Clear Channel's John Sykes Calls Surprise Beyonce Album Rollout A Win For Radio

617,000 In Sales In 3 Days

When BEYONCE surprised the world with her new album last week -- released exclusively through iTUNES -- was radio feeling left out? No, CLEAR CHANNEL Pres./Entertainment Enterprises JOHN SYKES told THE NEW YORK DAILY NEWS.

“It was a brilliant and innovative marketing idea,” SYKES told DAVID HINKLEY. “We found out when everyone else did, minutes before it was released.”

Radio usually knows the release schedule for new music, and is often provided with an advance copy to help built word of mouth.

SYKES felt radio wasn't overlooked. “It was as exciting for radio as it was for listeners,” he said. “This was an event. This was news. People were talking about it. No one can respond faster to pop culture news than radio. All day FRIDAY, thousands of stations were playing it. That’s how most people discovered it.”

Because no one track was named a single... radio was free to play any or all the songs. “CLEAR CHANNEL alone had five formats playing five different tracks,” SYKES told THE NEWS. “So BEYONCÉ got the whole album exposed, not just one track, and I think that’s reflected in the number of people who bought the whole album.”

So despite the non-traditinal rollout -- SYKES saw it as a positive, noting “for her and for radio, this was a huge win-win.”

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