Beyoncé unexpectedly releases new album backed with 17 music videos

Beyoncé has surprised her fans by releasing her fifth album on iTunes with 14 new songs and 17 music videos without promotion.

16:41 13 December 2013

Beyoncé, who said that she was bored of releasing music the traditional way, has surprised her fans by releasing her fifth album on iTunes overnight with following the industry standard method of drip-feed cross platform promotion.

Her new self-titled album features 14 new songs, 17 videos, and guest spots for her husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy.

The 32-year-old singer explained that releasing her album this way enables her to speak directly to her fans.

She added: "I miss that immersive experience. Now people only listen to a few seconds of a song on their iPods and they don't really invest in the whole experience.

"It's all about the single, and the hype. I felt like, I don't want anybody to get 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."

Physical copies of her newest album has started pressing only on Friday morning and are expected to hit the shops on December 21. Beyoncé’s album is one of the few major releases of recent years that did not leak in advance.

In the rush to pick up the album, iTunes (one of the world’s biggest music sites) unexpectedly crashed as it struggled to handle the surge in traffic.