Beyoncé releases album with no promotion, sells 430K

I don't know how many have kept up with this, but Beyoncé released her self-titled 5th studio album on December 13th. What's crazy is, she released it with no promotion whatsoever, no one had any idea she was even releasing an album at all. Released along side 17 videos as well.

She sold 430K in the first day of digital sales. She is projected to sell 600K in the first week.



LA Times:

A day after stealthily dropping her latest album, Beyoncé has risen to the top spot on iTunes in the U.S. -- and pretty much everywhere else.

As much of the country was tucking into bed Thursday night, the singer suddenly announced that her new album was suddenly available for purchase on Apple's storefront.

The album, currently available as an iTunes exclusive, features 14 new tracks and 17 accompanying music videos that saw a staggering 80,000 downloads in just three hours after its release.  

By Saturday, the album topped the iTunes chart in 100 countries and is soaring toward a No. 1 debut atop next week’s Billboard 200.



On Nielsen SoundScan’s Building chart, the singer nabbed the top slot on Friday with just a few hours of sales under her belt. The Building chart, which tracks the first four days of SoundScan's tracking week, is an indicator of what the final Billboard 200 chart will look like.

“The fact that the album is able to do this kind of early number, and without any set up or notice, speaks not only to her incredibly active fan base, but also to the immediacy of information and consumption,” Nielsen Senior Vice President David Bakula told Pop & Hiss.

Sales figures, through Sunday, will be reflected in Wednesday's Soundscan data.
Next week, two of the album’s tracks will be simultaneously serviced as the album’s lead singles, according to a Billboard report.

The Pharrell Williams-produced disco-soul dazzler, “Blow,” is headed to Top 40 radio and the woozy, Jay Z assisted “Drunk in Love” for R&B/hip-hop stations. Bakula added that a number of songs from the album are already affecting the Mainstream R&B/Hip Hop and Adult R&B Building Charts.

The “visual” album is currently a digital-only release. A double disc CD/DVD will be available Dec. 21, and individual tracks will become available for download Dec. 20.


LA TIMES




Billboard:


Beyonce’s self-titled surprise release, which hit iTunes exclusively on Thursday evening (9 p.m. PT), has now sold over 430,000 units in just over one day, guaranteeing it the top slot on the Billboard 200 once that chart’s top 10 is revealed mid-week.


As reported yesterday, “Beyonce” shifted slightly over 80,000 in the three hours from 9 p.m. PT to midnight on Thursday evening, putting her Friday sales at roughly 350,000. With two more days left in the sales tracking week, the title could sell over 600,000 before the buzzer sounds.


The iTunes exclusive “visual” album, retailing for $15.99 contains 14 tracks- not available for a la carte purchases until Dec. 20- and 14 accompanying videos, along with other bonus video content. No set date has been announced for the CD release to physical retailers or of its availability on other digital download sites.


At 430,000, “Beyonce” is already set to become the biggest debuting album by a female artist since Taylor Swift sold an astounding 1.2 million copies of “Red” in the week corresponding to Billboard 200 chart dated Nov 10, 2012. And if predictions in the 600,000 range hold, the set would grant Beyonce the best debut week- and best sales week period- of her career. Her 2006 album “B’day” started with 541,000 in September 2006.


BILLBOARD




UPDATE:

Beyonce sold another 120K on day 2, bringing her total sales to 550K in 2 days.


Billboard:

Beyonce's surprise self-titled album is all but guaranteed a No. 1 debut on the Billboard 200 chart this week. Industry sources suggest its sales have grown to over 550,000 in the U.S. through Saturday (14) night. The album may sell 600,000 by the end of the tracking week on Sunday, Dec. 15.

"Beyonce's" expected debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, along with its official Nielsen SoundScan sales figure (through the end of the tracking week on Dec. 15), will be revealed mid-week.


BILLBOARD



UPDATE #2:

BEYONCÉ Shatters iTunes Store Records With 828,773 Albums Sold in Just Three Days
Best First Week Album Sales & Number One in 104 Countries

CUPERTINO, California—December 16, 2013—Apple® today announced that BEYONCÉ has become the fastest selling album ever on the iTunes Store® worldwide with an unprecedented 828,773 albums sold in just its first three days. BEYONCÉ also broke the US first week album sales record with 617,213 sold and proved to be a global success going to number one in 104 countries.

The self-titled, BEYONCÉ, is the fifth solo studio album from Beyoncé, which was made available exclusively worldwide on the iTunes Store on December 13 by Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records. The self-titled set is the artist’s first visual album. BEYONCÉ is infused with 14 new songs and 17 visually stunning, provocative videos shot around the world from Houston to New York City to Paris, and Sydney to Rio de Janeiro, all before the album’s release. The album represents Beyoncé’s biggest sales week ever.


APPLE

 

That's a boss move that can't be done by too many people.

King wrote:That's a boss move that can't be done by too many people.

No it's da illoominatee. Duh. 

That's awesome. Hopefully more artists will do this in the future. Half of these labels suck at promoting anyway and wind up just wasting their money. 600K is probably around the same amount of numbers (or more) she would do with weeks/months of promotion anyway.

That's insane. I personally don't give two shits about the album but that is something to be proud of.

550k in 2 days now, updated.

that fact that there was no promotion is promotion itslef

Updated, looks like Beyonce breaking records, unprecedented.