The De•Brief: Beyonce’s Covert Mission; Sharetapes’ Mixtape Revival

The De•Brief: Beyonce’s Covert Mission; Sharetapes’ Mixtape Revival

We’ve made it over the hump to the promised land of Monday. Don’t show up to the water cooler, brunch or a dinner party empty-handed empty-minded. Here’s a recap of everything you need to know, or may have missed, about everything innovative and relevant from the past week. This is your week in innovation, carefully reviewed and curated for you.

We’ve made it over the hump to the promised land of Friday. Don’t show up to your weekend brunches and dinner parties empty-handed empty-minded—here’s a weekly recap of everything you need to know, or may have missed, about everything innovative and relevant.

Beyonce’s Covert Mission & What’s Next for Music

While most adults were sleeping or watching the latest episode of Scandal via DVR, Beyonce (or someone on her team) was sitting in front of a computer prepping to hit the launch button. The world awoke confused and excited with plenty of ‘who, what, where and why’ questions. Beyonce released an album with virtually no promotion, no single, no video and none of the highfalutin hoopla that have surrounded her previous four projects. Social media went crazy and Beyonce had won, yet again.

When the dust settled, Beyonce had another No. 1 album and severely satisfied fans. Beyonce’s brazen move, was not just a testament to the loyalty of her fans, but the power of social media. While most record labels continue to rely heavily on traditional media outlets, and weeks of pre-promotion, Beyonce chose an alternative route that could forever change the way that record labels release and promote music.

Social Media is always seen as secondary to traditional media; traditional media assets are frequently reused in the digital realm. But, what if an entire promotional budget can be used for digitally? Experts have been saying for years that TV and Radio are on death’s door. While Beyonce may not be the final nail in the coffin, her latest album sparks the question, who needs traditional media?


Recently, Pharell Williams released what is being touted as the first-ever, 24-hour visual video for his single “Happy.” TV stations were given a 4-minute long video, but it was the 24-hour digital version that proved to be the promotional golden child. The hits on YouTube and on Pharell’s website brought more eyes and ears to his latest effort, in a remarkable amount of time, than any TV station could.

Digital videos helped to lead the massive push that propelled Beyonce’s self titled project passed gold status in less than a week—she released 17 videos. A move like this is almost unheard of. The life of an album is usually spread out over months with singles and new videos. Time will tell if the fire around this album will die down.

Mixtape: The Remix

This is probably a foreign concept to anyone born after 1989 (what is that thing next to my source of life?), but the invention that helped ordinary folks create soundtracks for puppy love and the breakups that followed, is getting a second chance at doing the damn thing. More [link exposes more copy]
Sharetapes are the new improved version of the old-school mixtape. They play on Smartphones by either tapping with NFC or scanning the QR code. Compatible with most smartphones with an internet connection, content playback will depend on the software on the device in the case of apps like Spotify. Sharetapes can be linked to Playlists on Spotify, Youtube, 8tracks and more. Now you youngins’ know where broken hearts go, and how they got there.  Click here for more info on Sharetapes.

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