release of her most recent album was very risky, but it was pulled off…because she’s Beyoncé. While I admittedly have very little interest in her, I cannot deny that most people do not feel the same as me. However, I believe that she really only succeeded because of who she is and her presence on social media. Information about the release spread like wildfire across all social media platforms, and that in itself was all the promotion needed for her album to blast toward success. In my opinion, she would not have reached the same amount of success as quickly as she did if social media and iTunes did not exist. Word would not have traveled that fast by mouth and I highly doubt we would’ve seen that many people talking to each other about the album and then running to an actual store to buy one. In fact, because of iTunes, Beyoncé was able to release her album digitally one week before it landed on shelves in stores. With the popularity of iTunes outweighing the popularity of physical CDs, of course this hurt sales even more for physical CDs, causing Amazon and Target to refuse to stock Beyoncé’s latest album. (Edwards)
However, in an Entertainment Weekly article, Kyle Anderson explains that, “That absence didn’t matter much: In its second week of release and with the physical CD available, Beyoncé sold 374,000 copies in the U.S., a third of which were physical sales.” (Anderson) Again, I really only believe that this is because of the artist we are discussing. Beyoncé is not just a figure in the media because of her music. She has supporters for all different reasons, and because many people in our society see her as an advocate for various causes, she connects with her fans on a different level. Very few artists can successfully pull off this stunt. Let’s be honest, One Direction could definitely do it, and I’d buy that album the second I heard it was released. Could a country artist do the same thing? Probably not. My real question is though, do they have to? I don't necessarily think so. We saw how Justin Timberlake fans impatiently awaited the release of The 20/20 Experience. For weeks leading up to its release, I remember being constantly reminded that we were quickly approaching the album drop. I think the build of anticipation really helped him in this case.
If artists want to really throw their fans for a loop, I think it would be interesting to see an artist really promote and market a new album, but not release the actual date the album drops. That way, the artists have people talking and fans are aware an album is coming, but there is still that level of anticipation as to when the album will actually be available.
At the end of your blog post, Nicole, you asked if we felt that this will be the direction that other artists begin to take in order for albums to be successful. I really hope not. I think it completely takes away from the creativity that comes along with a promotional marketing campaign. Yes, Beyoncé’s lack of a promotion was definitely creative, but if we continue to see this happen, it will reach a point where it just isn’t creative anymore. How many different ways can you keep a secret?
Works Cited
Anderson, Kyle. "Beyond Beyonce." Entertainment Weekly. 10 Jan. 2014: 15-16.
Edwards, Jim. "Beyonce Has Gone To War Against Amazon And Target For Refusing To Stock Her Album." Business Insider (Yahoo Finance) 22 Dec. 2013. Web.
Promotion and marketing is essential for artists who have already established themselves in the music industry, including Beyonce and Pharrell. Beyonce’s marketing tactic was extremely bold and innovative, however it would not work for emerging artisits. The Entertainment Weekly article addresses this issue and explains how it all goes back to an artist’s leverage and popularity. The article explains how Beyonce’s “sneak attack capitalized on a perfect conflation of events” (Anderson 16). This includes the fact that she had not dropped an album since 2011; Perry, Gaga and Spears’s albums had not produced and her overwhelming fan base on social media. So, Beyonce was able to create the fast-selling album every on ITunes because of her hiatus and name.
ReplyDeleteNow, an artist like Aloe Blacc, who is on the up-and-coming, would have never been able to accomplish this task. This artist was able to promote himself through a multi-level marketing strategy. The new song and album were featured on countless commercials and social media platforms. The most popular commercials were the Beats Audio headphones that featured Tom Brady, Kevin Garnett and Colin Kaepernick. Also, they released the song just in time for the playoffs and Super Bowl, which allowed the song the spread like wildfire. Without this marketing strategy, the song and the artist would have never taken off properly.
But, for other established artists, like Drake or Kanye West, this technique would work properly. Like Beyonce, they have established enormous fan bases and have kept a steady voice on social media. Also, they do not even need to promote the album themselves. Their fan bases, which use social media at all times, will spread the word for them. People will flock to iTunes to hear what the buzz is about. Also, this strategy does not allow the songs to leak previously. By not dropping any singles, they allow the fans to choose which songs will be the big ones. It was clear on Beyonce’s album that the fans loved “Partition” and “Drunk in Love”, which have not left the radio since.
However, this technique poses a serious problem to stores like Amazon and Target. By releasing it online early, they do not have the same advantage as having it in stores the same day. Beyonce had given iTunes a one-week exclusive deal to sell the album. This takes away a ton of business. In fact, Amazon and Target have boycotted B’s new album according to the Business Insider article by Jim Edwards. While they are losing money, they are trying to make a statement to the music industry and artists. They believe if this technique is going to be used often, it will completely destroy their album sales. With B’s success in this marketing strategy, I do not think this technique will be going anywhere and it is foolish for these companies to make enemies with the hottest artists.
Anderson, Kyle. "Beyond Beyonce." Entertainment Weekly. 10 Jan. 2014: 15-16.
Edwards, Jim. "Beyonce Has Gone To War Against Amazon And Target For Refusing To Stock Her Album." Business Insider (Yahoo Finance) 22 Dec. 2013. Web.
Marketing is the ideal way to get your brand “out there” in society, and with the bombardment of ads we see daily, it is clear that most people have gotten the hang of it and are jumping on the marketing bandwagon. Through all sorts of outlets such as social media, radio, and TV commercials, bands and artists are constantly marketing themselves by advertising their new songs and albums. Especially with the radio, what better way is there to go about spreading the word about your new beats?
ReplyDeleteI distinctly remember all of the hype surrounding Justin Timberlake’s new album. Like Nicole mentions, JT did a hell of a lot of advertising and marketing to make sure his newest album sold. Sure, after years of not releasing anything new, he probably needed a little campaigning. However, JT has made himself a brand over the years; everyone calls him “JT” now because of it. Because of this self-branding, I am sure that true JT fans would have still bought his album over less advertising. Whatever he did, it worked. In the article “Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke post 2013's top-selling album, single” by Randy Lewis, we learn that even in a difficult year for album sales, JT still “sold 2.43 million copies during the year, the only album to top the 2 million mark in 2013.”
And then we have Beyoncé. Although Kyle Anderson reminds us in his article “Beyond Beyoncé” that she hasn’t released a full album since 2011, the queen of pop, hip-hop, and anything else ending in “op” still managed to go “platinum worldwide in just five days.” So why was it so easy for her to just drop a surprise album while JT campaigned for what seemed like a lifetime? Beyoncé has branded herself like no other. She stays in the spotlight, first with the Presidential Inauguration and then, as Anderson so eloquently put it, “hair-flipped her way through one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows ever.” She also is very active on social media and keeps in touch with her fans. Because Beyoncé has been so successful in branding and marketing herself, there was (clearly) no need for the marketing fanfare.
However, Queen Bey isn’t the only one out there who has made a brand of herself. Artists like Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga are also huge on social media and fan interaction. This being said, it is extremely possible for other highly branded artists to follow suit and have surprise album releases. Yet the unfortunate truth is that while other artists may very likely attempt the Beyoncé move with a surprise album, it is not as likely that they will be as successful. I believe this will be mostly due to the fact that Beyoncé set a standard in doing so by being the first person to pull a stunt like this. Another reason others may not find success in the process is the fear of backlash from stores like Target who got their panties in a bunch because they weren’t part of the exclusive deal Beyoncé had with iTunes. So although the possibility is there for other musical artists, the likelihood of equal or greater success simply is not.
Anderson, Kyle. "Beyond Beyonce." Entertainment Weekly 10 Jan. 2014: 15-16.
Lewis, Randy. "Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke Post 2013's Top-Selling Album, Single." Los Angeles Times 3 Jan. 2014. Web.
It’s no question that the most talked about album of 2013 was “Beyoncé.” Beyond the fact that she is Beyoncé and has been writing and producing great music for years, this album was especially amazing because it was a secret. The whole thing was a secret, no promotion or marketing for her album at all. I remember when this happened she was the entire buzz on social media. It seemed that everyone (social media friends and followers) had something to say. In general fans around the globe were thinking “this is why I love Queen B” or “only Beyoncé could pull this one off.” In the class reading “Beyond Beyoncé” by Kyle Anderson he says, “When pop historians inevitably look back at 2013, they’ll likely declare it the year of Beyoncé” (Anderson). This is a big part of the reason why the pop queen was able to pull this off; because of who she is as a performer and as a person. In 2013 she performed at the presidential inauguration, gave an incredible half time show at the Super Bowl halftime show, and traveled the world on her “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour” and that’s all before the release of her secret album. Does she ever sleep? Beyoncé is an artist who has always produced great music and hasn’t really stopped since the days of Destiny’s Child. Beyoncé’s fans are loyal and know they will love just about anything she releases. Not only is she a great writer, but also a great performer and producer of music, which today, seems like a rare quality in the music industry.
ReplyDeleteAlthough the album saw great success there was also some backlash. In today’s day and age it is said that everything is digital. Today we watch TV and movies on our computer and listen to music there too. Fewer and fewer people are going out and buying DVD’s; instead we will just wait for feature films to be available on Netflix. For music, it is even more of a rarity for fans to buy entire albums in the store, why not just download it from iTunes and directly loads it on your phone of iPod? Well, Beyoncé also kept this is in mind with the release of Beyoncé. According to the Business Insider article, “Beyoncé gave iTunes a one-week exclusive so sell the album, “Beyoncé,” and it shifted 600,000 units during the period at $15.99 each. That’s $9.5 million in total sales” (Edwards). This was iTunes biggest selling album ever. On the flip side, Target and Amazon were not happy and felt that they were at a disadvantage seeing as her album wasn’t available in a CD form until a week after its official release date. So, they decided that they would not carry her new album in their stores. Although I see their reasoning behind doing so, its Beyoncé and if you shut her out she will probably end up winning the battle. Beyoncé made an appearance at their rivals’ Wal-Mart and gave out $37,500 in Wal-Mart give cards to fans in the store. Seeing Beyoncé in a Wal-Mart isn’t exactly an every day occurrence so of course there was major buzz about it.
In the end although the album endured backlash from Target and Amazon it was a smart business more for her to sell it on iTunes first. The majority of fans today will buy albums online first and then maybe buy a hard copy just to have. Personally, I know friends of mine that are HUGE Beyoncé fans and bought her album on iTunes when it first came out and then went out to Wal-Mart to buy the hard copy just to have, to add to their “Beyoncé collection.”
Works Cited:
Anderson, Kyle. "Beyond Beyonce." Entertainment Weekly 10 Jan. 2014: 15-16.
Edwards, Jim. "Beyonce Has Gone To War Against Amazon And Target For Refusing To Stock Her Album." Business Insider (Yahoo Finance) 22 Dec. 2013. Web.