- Artists are starting to take a cue from Beyoncé, who released a surprise album to avoid leaked tracks. Courtesy of Flickr
By Mackenzie Gentry
On Dec. 13, 2013, the world changed forever. Over the shrill scream of girls, blaring radios and showers of sparkling magic, one message rang clear: Beyoncé had released a surprise album, a revolutionary first for the music industry that is proving now to be a trend.
The act was directed to combat the ever-increasing influence of internet hackers on the music industry. According to an analytical study conducted by the Institute for Policy Innovation, piracy of online music is responsible for $12.5 billion in economic losses each year. Even more disturbing is the personal harm caused by illegal downloading and distribution of online music. Last year, over 71,000 jobs were lost due to piracy and internet hackers. Not only is this black market business hurt- ing musicians, but it also impacts others who work in the industry.
Given this, it is not surprising that artists are increasingly attempting to combat piracy. Beyoncé’s surprise release of her album Beyoncé is just one example of an innovative way to dodge the hackers. In addition, it generated quite a bit of press attention and publicity recognition.
However, Queen B’s radical move received some negative feedback from other outlets in the music world. Target released a public statement condemning Beyoncé’s “reckless” actions. The store refused to sell her surprise album because it supposedly disrupted the traditional economy of the music trade.
Yet in the grand scheme of things, Beyoncé’s actions were geared primarily to help the music industry, not hurt it. Large retail stores like Target and WalMart might suffer in response to new distribution techniques, but the main purpose of surprise releases and other such ideas is to ultimately combat hackers that could impact the music industry on a much more dangerous scale.
Queen B is not the only musical idol opting for new ways to release music and fight the hackers. Rihanna is the next pop star rumored to be prepping a surprise album. “Degrassi” star turned hip- hop god Drake is also taking part in the movement. In preparation for his upcoming album, follow- ing 2013’s Nothing Was The Same, Drake pre-posted three digital tracks: “6 God,” “Heat of the Moment” and “How Bout Now,” on his music label OVO’s Sound Cloud. The release of the songs came as a surprise not only to Drake’s fans, but the entire music industry.
Drake’s decision to share the music before the album’s official release was largely to refute any hacking attempts. Drake explained on Twitter, “That wasn’t an EP. Just three songs that I knew some hackers had. But enjoy! Back to this album.”
By doing this, Drake allowed his fans access to the music they wanted without having to go to illegal piracy and digital music downloading sites to get it. This quick move also enabled him to maintain artistic control of his music. Also, just as in Beyoncé’s case, Drake received a massive amount of publicity for the surprise release which benefitted the overall sale of the album.
The latest surprise release is most likely familiar to a large population of the world, i.e. everyone with an iPhone. Pop band U2 broke the musical barriers with the digital release of its most recent album, Songs of Innocence. Originally, the band made a deal with iTunes to provide a free download of the album to all Apple customers. However, the plan backfired when a glitch in the system automatically downloaded the entire album to nearly all Apple devices. U2’s newest hits were nestled in the palms of half a billion people.
The release generated more negative attention than positive, as claims of privacy infringement arose. To make matters worse, there seemed to be no feasible way to get the album off, if you didn’t want it in your iTunes library. In sum, U2 may have successfully won the war against potential music hackers, but they failed miserably in the PR sector.
In a world dominated by digital media and online activity, the entertainment business is struggling to create ways to combat hackers and piracy. However, surprise album releases are, for the most part, working splendidly to protect the financial and social standings of the entire music industry.
