5 pop acts who got creative with their release strategy

In an ever-changing music industry, pop stars are upping their game more than ever. We take a look at some of the new and exciting ways our favourite acts are releasing their music.

Once upon a time, album campaigns were pretty simple. Sure, there would be hype and excitement and buzz, but usually most artists would follow the tried-and-tested – and still successful – route of putting out a (hopefully) killer lead single and release the album and start the promo. But times change, and in an age where music lovers want more more more and want it now now now, popstars are looking to do things a little bit differently.

2014 celebrates a Decade of Digital in the UK – it was exactly ten years ago that legitimate music downloading was born on these shores in the form of MyCokeMusic (remember that service?) and iTunes Europe, swiftly followed by the introduction of the Official Download Chart and a plethora of other fantastic digital outlets of all shapes and sizes – from download stores to streaming services, and everything in between. These services have since transformed our industry and the way we consume music, so now with music deliverable instantly – and an audience that doesn’t like to be kept waiting – stars are beginning to come up with clever ways to keep us fans excited.

Whether they’re putting out an attention-grabbing mixtape, or dropping an album when you least expect it, it’s all change. We take a look at some of the different ways some of pop’s biggest stars have released their music in the past year.

David Bowie

Many Bowie fans had given up all hope of any new material from the Jean Genie himself. But little did they know that David Bowie likes surprises, and what’s the best day for surprises? Why, a birthday of course. Bowie turned gift-giving tradition on its head on his 66th birthday in January 2013, spending it doling out a very special present to all his fans.

After 10 years without releasing any music, Bowie plonked a video for new song Where Are We Now? on the internet, giving it away as an ‘instant grat’ incentive with pre-orders of his new album The Next Day, which dropped the following in March. The shock move pulled off – Where Are We Now? entered the Official Singles Chart at Number 6, and The Next Day became Bowie’s first Number 1 album in 20 years.

Justin Bieber

Gotta love The Biebs. When he’s not buying pet monkeys, being a bit of a "hellraiser" and saying bad words you definitely shouldn’t say at the dinner table, he’s a popstar through and through. He thought he’d try something new with his #MusicMonday campaign. You see, why settle for popping out just one or two singles from a record, when you (with the help of an army of Beliebers, and the odd shirtless selfie), can cruise your way through ten?! Starting with Heartbreaker in October 2013, he released a not-to-be-sniffed-at TEN whole songs, at the rate of one a week. That’s more than some acts release in a whole career, isn’t that right, Adam Rickitt? And the result? The Bieber scored 10 different UK Top 40 hits in as many weeks, ending with Confident in Christmas week, and set a new Official Chart record in the process. Nice. He then put all 10 of them on an album, Journals, and released that too! Enough now, you’re wearing us out, lad.

Eminem

Slim Shady may be about to celebrate 15 years of chart success, but he’s no old-timer when it comes to launching big album campaigns.

Looking to score his seventh consecutive Number 1 album, Eminem successfully teased The Marshall Mathers LP 2 by releasing a song from it as a single each week for three weeks (Berserk, Rap God and Survival), before releasing a fourth as the nominated ‘instant grat’ release – the name given to a track which is given to fans as an incentive when pre-ordering the album. The fourth track in this instance was The Monster FT Rihanna.

This one was more of a head-scratcher than normal, because pop fans could still download the previous three tracks when pre-ordering the album, but as per chart rules, only one instant grat could count toward the charts, so the first three singles were temporarily ‘forfeited’ i.e excluded, from the chart until the promotional period ended and the album was released.

This interesting strategy however, gave him a cool four new Top 40 hits in the space of a month, including a Number 1 for The Monster – a victory made sweeter no doubt when, despite releasing part-way through the week, Marshall and Ri-Ri managed to leapfrog midweek race leaders One Direction to snatch gold. (You only got one shot, Harry Styles, soz.)

Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga’s ARTPOP was one of the most long-awaited albums of 2013. Gaga announced the release of the album and a special app that would give her Little Monsters access to more content, saying “Altering the human experience with social media, we bring ARTculture into POP in a reverse Warholian expedition.” She certainly didn’t disappoint her diehard fans.

The first single from the album, Applause, was an ‘instant grat’ promotion, available for free to fans who pre-ordered the album. Applause became a Top 5 hit.

Gaga then released more songs from the album to give fans a taste of what was to come. In a not too dissimilar move to Eminem, Do What U Want, Venus and Dope were all made available in a flurry too, becoming chart-eligible once the promotional period ended.

Such was the popularity of Do What U Want (FT R Kelly), it was made the official second single off ARTPOP. It was also re-recorded with Christina Aguilera taking on some rather killer guest vocal duties following a performance on the final of the US edition of The Voice, which gave the track another boost on the Official Singles Chart earlier this month.

Beyoncé

While there had been speculation for some time that Beyoncé must be making a new album, Queen B had still confirmed nothing when she announced another leg of her Mrs Carter Tour for 2014. There’d been no new album since 2011, so what could she possibly be promoting? The answer came as most of us were rubbing the sleep out of our eyes on the morning of Friday 13 December 2013. As if by magic, a brand new Beyoncé album had been dropped onto iTunes. And this was no ordinary album.

Fourteen songs, 17 new videos and all available right there to buy, with the physical CD set to hit shops a few days later. No lead single, no huge fanfare, nothing – not even a picture of the cover artwork. The album, simply titled BEYONCÉ (the caps are important), caught everyone unawares. "I didn't want to release my music the way I've done it," Beyoncé said at the time of the album’s release. "I am bored with that. I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There's so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn't want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it's ready and from me to my fans."

Including collaborations with Drake, Frank Ocean, Pharrell, hubby Jay Z and even daughter Blue Ivy, and filming the 17 videos in locations all over the world, it seems this album was the secret everybody involved was only too happy to keep. After just two days on sale, BEYONCÉ entered the Official Albums Chart at Number 5 and has yet to leave the Top 5.

And there’s one more while we’re here… what about Olly Murs?

While our fab five have certainly impressed with their unusual campaigns, there’s a lot to be said for doing it the old-fashioned way. A good example would be everybody’s favourite cheeky chappie and CPF of Robbie Williams, Olly Murs. He may have released his album the traditional way, off the back of Number 1 single Troublemaker, but he managed to hijack the Official Albums Chart Top 10 for two successive Christmases and sold more than 1.2 million copies of his album from its original release in late November 2012 up to the end of December 2013, making Right Place Right Time the biggest selling artist album of that period. Yes, even bigger than Emeli Sande and One Direction who were the biggest sellers of 2012 and 2013, respectively.

Thanks to some great collaborations, delivering the goods live, spreading singles out throughout the year and generally being one of the most likeable and hardworking blokes in pop, Olly pulled off a pretty successful album campaign of his own. While it may not have been the shock-and-awe campaign of your Beyoncés and your Bowies, the sales – and the hits – speak for themselves. Hats off to you, Olly. Well, OK, leave yours on if you prefer – we know you like your head wear.

And 2014?

So there you have it, 2013 was certainly a year for change and experimentation in how your favourite artists are beginning to deliver their new material to you. With huge new records to come this year from the likes of Adele, Take That, Rihanna, Kylie, Pharrell, Lily Allen, and a whole heap of others, we’re wagging our pop tails excitedly to see what entertainment 2014 has in store for us…the records should be interesting as well.

Are there any other ways of releasing new material you’d like to see your favourite pop star try? What would you do if you were running a record label? Which album campaign has really impressed you? Join in the discussion on Facebook and Twitter.