Although mega-star Beyonce and her camp pulled off a “genius” marketing campaign in the release of her 14 track and 17 accompanying visuals for her new album, it seems, it will cost her. Retailer Target is refusing to sell the singer’s fifth studio album, ‘Beyonce’.
The surprising decision comes on the heels of the album’s iTunes success — selling 828,773 copies worldwide in just three day and going #1 in over 100 countries.
“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,” Target spokesperson Erica Julkowski tells Billboard.
She continues, “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. At this time, Target will not be carrying Beyonce’s new self-titled album ‘Beyonce.'”
Beyonce stunned fans and the music industry when she surprisingly released the visual album at midnight, Friday, December 13, 2013. The album was exclusively released through iTunes with no promotion or previous announcement the release was coming.
Physical copies of the album will, however, become available to retailers by Friday, Dec. 20th.
Where will you be able to get a copy? Walmart.
Walmart is “happy to be able to carry her album and support all physical music,” says Walmart spokesperson Sarah McKinney. (As per Walmart’s long-standing policy, they will only carry the non-explicit version of “Beyonce.”)
Do you agree with Target’s decision not to carry the album?
1 Comment
That’s exactly why Walmart stay winning!!! It’s Beyoncé, it’s gone sell regardless!