December 15th, 2013 
James Shotwell 
Every now and then a day comes along where I feel like I’m able to write something ever-so-slightly above average. That feeling of having done as good, if not better than I thought I could is incredibly satisfying, but after reading how Beyonce outdid herself on Friday you may want to start setting higher personal goals.
After surprising the world with an unannounced midnight album release for her self-titled visual album, Beyonce has spent the last two days riding a wave of publicity that shows no signs of slowing. We already knew she sold about 80,000 albums in the first three hours of release, and now a new report has been released that claims the former Destiny’s Child vocalist sold roughly 430,000 copies of her new album in its first day on iTunes. That’s a personal high for Beyonce, who will unquestionably have the top spot on Billboard next week, and if sales stay trending the way they were on Saturday this record could very well set an all-time first week sales record for the pop diva.
So, what does all this success say about the music industry? To be honest, I’m still not sure. It’s incredible that someone can drop an album out of nowhere, charge $16, and still sell nearly half a million units in a day. That said, she’s Beyonce, and what works for her is certainly not guaranteed to work for anyone else. Much like Radiohead’s unexpected decision to let fans name a price for In Rainbows, I think ‘Yonce is going to kickstart a mini-trend that never quite reaches the same heights of exposure or success Queen B has found with this release. Comment below and let us know what impact you think this will have on the industry as head into the new year.
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