Beyoncé's unannounced album stunt wasn't to everyone's liking (it was just to most people's liking). One group that was unamused was Target stores. The superstore chain decided on Monday that as it wasn't given the same opportunity to market the album as iTunes (the only outlet selling Beyoncé upon its release), it will blackball the record altogether.
"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" said Erica Julkowski, a spokesperson for Target.
As SPIN accurately translated, they are essentially saying that rather sell at least a few of an album that no one saw coming, the company would rather sell zero. SPIN also pointed out that Beyoncé's previous studio release, 4, was featured in an exclusive version at Target that featured six tracks. So mainly they're just salty.
Speaking of being salty at Beyoncé, it would seem that Rihanna has also taken offense to the surprise release of Beyoncé. According to reports, the pop star interpreted B's release as a move to steal attention away from the debut of her and Eminem's music video "The Monster." The anonymous source quoted by VH1 stated that they thought Mrs. Carter was concerned Rihanna was becoming bigger than her.
We can't glean any facts from this, but if Beyoncé thinks Rihanna has more clout than her, she's incorrect. And if Target thinks they're doing her a disservice by not stocking Beyoncé, they're also incorrect, as the album has moved more than 600,000 copies in four days of sales.
The good news: It will be available at Walmart.
