5 minutes ago, Machete said:

Regarding the Lemonade/Tidal situation, I always thought she should’ve done a similar rollout to what she did for ST. Release the singles on every platform, but make the album exclusive for a year. Adele also did the same for 25.

 

I do wonder how she feels about her decision back then though. Between her, Taylor and Adele all pushing back against streaming during that era, it was clear they were very uncomfortable with the concept. I wonder if she’s still hesitant but complies now because it is impossible to not, or if she’s accepted it and looks back at her previous hesitation in embarrassment.

 

Personally, I would be a tiny bit embarrassed. They were very conceited to think that they would be able to halt new technology and have consumers act in their worst interests

She went to Taylor's birthday party in 2014 pretty obviously to network and get her on TIDAL so I assume TIDAL was being planned at least a year before that. It's not that she was particularly against streaming as the future, it's that she and Jay thought they'd be able to capitalize on it.

1 minute ago, swissman said:

No single would have had a higher peak if she still hadn't released it to Spotify and Apple Music though. TIDAL has nothing to do with it and her desire to keep it off streaming has everything to do with it.

I didn't think the conversation was "would Lemonade have had better peaks if it was on streaming?", but one about the impact TIDAL had on her career, of which I think it's very little...if as you said she chose to leave Lemonade on TIDAL, then there would be nothing stopping her, meaning even if TIDAL wasn't around she probably wouldn't have made it available elsewhere either...something she had done already with ST before TIDAL was even a thing.

She would’ve released to Spotify though, at least the singles like ST. She released Formation on TIDAL only to get people to go there. That would’ve peaked at #1. She used that album to promote TIDAL, when all the others abandoned it, she is the biggest loser from it. 

4 minutes ago, Machete said:

Regarding the Lemonade/Tidal situation, I always thought she should’ve done a similar rollout to what she did for ST. Release the singles on every platform, but make the album exclusive for a year. Adele also did the same for 25.

 

I do wonder how she feels about her decision back then though. Between her, Taylor and Adele all pushing back against streaming during that era, it was clear they were very uncomfortable with the concept. I wonder if she’s still hesitant but complies now because it is impossible to not, or if she’s accepted it and looks back at her previous hesitation in embarrassment.

 

Personally, I would be a tiny bit embarrassed. They were very conceited to think that they would be able to halt new technology and have consumers act in their worst interests

I've alluded to it above, but I think even if Beyoncé was wrong about the importance streaming would have on sales and consumption, her decisions to withhold from streaming was also at least partially motivated by the overall change in strategy exhibited throughout 2013, namely:

• her near total lack of promotion
  • including the traditional album rollout (interviews, release dates, lead singles etc. etc.)
• her concerted effort to increase album-output quality
• the surprise factor to drive immediate interest from a word-of-mouth standpoint (ie. higher affinity than just seeing an ad)
• the use of a "visual album" to differentiate herself in the market but also add a layer of prestige and luxury to her work
  • ie. higher price tag
  • the idea that when you buy the album you're not just getting an album, but an entire experience, quality, craft
    • similar to how luxury brands approach their product: yes it's a $3,000 coat but the concept, the craftsmanship, the materials, etc. are all supposed to be so elevated that it's "worth it"

 

Her sales-only exclusivity helped play into all the above imo. It helped to shift  her from an average pop icon into legend, someone with an air of royalty and luxury about her, and we can see the way people started talking about her after 2013 with that of intense awe and the unshakable obviousness of her greatness.

 

The inaccessibility of her newer music on streaming platforms in the early streaming days may have hindered success, but it also ... like a Louis Vuitton bag, made what she puts out seem a certain way. And at that point in her career (and still) I think having got a career of hits already, she's far more focused on overall brand and how she's seen as an artist than how well or not an album does on the charts.

She knew Tidal would affect her streaming numbers but she believed in its vision and wanted to support jay. Ultimately it only affected her in small way and she still gets to say she was part-owner of the first artist-owned and black-owned streaming service 

Beyoncé would have sabotaged her music with or without TIDAL. She was uploading songs to SoundCloud and Formation was an unlisted video. 

12 minutes ago, Shelter said:

She would’ve released to Spotify though, at least the singles like ST. She released Formation on TIDAL only to get people to go there. That would’ve peaked at #1. She used that album to promote TIDAL, when all the others abandoned it, she is the biggest loser from it. 

Would she have though?

 

She didn't even give Formation a public video or send it to radio, what suggests she'd have put the song on Spotify if it weren't for TIDAL?

 

I believe she released the song on TIDAL (and gave it away for free there) so as to not mix commerce and message. Formation being her first foray into pointedly political messaging and using very clear imagery from the BLM movement. Here, and for Lemonade, I think she was more focused on separating art and commerce with a sensitivity towards the fact that she's one of the most commercial popstars of her time and could very well be seen as trying to capitalize on social unrest.

 

Even Hold Up was made a single in May 2016 but only appeared on her BeyonceVevo channel on her birthday in September.

 

She just wasn't trying at all to get hits and I don't think it had to do with sacrificing her best/biggest/most important work just to benefit a streaming platform no one else was clearly putting work into.

 

 

Edited January 4, 20233 yr by swissman

The Lemonade conversation hurts my soul. Make it stop. She got the pure sales. She will be one of the last artists outside of Taylor and Adele to sell 1 million pure off one album. But she should not have withheld that album off streaming for 3 years.

 

We see the results with Renaissance despite sis not lifting a finger. This is her highest peaking album in its 22nd week and she's about to get another top 10 hit without lifting a finger. If I remember correctly, Beyonce kept Lemonade afloat with to her tv performances, the visuals and tour. She literally put all she had into an era for 9 months and left. Now look, she's doing way less work on the surface and is prepping for a tour that will undoubtedly be her biggest yet. 

 

Despite the anger, we have alot to look forward. We should be thankful that the music is that good and the GP is genuinely interested.

i always thought she should've put Lemonade on streaming platforms after Grammy night 2017. the album was pretty much completed in terms of promotion and pure sales, streaming from then would've helped so much with the longevity.

 

i also understand why she didn't really choose to release singles because she wanted the project to be consumed as an album and not another popstar project. after all, she performed literally every song off the album except the interlude.

 

Superbowl- Formation

BET Awards- Freedom

VMA- Formation, Sorry, Hold Up, Don't Hurt Yourself, Pray You Catch Me

CMA- Daddy Lessons

Tidal X- 6 Inch, All Night

Grammys- Sandcastles, Love Drought

34 minutes ago, swissman said:

Would she have though?

 

She didn't even give Formation a public video or send it to radio, what suggests she'd have put the song on Spotify if it weren't for TIDAL?

 

I believe she released the song on TIDAL (and gave it away for free there) so as to not mix commerce and message. Formation being her first foray into pointedly political messaging and using very clear imagery from the BLM movement. Here, and for Lemonade, I think she was more focused on separating art and commerce with a sensitivity towards the fact that she's one of the most commercial popstars of her time and could very well be seen as trying to capitalize on social unrest.

 

Even Hold Up was made a single in May 2016 but only appeared on her BeyonceVevo channel on her birthday in September.

 

She just wasn't trying at all to get hits and I don't think it had to do with sacrificing her best/biggest/most important work just to benefit a streaming platform no one else was clearly putting work into.

 

 

Yes I believe she would. The video was on tidal, she basically wanted everyone to go there and sign up for her stuff. If TIDAL didn’t exist, then she would have no reason to do that to her singles. If it was about the message, she could have sold it and made profit to donate. 
 

 

44 minutes ago, PrettyHurts said:

She knew Tidal would affect her streaming numbers but she believed in its vision and wanted to support jay. Ultimately it only affected her in small way and she still gets to say she was part-owner of the first artist-owned and black-owned streaming service 

That’s the funny part, he didn’t do the same with his album.  

Beyonce is lucky she has fans to do the work, I havent heard her actual MUSIC mentioned in awhile before Cuff It.

 

BMS came and went tbh, Cuff It is her first true hit with the gp since Formation imo.

U can tell Bey is in a weird spot:

 

She obviously HATES being a popstar with all her passion. Like theres no doubt - she hates being recognized, she hates meeting deadlines, she hates labels, she literally hates working.

 

On the other hand, she clearly loves being an artist, creating music, coming up with shows, and first and foremost, her LUXURY. She loves the money, u can tell that. 

 

While I understand this, I'll never understand why Team Beyonce is not able to come up with ideas of maximizing her incoming and money with creative ideas that do not feed into anything she hates - have a sit in interview with someone she Admires and likes, where the focus is on the music and her talking professionally about it. Why not have digital performances that are acoustic set up from her home?

These little things would help so so much from a fan perspective, would help boost the eras longevity and thus her income..  like idgi

Edited January 4, 20233 yr by *-ChriZ-*

36 minutes ago, satellites.™ said:

Beyonce is lucky she has fans to do the work, I havent heard her actual MUSIC mentioned in awhile before Cuff It.

 

BMS came and went tbh, Cuff It is her first true hit with the gp since Formation imo.

Formation was hit hit but BMS wasn’t? This makes no sense 

3 minutes ago, ToraeGilt said:

Formation was hit hit but BMS wasn’t? This makes no sense 

In the US it actually makes sense. BMS units are pretty low and the recurrents are  It will take YEARS before it even reaches 2x Platinum. 3x Plat like Formation? Maybe by the time Blue is 2 albums in 

42 minutes ago, satellites.™ said:

Beyonce is lucky she has fans to do the work, I havent heard her actual MUSIC mentioned in awhile before Cuff It.

 

BMS came and went tbh, Cuff It is her first true hit with the gp since Formation imo.

Not true. Break My Soul was big in some places. 

 

Any song that is platinum, let alone a # 1 hot 100 single is a hit. Now if we want to talk about BMS Vs. Cuff It on Impact, sure….

BMS came and went, it was a hit sure, but it fell off because there was no true push. CUFF IT, is Beyoncé's biggest GP hit since like Halo. It's a song for everybody but in true Beyoncé fashion much of its potential (regardless of where it peaks) isn't going to be met. If it wasn't for the fans & Tik Tok this album will be another by Beyoncé to come and go without scoring hits which is why her last couple albums have poor recurrent streams and haven't charted in years.

 

I'm happy for CUFF IT though.

Edited January 4, 20233 yr by Planet Mars

No but for real, something has to have happened behind the scenes, this **** ain't normal 0 performances after 6 months, it's just so sad i cannot.

Just now, MrPiggyMoka said:

No but for real, something has to have happened behind the scenes, this **** ain't normal 0 performances after 6 months, it's just so sad i cannot.

It’s really sad. Maybe we Bey will shed some light on things when the ball finally starts rolling.

1 hour ago, Shelter said:

Yes I believe she would. The video was on tidal, she basically wanted everyone to go there and sign up for her stuff. If TIDAL didn’t exist, then she would have no reason to do that to her singles. If it was about the message, she could have sold it and made profit to donate. 
 

 

I'm still not convinced of that. I agree her exclusivity to TIDAL was clearly meant to help the platform gain subscribers (which it did). I just don't think that was the motive, but rather a convenient bonus to what she had already been doing: making her music more exclusive or delivered in ways that prioritizes message over chart placements.

 

Not sending Formation to radio, releasing it to YouTube as a private link making all its views ineligible for Billboard charts further demonstrates this, I think. If she really wanted TIDAL subscribers above all else, why put it on YouTube at all, free for anyone who had the link to watch it as many times as they'd like?

Not to mention, by giving the song away for free on TIDAL's homepage (you literally didn't even have to subscribe to download it), it seems her motive was more about sharing the message without direct commercial gain than luring subscribers.

 

She is vile for never releasing that 6 inch performance, and posting a trailer for it on youtube to promote tidal is disturbing

Did any insider spill any tea lately? Can we expect anything this month?

 

 

Edited January 4, 20233 yr by Mr. Specialist

Just now, Mr. Specialist said:

Did anybody spill any tea lately? Can we expect anything this month?

Aprils fools is in 4 months boo

I’ve never been able to scrub Bey saying she wants to be like Sade and Prince from my memory. 

 

The fact that she didn’t stop to think “did Sade or Prince have a clothing line?”, “did Sade or Prince have multimillion dollar endorsement deals with problematic brands?”, or “did Sade and Prince expect to be able to do worldwide stadium tours?”. 

 

No, no, and no. 

 

That’s the single most annoying thing she’s ever said to me.