Beyoncé manager rules out U2-style free album

Jim Sabey says that record sales are still "really important"

Beyoncé’s marketing manager has said that unlike U2, she will never release an album for free.

The US singer surprised fans with a self-titled album last year, the album was available exclusively via iTunes but was priced regularly. In contrast, U2 and Apple ‘gifted’ 500 million iTunes users with their new album earlier this month (September).

Speaking to the Financial Times, Jim Sabey said that he still sees record sales revenue as a vital part of the music industry. “I never like to see anything free,” Sabey said.

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“We’ve never played the pricing game. “There’s a misconception that recorded music sales are not an important piece of the mix of any artist business. They’re still really important.”

However, Sabey said that he and Beyoncé chose iTunes because Apple’s “corporate culture is shrouded in secrecy”. He also offered an insight into the days before the release of ‘Beyoncé ‘ in December 2013. “We were all sleepless, anxiety-ridden. We didn’t have a back-up plan. We really didn’t.”

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