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"The stealth rollout of the album, “Beyoncé,” upended the music industry’s conventional wisdom, and was a smashing success... Though very few acts could attract the same attention as Beyoncé, the episode contains some lessons — and possibly a future blueprint — for the music industry. In bypassing the industry’s traditional promotional machinery, she demonstrated social media’s power to amplify news and to forge a direct connection to her audience." -New York Times, 2013

"Beyoncé has flipped the traditional marketing model on its head... What she really did, however, was illustrate the true power of social media... It's likely that these new approaches will influence marketing beyond the entertainment industry. At the forefront of both marketing campaigns is the consumer." -Inc, 2013

"Early news articles reference Beyoncé’s marketing strategy as “innovative” and the “future blueprint for the music industry.”" -Forbes, 2013

"The future of music marketing is here, and it’s social."-Campaign Asia, 2013

"In an attempt to replicate the success of Beyoncé's award-winning, self-titled album, many other artists imitated her approach, called “pulling a Beyoncé,” including Drake, with If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late. Others attempted to create their own cultural moment, such as U2 with Songs of Innocence, which was automatically downloaded for users of the iTunes Music Store... The album, its rollout, and the accompanying visuals raised the bar for what we consumers expect, and showed that taking risks when you know your fan base can pay off in a huge way. And it seemed to inspire other musicians to follow suit and break the mold. Artists like Ariana Grande, whose latest single, “Thank U, Next,” scored the pop starlet her first number one single without any of the traditional promotions, has spoken out about wanting to drop music in a way that feels true to herself. In a world where so much music comes out all the time, surprising fans with music that genuinely showcases the artist’s talent appears to generate major wins. If an artist wants their fan base to actually buy the album, they’ve got to think outside the box and deliver something innovative and fresh. Beyoncé did just that." -Teen Vogue

"Beyoncé shocking the world with what is sure to be remembered as one of the greatest (and most successful) marketing stunts of all time. The singer’s self-titled album was dropped on an unsuspecting public without any warning, causing an uproar unlike anything the music industry has seen in recent memory" -Forbes

"The impact of this album on pop culture cannot be understated" -Refinery29

She changed the sound of pop. She forced you to buy an entire album. She made videos an art form again. She put the emphasis back on performing. She got unabashedly, unapologetically intellectual. She made some major additions to the cultural vernacular.

Visual album
A visual album is an audiovisual product in which all songs on an album are accompanied by visuals that are linked with each other to tell a story along with the lyrics and music of the album.

Early life and education
Derek Dixie grew up in Youngstown, Ohio. He attended Woodrow Wilson High School, where he was involved in marching band and jazz band. After graduating in 2000, he attended Youngstown State University, studying in the Dana School of Music. He later attended the Recording Workshop in Chillicothe. Following graduation, he was hired by the Recording Workshop to teach audio engineering.

Career
In 2009, Dixie appeared on Sean "Diddy" Combs' MTV reality show Making His Band. He then started a YouTube channel where he would upload remixes he made of Beyoncé songs. The caught the attention of Beyoncé's production team.

Lemonade is the sixth studio album by American singer Beyoncé. It was released on April 23, 2016 by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records. It is Beyoncé's second "visual album", following her self-titled fifth studio album (2013), and a concept album with a song cycle. Primarily an R&B album, Lemonade encompasses a variety of genres, including reggae, blues, rock, hip hop, soul, funk, Americana, country, gospel, electronic, and trap. It features guest vocals from James Blake, Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, and Jack White, and contains samples and interpolations of a number of hip hop and rock songs.

Lemonade received widespread critical acclaim, and is the most acclaimed studio album of Beyoncé's career. The album was music critics' top album of 2016, and was named the greatest album of the decade by publications such as the Associated Press. It debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, earning 653,000 with additional album-equivalent units, including 485,000 copies in its first week of sales. It has since been certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). By the end of 2016, Lemonade had sold over 1.5 million copies in the United States, making it the third-best-selling album of the year in the US, and it was the best-selling album of 2016, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), with 3.5 million copies sold.