As Billboard magazine noted recently, these kinds of releases tend to work only “if you’re in the 1 percent of the 1 percent.” Only the tiniest sliver of performers can wield the kind of fame, fan following and media fascination to skip the typical advance drumbeat. Last month she released a new video, “Formation,” and the next day performed the song at the Super Bowl, causing reams of digital ink to be spilled analyzing the song’s themes of race and identity.) For months, the media wondered who would be the next artist to “pull a Beyoncé.” (We had to wait for Beyoncé herself to land something of similar impact.

1, and its method of release captured the imagination of the music business. That strategy defied convention, yet the album still opened at No. But the current wave largely follows the success of Beyoncé’s self-titled album in December 2013, which was at first released only through iTunes, the only publicity came from Beyoncé’s own social media accounts, at least until the release itself was celebrated by the media as a major news event. Radiohead scored the first major coup in 2007 with “In Rainbows,” which the band released itself through a pay-what-you-wish model, another innovation. For artists like Lady Gaga or Taylor Swift, the campaigns have been on the scale of a major movie release, emphasizing an album’s release date to generate blockbuster sales numbers in their first week.Īt the same time, plenty of big-name acts have been exploring the value of surprise. has been to stoke an artist’s fans for weeks or months by releasing singles and advertising an album’s title and look. For decades, the music industry’s marketing M.O. Like a growing number of prominent albums, “untitled unmastered.” (TDE/Aftermath/Interscope) arrived with no advance notice, yet generated a wave of attention on social media and from the entertainment press. 1 on Billboard’s chart, with 142,000 sales and 43.5 million streams in the United States, according to Nielsen.

Lamar, consists of demos from his album “To Pimp a Butterfly” - shot to No. This week, Kendrick Lamar’s new album, “untitled unmastered.” - which, according to Mr. Releasing a new album by surprise can be a smart marketing strategy - if you are already a big star.

Kendrick lamar untitled unmastered leak