Does the Surprise Album Drop Still Work?

After years of monumental surprise releases, the former moneymaker may not be as exciting for music fans.

Written by Emily Gruner

Beyoncé surprised fans when she released her self-titled album on a Thursday-night-turned-Christmas miracle in 2013 with no warning and no previous promotion whatsoever. The Houston native single handedly changed the way albums were released, yet when she surprise-dropped her 2018 LP with Jay-Z Everything Is Love, the power couple lost the No. 1 Billboard spot to 5 Seconds of Summer. With five years between records, the question is raised — does the surprise album release still work?

The world of technology has allowed every industry to innovate — for the music industry, streaming services and the power of social media have allowed artists flexibility with releasing their music. Artists can drop music at any time, then can just as easily take it down from different platforms at any time. No stranger to album drops, Kanye West is notorious for using the opportunities provided by streaming services to build anticipation by backdating releases like The Life of Pablo, and most recently, Jesus is King.

But others have also used streaming platforms for surprise drop albums with big ad campaigns in tow. Take Frank Ocean’s Blonde — the album was highly anticipated, and still reached the No. 1 spot on Billboard despite his album launch campaign focusing exclusively on Apple Music. In addition, many labels use their big advertising budgets to hype upcoming releases from their artists.In 2017, Kendrick Lamar was set to headline Coachella without any new material, until he released DAMN., only furthering excitement for his set. People are starting to notice it’s not the shock factor behind surprises that gets the fans going, but the large advertising budget that allows artists to build this excitement.

The problem is that artists with large advertising budgets are the ones able to make a lasting impact with their releases in terms of numbers, even if those releases are mediocre. The element of surprise no longer matters, music budgets reign supreme over all. Many speculate that Drake’s placement on Spotify playlists with his Scorpion release is responsible for bringing his streaming numbers to the history books. Instead of releases symbolizing excitement for fans, labels treat the surprise factor as a means for Spotify playlist placement, a Billboard No. 1, and maximizing revenue.

Image of Drake’s Spotify promotion courtesy of BBC.

Now that music fans are well into the streaming age, they have become veterans at posting songs to their Instagram stories for “New Music Fridays.” With all this social media engagement, listeners are now bored with all these surprise drops. On release days, fans typically see the artist posing with their Spotify billboard in Times Square, along with a huge thank you and a promise of tour dates “COMING SOON!” Occasionally, artists promote an album exclusively on a certain streaming service, leaving anxious listeners to wait until it comes to their preferred service a couple of weeks later (we’re looking at you Beyoncé). Surprise drops are still cool, but unfortunately it takes a lot to wow fans in the clutter of new releases.

It’s the same old advertising quip: “Consumers are smart.” Music fans are aware of big music business and surprise release formulas by now. Though once fresh and exciting, the excitement behind a surprise drop has been soiled by labels striving for streaming numbers, making this trick tired and outdated.