Since Beyonce released her secret self-titled album, she has been breaking sales records left and right. Despite her weekend success with the digital album, there’s one retail store that will not be selling Beyonce’s album and that’s Target.
The reason why Target is refusing to sell Beyonce’s album is out of protest. The album, which has sold upwards to 600k this week, is exclusively available through iTunes until it heads to retail stories on December 20. This is the reason why Target is refusing to sell Beyonce’s album.
A representative from Target, Erica Julkowski, has elaborated on Target’s defense :
“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.”
The Target spokesperson continued in her statement about the Beyonce album.
“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.’
As many of you know Columbia decided to release the album exclusively through iTunes at 12 AM EST on Friday, December 13. It was a monumental moment for Beyonce because it meant that someone of her stature in the Pop/R&B world could release an album successfully without promotion. In addition to her no-press risk, Beyonce also filmed videos for each of her tracks on the album.
Beyonce’s last effort was in 2011 with 4, which at the time had an exclusive deal with Target as a deluxe album. Although fans of Beyonce won’t be able to buy her album at Target, other retail stores will be putting out the album just in time for the holidays.
