25 minutes ago, Kingdom said:

some of you are expecting her to do taylor numbers or any of these new girls......the fact that beyonce 27 years into her career has a lead single outperforming ariana's much anticipated comeback single is a WIN. Bey has absolutely nothing to prove to anyone, she doesn't need to have a song be a monster streaming smash, she does not need a flowers because she already a song that spent 10 weeks at no 1. She has done it all....everything now is a bonus. The sooner some of you understand that, the better you can actually get into the music and stop obsession over falls on spotify.

 

Also i think it is wayyy more impressive that bey released a country song that is MORE global than her last 4 or 5 lead singles. That is insane and i totally did not see that coming.

No one is expecting her to do Taylor numbers. We are expecting her to do Beyonce numbers, which is 300k+ upwards. 

 

We don't want her selling the lowest of her career when she has a very easy path to selling "her norm" or even better. 

 

It baffles me how much some of the Hive delight in her "Queen" status but have no clue or investment in the things that actually make her the...Queen. 

 

I can appreciate that some ONLY consume Bey musically, so have no particular interest in her commercial performance. 

 

But it's safe to say that most of the Hive enjoy the position she occupies in music and pop culture. A position that is DIRECTLY INFORMED by her commercial performance.

 

Big first-week sales, multi-platinum albums, huge tours, and big business moves. Each thing ALLOWS for the next and collectively upholds the "Beyonce is Queen" brand alongside her creative output. 

 

So, you, we, and she can't have our cake and eat it too. 

 

She either plays the game properly and optimally and reaps the rewards. Or doesn't play the game, rests on her legacy, and expedites her path to legacy act status. I somehow don't buy that the vast majority of us are ready for her to tap out of being a top-tier, center of the Pop cultural conversation artist.

 

So that is why the current lack of preorder, title, etc is justifiably jarring af.

19 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

No one is expecting her to do Taylor numbers. We are expecting her to do Beyonce numbers, which is 300k+ upwards. 

 

We don't want her selling the lowest of her career when she has a very easy path to selling "her norm" or even better. 

 

It baffles me how much some of the Hive delight in her "Queen" status but have no clue or investment in the things that actually make her the...Queen. 

 

I can appreciate that some ONLY consume Bey musically, so have no particular interest in her commercial performance. 

 

But it's safe to say that most of the Hive enjoy the position she occupies in music and pop culture. A position that is DIRECTLY INFORMED by her commercial performance.

 

Big first-week sales, multi-platinum albums, huge tours, and big business moves. Each thing ALLOWS for the next and collectively upholds the "Beyonce is Queen" brand alongside her creative output. 

 

So, you, we, and she can't have our cake and eat it too. 

 

She either plays the game properly and optimally and reaps the rewards. Or doesn't play the game, rests on her legacy, and expedites her path to legacy act status. I somehow don't buy that the vast majority of us are ready for her to tap out of being a top-tier, center of the Pop cultural conversation artist.

 

So that is why the current lack of preorder, title, etc is justifiably jarring af.

Honey i was talking about texas (the song) not album.

 

Side note: She is a queen because she is a BLACK woman who had an unprecedented success in an industry ran by mostly white males. She could sell 2 copies with her country album and she would still be a queen. Her being a queen has nothing to do with her numbers. if you that is the case, its not.

 

I hope that helps.

Lol at this point the only hope is she actually goes no1 and Kanye doesn’t purposely release volume 2 on the same day. 
 

act 2 had all the making of a potential blockbuster first week after the introduction and then it all went to hell quickly 
 

Well on the bright side I can’t imagine Bey & Raphael making bad music…so at least the material will be good 

I don’t know if someone posted it in here or I saw it elsewhere but I saw a tweet that said Beyonce released the title and album cover a week before lemonade was released. That could be what’s happening here. I’m still baffled as to why there’s no preorder. People purchased the boxes without knowing what’s in them why can they do the same with the album??? 

1 hour ago, Kingdom said:

Side note: She is a queen because she is a BLACK woman who had an unprecedented success in an industry ran by mostly white males. She could sell 2 copies with her country album and she would still be a queen. Her being a queen has nothing to do with her numbers. if you that is the case, its not.

 

I hope that helps.

I'm Black too and, in honoring Bey for her mega achievements as a Black woman, it's not lost on me how much strategy and commercial savviness has been needed to pull off what she has...specifically BECAUSE she's Black. On every metric, we have to work thrice as hard to get half as far. 

 

It's a big reason why I don't want her resting on her laurels now or fumbling her own cultural clout when there's no reason for it.

 

The music industry is the furthest thing from a meritocracy (even though it presents to be one), so as much as I adore almost everything she puts out, IMO she has to keep delivering commercially to uphold the unique position she enjoys today.

 

It's not just the music or performances.

 

It's the major promo, it's the tactical collaborations, it's the conquering the consumption mediums of the time (aka streaming now). It's the ensuring that she has CURRENT receipts to back up her rights to Queendom (aka big sales).

 

That whole "she has nothing to prove" rhetoric is technically true but is so tired and out of place when positioned in the context of Bey being a current, relevant act...now. Technically, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Pink, and Justin Timberlake "have nothing to prove". None of us want her contextualized in the way they are. I love them all (except for JT lol) and still don't want that for Bey.

 

Yes, Bey is a Queen. But I'd much rather her be a Queen in the contemporary capacity than a Queen from a legacy lens.

 

I highly doubt any of y'all will be this cavalier if she starts doing 150k first-week then 80k first-week and then 50k first-week (like the names mentioned and becomes perceived as they are). I don't get why there's this fronting lol.

Edited March 6, 20242 yr by Cbreezy

Y'all are trippin on the streaming numbers for Texas.. It's still doing 5 million daily on Spotify lol, that is a STREAMING HIT, it'll hit 1 billion on Spotify this year, her first song from the streaming ERA to do so.

 

I wish that the track was streaming better in the US, but it will when she starts doing something. 

13 minutes ago, sillycilla said:

I don’t know if someone posted it in here or I saw it elsewhere but I saw a tweet that said Beyonce released the title and album cover a week before lemonade was released. That could be what’s happening here. I’m still baffled as to why there’s no preorder. People purchased the boxes without knowing what’s in them why can they do the same with the album??? 

I saw the Lemonade thing doing the rounds on Twitter, but she would be playing herself doing that again for Act II, IMO.

 

Context is key. 

 

Lemonade dropped in 2016, at the tail end of the digital downloads era and the tip of the streaming era. 

 

Bey herself had the huge lead in with the success of ST (her sole surprise drop at that point)...which was digital sales driven.

 

Today's market is streaming-led, with a heavy physical component (keepsakes) for certain artists like a Bey, Taylor, etc.

 

We're in agreement that, after Tidal, Bey's on a steady rebuild of her streaming stock. So physical units (which these days have more pull as keepsakes than digital downloads) are key to her sales composition. Especially looking at the division of her Rennie first-week. 

 

So, her giving minimal notice of the album's title, covers, variations, etc when keepsake formats will cost her older, responsibility-laden fanbase more $$$ just wouldn't be wise this time IMO. People like to budget, people like to plan.

 

I kinda thought she got this, which is why everything from Rennie to Cecred came with clear-cut costings and info before release.

 

Who knows what the current plan is :-S

46 minutes ago, OnMyCoolJ said:

Lol at this point the only hope is she actually goes no1 and Kanye doesn’t purposely release volume 2 on the same day. 
 

act 2 had all the making of a potential blockbuster first week after the introduction and then it all went to hell quickly 
 

Well on the bright side I can’t imagine Bey & Raphael making bad music…so at least the material will be good 

While I don't wish this on our Queen at all and delusionally hope there is a trick she has up her sleeve to sell by the bucketload, it would be hella hilarious to watch the switch up and project postmortems from the "Bey Can Do What She Wants" and "Art Not Charts' girls here.

 

It happens every time.

13 hours ago, Devin said:

act iii - jazz/blues 

 

when she gives us her Is It a Crime? 
 

 

I can confidently say if she debuts with 150k it will not affect my enjoyment of the album nor do I think it will do any real damage to her career.

 

Bey is bigger than her music. When people try to drag her by saying she's seen as more of a celebrity than a musician, I don't think they realize that's a good thing. People are invested in her as a person and it's the reason they check for everything she does. 
 

There have been plenty of people do massive numbers and then slowly fall off because they were basically faceless music to the GP. A superstar like Madonna, Michael, or Whitney the way Bey is transcends music and a 150k opening is not going to change her status as one of the most awe-inspiring women on the planet.

26 minutes ago, ShouldersSideways said:

I can confidently say if she debuts with 150k it will not affect my enjoyment of the album nor do I think it will do any real damage to her career.

 

Bey is bigger than her music. When people try to drag her by saying she's seen as more of a celebrity than a musician, I don't think they realize that's a good thing. People are invested in her as a person and it's the reason they check for everything she does. 
 

There have been plenty of people do massive numbers and then slowly fall off because they were basically faceless music to the GP. A superstar like Madonna, Michael, or Whitney the way Bey is transcends music and a 150k opening is not going to change her status as one of the most awe-inspiring women on the planet.

THIS

150K opening with a 25+ year career is still phenomenal. 

150k debut would be underwhelming considering the success of Texas. There’s no reason she should be debuting with anything less than 300k considering her status. 
 

The only reason we are even considering a 150k debut is because of what has been an abysmal rollout thus far.

 

Of course it won’t impact her career. She could debut with 20k and it wouldn’t negate what has already been a legendary career. I just think low numbers like that damage the perception of relevancy and longevity as annoying as it is. 

Yeah debuting with 150k would be a bad look.  Especially when it was easily avoidable. Idk what the plan is but aside from the great Verizon announcement everything else has been bad. 

59 minutes ago, ReachInsideMe said:

150k debut would be underwhelming considering the success of Texas. There’s no reason she should be debuting with anything less than 300k considering her status. 
 

The only reason we are even considering a 150k debut is because of what has been an abysmal rollout thus far.

 

Of course it won’t impact her career. She could debut with 20k and it wouldn’t negate what has already been a legendary career. I just think low numbers like that damage the perception of relevancy and longevity as annoying as it is. 

THIS.

 

Contrary to my posts, none of her antics are *that* bothersome to me. 

 

It just simply boils down to: why achieve a C grade when you are equipped to snatch an A? It will never make sense, no matter how it's diced or sliced. 

 

Factually, no matter which side of the debate we're on, we'll have to deal come the week of March 29th. 

 

But, if Giselle legit doesn't have a trick up her sleeve to book big numbers, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can the "sales don't matter" crew keep this same laissez-faire energy when those Hits Daily Double predictions come in. 

 

Cus I still remember the pandemonium that was The Gift first week predictions, as well as "98-Out" and the switch-ups were jaw-droppingly laughable.

 

 

Edited March 6, 20242 yr by Cbreezy

30 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

THIS.

 

Contrary to my posts, none of her antics are *that* bothersome to me. 

 

It just simply boils down to: why achieve a C grade when you are equipped to snatch get an A? It will never make sense, no matter how it's diced or sliced. 

 

Factually, no matter which side of the debate we're on, we'll have to deal come the week of March 29th. 

 

But, if Giselle legit doesn't have a trick up her sleeve to book big numbers, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can the "sales don't matter" crew keep this same laissez-faire energy when those Hits Daily Double predictions come in. 

 

Cus I still remember the pandemonium that was The Gift first week predictions, as well as "98-Out" and the switch-ups were jaw-droppingly laughable.

 

 

yes

1 hour ago, Devin said:

150K opening with a 25+ year career is still phenomenal. 

Not when you could easily triple that without much effort. stop lying to yourself

Plain and simple, I’m not going to stand for Nicki Minaj getting a bigger album debut than Beyoncé… 

Playing Devil’s Advocate for the briefest moment (and indulging the delulu of this rollout), I’m wondering aloud if her team are purposefully making digital the “only” way to consume the album (initially) to continue to thrust her into streaming era? Even if it’s at the initial expense of her first week numbers.

 

It can’t be the “leak”excuse because a leak a few days before release is way less detrimental to her sales potential than what is currently on the cards. So, should nothing change, it has to be…deliberate.

 

Bey will command a certain amount of buzz from news of her dropping along with whatever promotional “thing” she’ll deploy come release frame. 

 

I don’t doubt that physicals are coming either, but making streaming / digital downloads the only way to access “the new Beyonce album” essentially forces the public to stream…which in turn feeds her monthly listeners…which in turn cements her on the stream scene and, much as is the case for Texas, lifts her overall catalog.

 

Put simply, it could be them playing the long game. If looking at the album like a “product” (which it is), marketeers do this often. 
 

More broadly, this three-act concept gives any team a lot of room to play with different rollout strategies per act. 
 

Spoiler

This is all deffo delulu and pretty much is an attempt to make sense of antics that ultimately don’t make sense. We’ll see. 

 

So when do we expect some more news:

 

- this weekend to segway the Ariana drop?

- next weekend when theres more of ak opening?

- 1 week before album release?

- 1 day before album release?

4 minutes ago, Cbreezy said:

Playing Devil’s Advocate for the briefest moment (and indulging the delulu of this rollout), I’m wondering aloud if her team are purposefully making digital the “only” way to consume the album (initially) to continue to thrust her into streaming era? Even if it’s at the initial expense of her first week numbers.

 

It can’t be the “leak”excuse because a leak a few days before release is way less detrimental to her sales potential than what is currently on the cards. So, should nothing change, it has to be…deliberate.

 

Bey will command a certain amount of buzz from news of her dropping along with whatever promotional “thing” she’ll deploy come release frame. 

 

I don’t doubt that physicals are coming either, but making streaming / digital downloads the only way to access “the new Beyonce album” essentially forces the public to stream…which in turn feeds her monthly listeners…which in turn cements her on the stream scene and, much as is the case for Texas, lifts her overall catalog.

 

Put simply, it could be them playing the long game. If looking at the album like a “product” (which it is), marketeers do this often. 
 

More broadly, this three-act concept gives any team a lot of room to play with different rollout strategies per act. 
 

  Reveal hidden contents

This is all deffo delulu and pretty much is an attempt to make sense of antics that ultimately don’t make sense. We’ll see. 

 

This being their strategy would be an even more dumb reason than the scared of leaks.

 

“essentially forces the public to stream”, but they already stream  The GP aren’t the people pre-ordering albums, it’s fans. And 90% of her fan base will be listening to the album upon release at midnight on streaming services as they wait for the physical to arrive, and even when it arrives, they still mostly consume on streaming. Physical copies of albums, particularly vinyls, aren’t used for consumption nowadays. It’s for memorabilia or art. Luminate (formerly known as Nielsen) revealed that 50% of vinyl album purchasers do not own a vinyl player

 

I think the reason for this seemingly messy rollout is either fear of leaks or album wasn’t supposed to be released this soon but Verizon opportunity came about (contract might have specifically offered higher money if she teased/announced her next project in it).

14 minutes ago, Machete said:

I think the reason for this seemingly messy rollout is either fear of leaks or album wasn’t supposed to be released this soon but Verizon opportunity came about (contract might have specifically offered higher money if she teased/announced her next project in it).

I really think you may be onto something about this possibly not being the initially planned frame. It would explain a lot. 

18 minutes ago, Kristie Kuwa said:

So when do we expect some more news:

 

- this weekend to segway the Ariana drop?

- next weekend when theres more of ak opening?

- 1 week before album release?

- 1 day before album release?

There’s too many scenarios for this uncertain lady to choose from 

if you’re keeping your promise, I’m keeping miiiiine