Target Snubs New Beyoncé Album

The singer's surprise new album was released on iTunes Friday

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Jeff Chiu / ASSOCIATED PRESS

Target announced it will not sell Beyoncé’s new album because she released it online first.

“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,” Target spokesperson Erica Julkowski told Billboard.” While there are many aspects that contribute to our approach and we have appreciated partnering with Beyoncé in the past, we are primarily focused on offering CDs that will be available in a physical format at the same time as all other formats. At this time, Target will not be carrying Beyoncé’s new self-titled album ‘Beyoncé.'”

Beyoncé’s fifth studio album, which is called Beyoncé and considered a “visual album” due to the simultaneous release of the 14 original songs and 17 accompanying videos, sold 617,000 copies in the U.S. and 828,773 worldwide over the weekend. The singer did no promotional marketing leading up to its iTunes release, which she announced via social media.

The album will be available at many other retail stores on Dec. 20.

[Billboard]