Top Billboard's Power 100 List has named Beyoncé and husband Jay Z the number one artists in the music game.
Beyoncé and Jay Z both released albums in 2013 capitalizing on different platforms. According to Billboard, Jay teamed up with Samsung to make his album go platinum before the official release date and Bey went the other route partnering with iTunes to drop a surprise album.
"They both used the element of surprise to restore the excitement that used to accompany a new release, before that impact was dulled by the endless thunder of carefully plotted promotion," Billboard reports.
Though Jay Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" was critically acclaimed, Beyoncé's self-tilted album caused shockwaves throughout the world. The album was safely guarded and didn't leak, which forced excited fans to download her new record through iTunes the same day of its release on Dec. 13, 2013.
"The release of Beyoncé's album was a great way to finish the year, and a chief reminder for me that artists, songwriters and producers have really good ideas," says Warner/Chappell Music president of creative for North America Jon Platt (No. 51), who brought both Beyoncé and Jay Z to the powerful publisher. "We're supposed to help them nurture and realize those dreams, not kill them. At times, experienced company executives can be so smart at outlining every reason why an idea can't work instead of focusing on how it can work. In the case of Beyoncé's album, her team focused on how it could work."
Beyoncé had a team behind her working hard to push out the album, but it is important to note that she is self-managed since parting ways with her father, Mathew Knowles, in 2011.
"Just watching [the Beyoncé] phenomenon happen was really exciting-and admittedly more enjoyable watching it from the sideline than being in the midst of it," Republic Records president/COO Avery Lipman (No. 17) told Billboard. "It said, 'Look what a certain type of artist can do with the press of a button.'"
Check out Top Billboard's Power 100 List here.
