Si Hawkins
The surprise emergence of Beyoncé’s new album capped a year in which such releases became an increasingly viable tactic, for some.
Most artists still rely on months of pre-publicity to maximise their all-important first week sales, and the subsequent chart placing. But those with a big enough profile are now choosing to eschew that long-established system, safe in the knowledge that the shock wave from a sudden release will cause enough publicity of its own.
The trendsetters for this bold departure were Radiohead, who staggered the industry by announcing, then self-releasing, their album The King of Limbs within a week in February 2011 (initially as a download). Always averse to media duties, they published their own newspaper to publicise the full CD release.
More of a surprise was the announcement on January 7 this year of a forthcoming album, The Next Day, by David Bowie, his first for 10 years, and the immediate release of a new single. Rumours surrounding the legendary British rock star's low-profile had suggested ill health rather than recording sessions, and so the news that he had quietly made a whole album, plus videos, challenged the burgeoning impression that nothing is secret in the age of social networking.
The equally secretive British rock band My Bloody Valentine had waited even longer to make a new record, and went one better than Bowie a month later, suddenly self-releasing their whole album via their website. After a 22-year wait, the lack of any official build-up was a suitably outré move.
The kings of the sudden release are arguably the Californian hip-hop act Death Grips, however. In November they released their new album, Government Plates, for free, via their Facebook page. This was not surprising as the band had done something similar with their debut album a year earlier, although that did shock their record label, who had been preparing a conventional release campaign. Unsurprisingly, Death Grips and the label soon parted company.
As for the Beyoncé record, it sold 80,000 copies in the first three hours of its exclusive appearance on iTunes, and the singer issued a lengthy statement explaining the rush-release. “I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out,” she explained. “I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans.”
Perhaps the singer will find an entirely new method for releasing her records in the future. As she sings on one new track, Ghosts: "All these record labels, boring."
For the moment, though, her proper CDs are being produced as we speak.
artslife@thenational.ae
