Beyoncé's fifth studio album, Beyoncé, released exclusively on iTunes on Friday without any promotional marketing, has sold 828,773 copies in three days, Apple announced Monday.
The unconventional release, featuring 14 songs and an unprecedented 17 videos, sparked an impressive 1.2 million tweets about the album in 24 hours after premiering. And now, it has become iTunes' fast-selling album. Domestically, the iTunes Store has already sold 617,213 copies, breaking the store's first-week album sales record.
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The previous record holders were Justin Timberlake's 20/20 Experience, which sold 580,000 worldwide on iTunes (U.S. number aren't available) and Taylor Swift's Red (465,000, U.S.).
Apple also reports that the album topped iTunes album charts in 104 countries (out of 119 countries where iTunes is available). For now, iTunes users can only buy the full album ($15.99) — not individual songs — which helped the album reach No. 1 across the world. The album's songs can be purchased separately starting Dec. 20.
Despite only being sold on iTunes, the sales total for Beyoncé is her biggest sales week ever. Beyoncé bypassed traditional distribution methods, including not making the album available to hear on streaming services and not releasing a lead music video on Vevo or YouTube.
Meanwhile, Columbia Records started producing physical copies for retail stores on the day the album was released on iTunes, meaning it will be in stores in time for the holidays.
Beyoncé managed to keep the album release a secret (read: no online leaks surfaced), in a year when music somehow kept repeatedly leaking before artists' official release dates. The 32-year-old and her legion of well-known directors shot music videos for each song during her world tour in New York City, Paris, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro, among other places.
"I didn’t want to release my music the way I’ve done it. I am bored with that," Beyoncé said. "I feel like I am able to speak directly to my fans. There’s so much that gets between the music, the artist and the fans. I felt like I didn’t want anybody to give the message when my record is coming out. I just want this to come out when it’s ready and from me to my fans."
The approach resonated around the globe. On Facebook, mentions of “Beyonce” spiked more than 1,300% in the hours after the album dropped, a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable. And the reception on Twitter was just as furious; Twitter detailed how buzz about the album spread in an animated map, released Monday.
How @Beyonce’s latest album spread around the world in seconds (animated map) #Beyonce http://t.co/f4v9ZCoLbI pic.twitter.com/tVaxWGyKXz
— Twitter Music (@TwitterMusic) December 16, 2013
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BONUS: 30-Second Previews of Each Song's Music Video on Beyoncé's Fifth Album
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