S. Samuel
Grammy-winning singer Beyoncé Knowles-Carter can take off the rest of the month as reports claim her new self-titled solo album has sold 617,000 copies since releasing onto iTunes last Thursday (December 19).
According to reports, Queen B conquered previously uncharted territory with her LP’s release and joined the likes of rap star DMX with her latest number one debut.
Beyoncé has made history. The singer’s self-titled album officially debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, making her the first woman to hit No. 1 with her first five studio albums. The visual LP, which features 14 songs and 17 videos, follows her five previous No. 1 albums including 2003’s Dangerously in Love, 2006’s B’Day, 2008’s I Am… Sasha Fierce, and 2011’s 4. She joins the company of DMX and folk group the Kingston Trio, whose first five albums also debuted at No. 1. (Rap-Up)
This comes in light of mega retailer Target announcing it will not sell the album in its stores.
While Beyonce’s new fast-selling self-titled album is sure to be on many Christmas wish lists, there’s at least one major retailer that’s opting not to sell the album: Target. “At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections,” Target spokesperson Erica Julkowski tells Billboard. She continues, “While there are many aspects that contribute to our approach and we have appreciated partnering with Beyonce in the past, we are primarily focused on offering CDs that will be available in a physical format at the same time as all other formats. At this time, Target will not be carrying Beyonce’s new self-titled album ‘Beyonce.'” (Yahoo Music)
Despite the unexpected blow to Target customers, rival retailer Wal-Mart will have the LP available this week.
Most physical retailers will receive it by Friday, Dec. 20. It is understood that the album will not have any additional bonus or exclusive content, for any retailer. Billboard estimates that iTunes is the largest seller of music in the U.S., with about a 41% share of the market in 2012. Walmart had 10%, while Amazon (9%) and Target (5%) were the third and fourth-largest sellers, respectively. However, another major retailer, Walmart, will be carrying “Beyonce” — and it should be in their stores by the end of the week. Walmart is “happy to be able to carry her album and support all physical music,” says Walmart spokesperson Sarah McKinney. (As per Walmart’s long-standing policy, they will only carry the non-explicit version of “Beyonce.”) (Yahoo Music)
Since its release, Queen Bey’s new LP crushed a record previously held by country star Taylor Swift.
Apple usually brags about its iPhone and iPad sales, but today the company is bragging about its “Beyonce” sales. Beyonce’s self-titled album released last Friday, Dec. 13, has become the fastest selling album ever on iTunes, the company announced this morning. In just three days it has been downloaded 828,773 times from the digital music service. It also broke the U.S. first week album sales record — previously held by Taylor Swift — with 617,213 sold. Of course, the fact that the album was available exclusively through iTunes and not via any other digital music service helped push along the sales. Additionally, fans couldn’t buy single songs for the usual 99 cent price; instead they were forced to buy the whole album for $15.99. (ABC News)
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