1 hour ago, Redporus said:

act ii already has a different font......hmmm wonder if RED is gonna be the colour for this album

 

 

it could be!

 

those three pics from the VOGUE UK where she's 1) on the disco ball 2) on the horse and 3) on the motorcycle have been stated to allude to the three types of music in the acts, and the one on the horse is overlaid with red.

2 minutes ago, swissman said:

it could be!

 

those three pics from the VOGUE UK where she's 1) on the disco ball 2) on the horse and 3) on the motorcycle have been stated to allude to the three types of music in the acts, and the one on the horse is overlaid with red.

Plus the opening tour outfit in red hmmm, even though this might just be to align with Verizon's company colour 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Cbreezy said:

Much as I want them to take the best bits of the Rennie launch, I do want to see a more aggressive retail push. 

 

Act II will not have the "Beyonce's back after six years' curiosity narrative, not to mention some of the Hive I've seen mentioning that they are "sitting this one out' because it's Country. 

 

TBH, the latter doesn't matter if they rope in a broader audience (Becky and co!). 

 

But Imma need sis to meet Becky and co where they are. Use the Amazon connect to have an "exclusive" edition there. Bring back the merch boxes, have multiple vinyl and CD covers ready to roll.

 

If this Sphere thing is true, they need to make the girls pre-order the album for "access" to the pre-sale, something I think Billboard still allow in a post-bundling world.

 

Say what y'all will about the Rennie era, the pre-launch activity was encouraging af. Like, it legit excited me to see her team playing ball in the context of what her peers are doing.

 

For an act like Bey at this age and stage, not only are total surprise drops kinda played out, they actually wouldn't work for her. Her audience is older and aren't streamers in the Drake, Kanye, Taylor, Ariana way. And even those pre-announce. 

 

In short, I want Bey to do all the things.

I think she's already in a better place than she was pre-RENAISSANCE though, as she's now firmly "returned" to music and radio and the charts. She's had a recent hit tour, a hit film, and still has a sort of "what's next?" mystery about things that puts her at a sort of advantage more than she had after releasing two (dare I say flop) side projects. Plus the abrupt genre switch is immediately a narrative of its own, and like you said though some fans denounce the genre, a great many more casual ones are being welcomed into this project.

1 minute ago, swissman said:

I think she's already in a better place than she was pre-RENAISSANCE though, as she's now firmly "returned" to music and radio and the charts. She's had a recent hit tour, a hit film, and still has a sort of "what's next?" mystery about things that puts her at a sort of advantage more than she had after releasing two (dare I say flop) side projects. Plus the abrupt genre switch is immediately a narrative of its own, and like you said though some fans denounce the genre, a great many more casual ones are being welcomed into this project.

I'm with this and I think we're largely on the same page being Team Optimistic Hive. 

 

I have a little trepidation attached to how hands-off she was during the Rennie album push. She achieved a lot off the back of organic, fan-driven buzz. I have flashbacks of them really and consistently trying to push Church Girl while Cuff It and Alien were going viral. She harnessed the hype of being "back" towards BMS going #1 (another fan-driven exercise) and plus the Rennie sound is super commercial so made the path to success way easier (for lack of a better word).

 

Granted, Texas can go viral, she won't have "as" much of the in-built "she's back" hype this time (as she just dropped in 2022 and has been pushing Rennie until recently). 

 

So, they (her team and label) have to really work for this one. Just on the merit of Country being Country (industrially), I already have tailored my expectations accordingly. As it's pretty much a given that Country radio won't carry this era.

 

With that, a well-oiled campaign should be able to at least ensure the following (which I see as a "successful" era for this particular record):

 

* A top 10 single (ideally more, but at least one. Which is basically the Lemonade edit).

 

* A #1 charting album 

 

* Solid launch sales (for this sound/era, I'll accept: 200k | expect: 250k-300k | be positively impressed by: anything over 300k). All, IMO, are doable with the right push.

 

* Eventual Platinum status

 

* lots of buzz/hype/controversy and the resulting think pieces (shows the era "meant" something pop culturally speaking)

 

We'll see.

 

1 minute ago, Cbreezy said:

 

So, they (her team and label) have to really work for this one. Just on the merit of Country being Country (industrially), I already have tailored my expectations accordingly. As it's pretty much a given that Country radio won't carry this era.

 

Usually I'm one of the first to whack her/her team but for this era I will stay out of it. The country industry is EXTREMELY exclusive. Tons of industry politics and bootlicking. Hell even 3 years ago the natural blonde tried to promote a song featuring THEE Chris Stapleton to country radio and it was REJECTED after the initial radio deal ended. I  just don't think it will be fair to criticize anything Team Parkwood does this era knowing what they have to go up against. 

 

 

It just hit me that act ii will be her most introspective album since Lemonade because Country music is all about storytelling. You can already tell by 16 Carriages

another masterpiece incoming

2 minutes ago, Machete said:

Usually I'm one of the first to whack her/her team but for this era I will stay out of it. The country industry is EXTREMELY exclusive. Tons of industry politics and bootlicking. Hell even 3 years ago the natural blonde tried to promote a song featuring THEE Chris Stapleton to country radio and it was REJECTED after the initial radio deal ended. I  just don't think it will be fair to criticize anything Team Parkwood does this era knowing what they have to go up against. 

I agree and recently learned of this. 

 

For that reason, I would like to think her team has various contingencies in place to ensure that she can still succeed commercially with this project and get her message across even if the format it represents (sonically) ironically passes on it.

 

In the most ideal sense, the hope is that either a) Texas goes viral (the feedback so far is encouraging) OR b) they have a major ace up their sleeve with a big pop bop (I keep envisioning something Rolling in the Deep esque) that can thrive without Country anything. 

 

In a way, if they play their cards right, she can pull off Country both sonically and narratively without ever having to engage that lane beyond the current playlisting spend they are doing now. It's a win-win.

Texas Hold em is being played on Pop radio so we just be grateful of that at this point. 

I doubt country will budge and they would be silly to rely on that 

7 minutes ago, Pheromosa said:

Texas Hold em is being played on Pop radio so we just be grateful of that at this point. 

I doubt country will budge and they would be silly to rely on that 

Yeah, all this focus on trying to push it on Country is just for optics atp. Pop Radio is where its at and what will determine the longevity of its chart success

7 minutes ago, Beyle Street said:

Yeah, all this focus on trying to push it on Country is just for optics atp. Pop Radio is where its at and what will determine the longevity of its chart success

True.

 

Columbia's radio pluggers did a solid job with both BMS and CI, so I hope those wallets are ready. 

 

We joke about payola (or whatever the "allowed" version of it is), but given how little physical promotion Bey actually does, there's actually no excuse for any slacking when it comes to radio and streaming push.

 

She for sure has a budget and as a label priority, it'll be a relatively big per-campaign budget at that.

 

Unlike her peers, for whom every SNL, award show, radio press day etc, comes out of their budget together with the payola, a large chunk of that spend will never be a factor for present-day Bey (who shuns promo). In short, the label have the resources to almost ensure her ish sticks.

Edited February 13, 20242 yr by Cbreezy

I agree with the crowd about country radio. To say it’s an uphill battle is an understatement Columbia/Parkwood could do some politicking and cut some checks, but if it doesn’t end up on country radio, maybe pop radio will do what needs to be done.

 

9 minutes ago, Beyle Street said:

Yeah, all this focus on trying to push it on Country is just for optics atp. Pop Radio is where its at and what will determine the longevity of its chart success

Agreed. If it takes off on pop and pop AC then we are good. I can also seeing it getting spins from rhythmic as well. Quite frankly, we do not need country radio. 

Not my Afrobeats ass living for Country-Bey like that. Ever since my infamous playlist and the release of these two Songs, im line dancing my way through my life lol 

 

It just gives me such a good feeling.

Where Rennie made me feel like the ***** I am and can be, this makes me fuzzy and warm and light

Forgive me patting myself on the back, but I was saying just a week ago she could drop in March and some people were acting like I was crazy. But that's not my point. When I was looking at the dates to see when she could drop before Taylor, I realized the Houston Rodeo is on February 27th. Do we think she'll drop the cover, title, and pre-order that day? I think it seems way too perfect a coincidence for her not to do something with it, maybe even attend. 

I’m calling it — act ii cover is going to be Beyoncé back on the horse, in a rearing position, and her with a cowboy hat on (probably) 

 

act iii will feature some sort of dark horse 

Edited February 13, 20242 yr by Brikenbur

1 hour ago, Anvarie said:

Y’all think she’s gonna be as naked as she was on the Renaissance album cover for Act II?

Yeah I hope the *** not.

The 16 carriages single cover is eating the THE one for that very reason.

 

1 hour ago, Redporus said:

You talking LSA girl? 

 

They have a HUGE Bey Stan audience over there, while many members don't like her she also has a ton of fans.

There are haters sure (as per usual for a female artist this monumental and black) but she also has a lot of stans there.

For every thread bashing her there are as many comments defending her.

I don't know what this atrl thought he was doing bringing up hater threads from Lipstick Alley lmfao

7 minutes ago, ShouldersSideways said:

Forgive me patting myself on the back, but I was saying just a week ago she could drop in March and some people were acting like I was crazy. But that's not my point. When I was looking at the dates to see when she could drop before Taylor, I realized the Houston Rodeo is on February 27th. Do we think she'll drop the cover, title, and pre-order that day? I think it seems way too perfect a coincidence for her not to do something with it, maybe even attend. 

Her at the Houston Rodeo would be ICONIC. 

4 minutes ago, ShouldersSideways said:

Forgive me patting myself on the back, but I was saying just a week ago she could drop in March and some people were acting like I was crazy. But that's not my point. When I was looking at the dates to see when she could drop before Taylor, I realized the Houston Rodeo is on February 27th. Do we think she'll drop the cover, title, and pre-order that day? I think it seems way too perfect a coincidence for her not to do something with it, maybe even attend. 

She needs to drop the pre-order link ASAP. 

 

I'm hella excited on one hand, but hella annoyed that they are wasting this initial wave of buzz on the singles alone. Maybe (just maybe) it's intentional to really give the songs a moment in the sun and set the tone. 

 

But 1 million tweets and #1 trending on Sunday has me confused as to why they didn't just go balls to the wall with a full-on announcement and pre-order to snatch those frenzied excitement sales. 

 

I'd like to think they have something big to help push the pre-order link.

I don't think it's crazy stans are pushing for a country song to be played on country radio

There is literally no legitimate reason for these radio stations to refuse playing 

"still see your faces when you close your eyes"

 

4 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

She needs to drop the pre-order link ASAP. 

 

I'm hella excited on one hand, but hella annoyed that they are wasting this initial wave of buzz on the singles alone. Maybe (just maybe) it's intentional to really give the songs a moment in the sun and set the tone. 

 

But 1 million tweets and #1 trending on Sunday has me confused as to why they didn't just go balls to the wall with a full-on announcement and pre-order to snatch those frenzied excitement sales. 

 

I'd like to think they have something big to help push the pre-order link.

I get it, but realistically i think they made the right move. Physical albums cater more to dedicated fans/stans, and those will tune in and purchase whenever they drop the pre-order

 

casuals, on the other hand, may check the songs on streaming but probably wouldnt buy an album more than 1 month in advance 

 

when she released the act II teaser i thought we were in for a Rennie reloaded (announce the álbum with pre-order, single a few days after, cover later), but i think they made the right choice focusing on the songs first

It’s crazy these songs are flopping with the SB announcement. They might pull a BMS and explode when the album is released tho

20 minutes ago, ShouldersSideways said:

Forgive me patting myself on the back, but I was saying just a week ago she could drop in March and some people were acting like I was crazy. But that's not my point. When I was looking at the dates to see when she could drop before Taylor, I realized the Houston Rodeo is on February 27th. Do we think she'll drop the cover, title, and pre-order that day? I think it seems way too perfect a coincidence for her not to do something with it, maybe even attend. 

Sunday, Friday, Tuesday

7 minutes ago, chaeyonce said:

I don't think it's crazy stans are pushing for a country song to be played on country radio

There is literally no legitimate reason for these radio stations to refuse playing 

I think it's complicated. There's clearly a racial component when it comes to Beyonce, but they're also circling the wagons. 

 

Country prides itself on being outside the Hollywood sphere and not being part of the establishment, even if that's not entirely true and they're actually just an establishment of their own. They are absolutely going to look at this as an outsider trying to pierce their bubble like they would with many other pop stars -- but factor in Beyonce is famously known as a champion of Black empowerment and a woman at that, they're going to be EXTREMELY resistant. 

 

She may be doing country songs, but they don't see her as a country artist.