revert; these edits hold a strong Beyonce-bias and restructures the article to essentially convey that Beyonce is the only person to ever release a surprise album, and everyone else is just an imitator or did a faux surprise Tags: Manual revert nowiki added |
StatsFreak (talk | contribs) Undid revision 976427904 by Fezmar9 (talk) Beyoncé is highly credited with the surprise album concept - what is noted here is only a fraction of the cultural and significant impact her album created. The other examples aren't even "surprise" albums as they all had prior announcements, the fact they are still included here is being more than generous. Tag: Undo |
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A '''surprise album''' or '''surprise release''' refers to the release of an [[album]] with extremely minimal or no prior announcement, marketing or promotion. The strategy contrasts traditional album releases, which typically feature weeks or months of advertising in the form of singles, music videos, tour announcements and album pre-sales. Often, the release of a surprise album is the formal announcement of its release. This strategy developed in part due to the prevalence of album [[Internet leak|leak]]s on the Internet during the 2000s.
==
===Loose examples===
The English rock band [[Radiohead]]'s 2007 studio album ''[[In Rainbows]]'' is often credited as the first surprise album, despite being announced 10 days before it's release.<ref name="gigwise-5.20.16" /><ref name="diymag-3.25.19" /><ref name="themusicnetwork-9.29.19" /><ref name="consequenceofsound-5.5.16" /> Shortly after the release, Radiohead's guitarist Colin Greenwood stated the band had several motivations behind the album's release format, including the increased popularity of the internet as a tool for discovering music, frustrations with the traditional release and promotion format, the freedom of not being signed to a record label at the time, a desire to do something special and unique, and an interest in broadcasting their music directly to listeners globally at the same time.<ref name="index-9.13.10" /> It also served as a countermeasure to [[Internet leak]]s of albums, which had become prevalent at the time.<ref name="diymag-3.25.19"/> ''In Rainbows'' is also credited for starting the [[Pay what you want|pay-what-you-want]] model.<ref name="consequenceofsound-5.5.16" />
After ending a tumultuous relationship with Interscope Records in 2007, [[Nine Inch Nails]] independently released ''[[Ghosts I–IV]]'' and ''[[The Slip (album)|The Slip]]'' in 2008. Both were released for free (with the option to purchase higher-quality digital or physical editions) and were released under a [[Creative Commons license]] to allow fans the ability to edit and remix the new music as they desired.<ref name="nytimes-5.6.08" /> Nine Inch Nails manager Jim Guerinot said the idea to release the albums without prior announcement was to pre-empt a leak and control the marketing, stating: "Internet searches peak around the leak, not around the single or the album. By the time the album comes out, it's done."<ref name="rollingstone-5.29.08" /> An announcement alluding to a new album was made at least two weeks in advance.
In 2011, American rappers [[Jay-Z]] and [[Kanye West]] advertised false release dates for their collaborative album ''[[Watch the Throne]]'', in part an effort to pre-empt leaks. This strategy inspired the singer [[Frank Ocean]] to surprise-release his second album ''[[Channel Orange]]'' one week earlier than its publicized release date.<ref name="udiscover-6.2.19" />
Jay-Z and American singer [[Beyoncé]]<ref name="vulture-1.2.19" /> are often credited for popularizing the release strategy through multiple solo and collaborative releases. Beyoncé's 2013 self-titled album ''[[Beyoncé (album)|Beyoncé]]'' became the next most prominent surprise release after ''In Rainbows''. Harley Brown of ''[[Vulture.com|Vulture]]'' wrote, "Ever since Beyoncé's self-titled visual album appeared like a Christmas miracle on the iTunes store at midnight on a Thursday in December of 2013, the rules for how to release a record were rewritten literally overnight."<ref name="vulture-1.2.19" /> Sam Murphy of ''The Music Network'' paraphrased Beyoncé's verse on "[[Feeling Myself (Nicki Minaj song)|Feeling Myself]]" saying that she "changed the world with that digital drop by releasing her fifth album ''Beyoncé'' out of nowhere."<ref name="themusicnetwork-9.29.19" /> The singer would also adapt the release format for her follow-up album ''[[Lemonade (Beyoncé album)|Lemonade]]'' in 2016. Jay-Z surprise released his 2017 album ''[[4:44]]'', and the following year the couple surprise released the collaborative album ''[[Everything Is Love]]'' as [[The Carters]].<ref name="diymag-3.25.19" />▼
Some surprise albums created controversy. In 2014, Irish rock band [[U2]] partnered with [[Apple Inc.]] to release their thirteenth studio album ''[[Songs of Innocence (U2 album)|Songs of Innocence]]'' through the [[iTunes Store]] at no cost to half a billion people. The album was automatically added to users' music libraries in [[iTunes]], which for those with automatic downloads enabled, resulted in an unprompted download of the album to their electronic devices. Many users did not want the album and several months after the release were frustrated that they could not delete the album from their devices.<ref name="diymag-3.25.19" /><ref name="yahoo-2.23.15" /> David Sackllah of ''[[Consequence of Sound]]'' noted that "U2 and Apple deserve credit for thinking ambitiously, but they overestimated the band's relevance with fans, and many felt like the automatic download constituted an invasion of privacy."<ref name="consequenceofsound-5.5.16" /> American R&B singer [[Frank Ocean]] surprised released his visual album ''[[Endless (Frank Ocean album)|Endless]]'' to complete his contract with [[Def Jam]] in 2016 and quickly followed up with ''[[Blonde (Frank Ocean album)|Blonde]]'' a few days later independently, both as [[Apple Music]] exclusives. The act of Frank Ocean leaving Def Jam called into question surprise albums and exclusive digital releases. An anonymous Def Jam employee said to ''Buzzfeed'' at the time, "Our view is that giving exclusives to individual streaming platforms for long periods of time is not good for the artist, it's not good for the fans, and it limits the commercial opportunity for everybody involved."<ref name="buzzfeed-8.24.16" /> By 2019, ''Vulture'' and ''The Music Network'' published editorial articles questioning if the surprise album release format had peaked in popularity and effectiveness.<ref name="themusicnetwork-9.29.19" /><ref name="vulture-1.2.19" />
===Popularization===
▲
====Legacy====
The act of releasing a project without prior announcement is commonly referred to as "pulling a Beyoncé",<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6406019/pulling-a-beyonce-fleek-slang-terms|title=From 'Pulling a Beyonce' to 'On Fleek,' Slang Terms That Invaded 2014 {{!}} ''Billboard''|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]}}</ref> and has subsequently been executed by many artists, including [[Drake (musician)|Drake]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eonline.com/news/625414/drake-pulls-a-beyonce-drops-surprise-album-if-you-re-reading-this-it-s-too-late-on-itunes|title=Drake Pulls a Beyoncé, Drops Surprise Album ''If You're Reading This It's Too Late'' on iTunes {{!}} E! News|publisher=[[E!]]}}</ref> [[Kanye West]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/kanye-west-album-release-date-rapper-pulling-beyonce-dropping-swish-surprise-1533253|title=Kanye West album release date: Rapper pulling a Beyonce and dropping ''Swish'' as a surprise?|newspaper=[[International Business Times]]}}</ref> [[Kendrick Lamar]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@discoverLMS/pulling-a-beyonce-what-the-surprise-release-says-about-modern-marketing-4b0f5025a3dd|title=Pulling a Beyonce: What the "surprise release" says about Modern Marketing|publisher=[[Medium (website)|Medium]]}}</ref> [[Eminem]],<ref>{{cite news|url=https://metro.co.uk/2018/08/31/eminem-pulls-a-beyonce-and-drops-surprise-album-kamikaze-without-warning-7899337/|title=Eminem ''Kamikaze'' surprise album drops on streaming services {{!}} ''Metro News''|newspaper=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]]}}</ref> and [[Taylor Swift]].<ref name="billboard-7.23.20" /> After the [[International Federation of the Phonographic Industry]] (IFPI) announced Friday as the global record release day, ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]''{{'}}s Andrew Flanagan thought the album release was among the influencing points in the decision, writing: "After seven months of semi-public back-and-forth, a conversation instigated in part by Aussie piracy and Beyonce's surprise release in December 2013 has resulted in the global recording industry accepting Friday as the release date for new albums."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6487289/friday-global-record-release-day-ifpi|title=Industry Sets Friday as Global Record Release Day|newspaper=Billboard|access-date=2017-01-27}}</ref>
== Reception ==
|
Revision as of 23:19, 2 September 2020
A surprise album or surprise release refers to the release of an album with extremely minimal or no prior announcement, marketing or promotion. The strategy contrasts traditional album releases, which typically feature weeks or months of advertising in the form of singles, music videos, tour announcements and album pre-sales. Often, the release of a surprise album is the formal announcement of its release. This strategy developed in part due to the prevalence of album leaks on the Internet during the 2000s.
History
Loose examples
The English rock band Radiohead's 2007 studio album In Rainbows is often credited as the first surprise album, despite being announced 10 days before it's release.[1][2][3][4] Shortly after the release, Radiohead's guitarist Colin Greenwood stated the band had several motivations behind the album's release format, including the increased popularity of the internet as a tool for discovering music, frustrations with the traditional release and promotion format, the freedom of not being signed to a record label at the time, a desire to do something special and unique, and an interest in broadcasting their music directly to listeners globally at the same time.[5] It also served as a countermeasure to Internet leaks of albums, which had become prevalent at the time.[2] In Rainbows is also credited for starting the pay-what-you-want model.[4]
After ending a tumultuous relationship with Interscope Records in 2007, Nine Inch Nails independently released Ghosts I–IV and The Slip in 2008. Both were released for free (with the option to purchase higher-quality digital or physical editions) and were released under a Creative Commons license to allow fans the ability to edit and remix the new music as they desired.[6] Nine Inch Nails manager Jim Guerinot said the idea to release the albums without prior announcement was to pre-empt a leak and control the marketing, stating: "Internet searches peak around the leak, not around the single or the album. By the time the album comes out, it's done."[7] An announcement alluding to a new album was made at least two weeks in advance.
In 2011, American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West advertised false release dates for their collaborative album Watch the Throne, in part an effort to pre-empt leaks. This strategy inspired the singer Frank Ocean to surprise-release his second album Channel Orange one week earlier than its publicized release date.[8]
Some surprise albums created controversy. In 2014, Irish rock band U2 partnered with Apple Inc. to release their thirteenth studio album Songs of Innocence through the iTunes Store at no cost to half a billion people. The album was automatically added to users' music libraries in iTunes, which for those with automatic downloads enabled, resulted in an unprompted download of the album to their electronic devices. Many users did not want the album and several months after the release were frustrated that they could not delete the album from their devices.[2][9] David Sackllah of Consequence of Sound noted that "U2 and Apple deserve credit for thinking ambitiously, but they overestimated the band's relevance with fans, and many felt like the automatic download constituted an invasion of privacy."[4] American R&B singer Frank Ocean surprised released his visual album Endless to complete his contract with Def Jam in 2016 and quickly followed up with Blonde a few days later independently, both as Apple Music exclusives. The act of Frank Ocean leaving Def Jam called into question surprise albums and exclusive digital releases. An anonymous Def Jam employee said to Buzzfeed at the time, "Our view is that giving exclusives to individual streaming platforms for long periods of time is not good for the artist, it's not good for the fans, and it limits the commercial opportunity for everybody involved."[10] By 2019, Vulture and The Music Network published editorial articles questioning if the surprise album release format had peaked in popularity and effectiveness.[3][11]
Popularization
Beyoncé is often credited for popularizing the release strategy upon the success of her 2013 self-titled album Beyoncé. Unlike the previous examples, the album became the most prominent example of a surprise release after it was released exclusively to the iTunes Store on December 13, 2013 without any prior announcement or promotion. Throughout 2013, Beyoncé worked on the project in strict secrecy, sharing details of the album with a small circle of people and continually shifting the deadline, which was only finalized a week before its release.[12] She later explained that her intent was to reinstate the idea of an album release as a significant, exciting event which had lost meaning in the face of hype created around singles.[13] Beyoncé and her management company Parkwood Entertainment held meetings concerning its release with executives from Columbia Records and Apple, using the code name "Lily" for the album.[12] Harley Brown of Vulture wrote, "Ever since Beyoncé's self-titled visual album appeared like a Christmas miracle on the iTunes store at midnight on a Thursday in December of 2013, the rules for how to release a record were rewritten literally overnight."[11] Sam Murphy of The Music Network paraphrased Beyoncé's verse on "Feeling Myself" saying that she "changed the world with that digital drop by releasing her fifth album Beyoncé out of nowhere."[3] The singer would also adapt the release format for her follow-up album Lemonade in 2016. Jay-Z surprise released his 2017 album 4:44, and the following year the couple surprise released the collaborative album Everything Is Love as The Carters.[2]
Legacy
The act of releasing a project without prior announcement is commonly referred to as "pulling a Beyoncé",[14] and has subsequently been executed by many artists, including Drake,[15] Kanye West,[16] Kendrick Lamar,[17] Eminem,[18] and Taylor Swift.[19] After the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced Friday as the global record release day, Billboard's Andrew Flanagan thought the album release was among the influencing points in the decision, writing: "After seven months of semi-public back-and-forth, a conversation instigated in part by Aussie piracy and Beyonce's surprise release in December 2013 has resulted in the global recording industry accepting Friday as the release date for new albums."[20]
Reception
Rachel Finn of DIY said that while surprise albums were becoming too common to be truly surprising, "it gives artists breathing space to really make an impact and retain control over the way their music is released, pre-empting album leaks and taking their album out of the pre-album press cycle to let the music speak for itself."[2] Entrepreneur and freelance writer Cortney Harding wrote in a Medium article that while surprise albums give artists more flexibility, the strategy can usually only pay off for well-known musicians and can be problematic when the album is exclusive to a specific streaming service.[21] David Sackllah of Consequence of Sound noted that while many major artists had attempted a surprise release, few had matched or surpassed the level of excitement of In Rainbows.[4] Writing for The Ringer, Lindsay Zoladz expressed criticism toward overuse of the term that began to dilute its meaning as music journalists were using "surprise album" to describe albums that were previously announced. Zoladz stated:
"'Surprise album' has become such a ubiquitous term that its meaning becomes more vague with each passing tweet. (Last month the Chicago Tribune even used it to describe Drake's Views, an album that not only had a previously announced release date, but which Drake himself had been teasing for the better part of two years.) But even when the phrase is used more precisely, it's becoming a bit hollow; we're living through a deluge of albums — even something as long promised as Rihanna's Anti — that lay claim to that trendy term 'surprise,' but have, like Lemonade, given us a lot of hints that they were coming."[22]
Prominent surprise albums
The following is a non-exhaustive list of surprise albums in chronological order.
- Radiohead – In Rainbows (2007)[1][2][4]
- Nine Inch Nails – Ghosts I–IV and The Slip (2008)[6][7]
- Frank Ocean – Channel Orange (2012)[8][1]
- Beyoncé – Beyoncé (2013)[4][8]
- U2 – Songs of Innocence (2014)[4][8]
- Drake – If You're Reading This It's Too Late (2015)[23][24]
- Beyoncé – Lemonade (2016)[2][8]
- Eminem – Kamikaze (2018)[25][26][27]
- Childish Gambino – Donald Glover Presents / 3.15.20 (2020)[28][29]
- Taylor Swift – Folklore (2020)[30][19][31]
References
- ^ a b c Butler, Ben (May 20, 2016). "The 10 greatest surprise album drops ever - ranked". Gigwise. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Finn, Rachel (March 25, 2019). "Out Of The Blue: A Brief History Of The Surprise Album". DIY. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c Murphy, Sam (September 29, 2019). "Why the surprise album drop is falling in popularity". The Music Network. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sackllah, David (May 5, 2016). "Why Radiohead Is the Only Rock Band to Perfect the Surprise Album Release". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ Greenwood, Colin (September 13, 2010). "Radiohead's Colin Greenwood: Set yourself free". Index on Censorship. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Leeds, Jeff (May 6, 2008). "Nine Inch Nails Album Is Free Online". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ a b Serpick, Evan (May 29, 2008). "Nine Inch Nails Release Free Album Online". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Smith, Da'Shan (June 2, 2019). "Surprise Albums: 17 Drops That Shocked The Music World". uDiscoverMusic. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ Bean, Daniel (February 23, 2015). "From My Inbox: People Are Still Trying to Get U2's Free Album off Their iPhones". Yahoo! Finance. Verizon Media. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ Ugwu, Reggie (August 24, 2016). "Frank Ocean's Apple Deal Was A Wake-Up Call For The Music Industry". BuzzFeed. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Brown, Harley (January 2, 2019). "Does the Surprise Album Release Still Work?". Vulture. New York. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ a b Hampp, Andrew (December 13, 2013). "How Beyonce's 'Beyonce' Stayed Secret Until the Day of Release, Its First Singles". Billboard. Retrieved December 14, 2013.
{{cite web}}
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(help) - ^ Heinzerling, Zachary (Director) (December 13, 2013). "Self Titled" Part 1. The Visual Album (Short film, documentary). Retrieved March 26, 2014.
- ^ "From 'Pulling a Beyonce' to 'On Fleek,' Slang Terms That Invaded 2014 | Billboard". Billboard.
- ^ "Drake Pulls a Beyoncé, Drops Surprise Album If You're Reading This It's Too Late on iTunes | E! News". E!.
- ^ "Kanye West album release date: Rapper pulling a Beyonce and dropping Swish as a surprise?". International Business Times.
- ^ "Pulling a Beyonce: What the "surprise release" says about Modern Marketing". Medium.
- ^ "Eminem Kamikaze surprise album drops on streaming services | Metro News". Metro.
- ^ a b Rowley, Glenn (July 23, 2020). "Swifties Flip Over Taylor Swift's Surprise Album Announcement: 'There Are Still Good Things in 2020'". Billboard. MRC. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ "Industry Sets Friday as Global Record Release Day". Billboard. Retrieved 2017-01-27.
- ^ Harding, Courtney (August 5, 2016). "Surprise Album Releases are Terrible". Medium. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ Zoladz, Lindsay (June 1, 2016). "Save the Term 'Surprise' for Albums That Are Actually Surprising". The Ringer. Spotify. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ Ramirez, Erika; Hampp, Andrew (February 12, 2015). "Drake Releases Surprise Album 'If You're Reading This It's Too Late'". Billboard. MRC. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ McSpadden, Kevin (February 13, 2015). "Drake Just Dropped a New Album Called If You're Reading This It's Too Late". Time. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
- ^ Shifferaw, Abel; Skelton, Eric (August 31, 2018). "A Roundup of Rappers Eminem Name-Drops and Takes Shots at on Kamikaze". Complex.
- ^ Thompson, Desire (August 31, 2018). "Joe Budden and 16 Other People Eminem Dissed on Kamikaze Album". Vibe.
- ^ Purdom, Clayton (September 6, 2018). "Eminem's Bad New Album Has Created a Vortex of Bad Rap Beefs". The A.V. Club.
- ^ Kreps, Daniel (March 15, 2020). "Donald Glover Surprise Releases Collection of New Music". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ Elassar, Alaa (March 15, 2020). "Donald Glover just dropped a surprise album featuring Ariana Grande and SZA". CNN. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
- ^ "Taylor Swift's Surprise New 'Folklore' Album: What a Great (And Overdue) Idea!". Billboard. 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2020-07-29.
- ^ Canal, Alexandra; Guzman, Zack (July 24, 2020). "Taylor Swift drops surprise album 'Folklore' as fans rejoice". Yahoo! Finance. Verizon Media. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
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