Skip to main content

Rumors are buzzing that a surprise-release album from Beyoncé is imminent

bey script beyonce code computer science
ANDRE DURAO/Shutterstock
Rumors that pop diva Beyoncé will drop a new album this April are buzzing, following the addition of 13 mysteriously unlisted videos to her Vevo site, and a mysterious outage of her artist page on iTunes.

There are 117 official videos currently viewable on Beyoncé’s Vevo account, but the page is listing 130, leaving 13 that are as yet unaccounted for. There’s been no explanation from the superstar’s camp as to why the count has changed, leading many to believe that a new 13-track album is imminent.

The singer is no stranger to surprise releases. Beyoncé famously dropped her 2013 self-titled album without any press build up. She also put out her latest single Formation the night prior to this year’s Super Bowl performance, with no advanced notice to press outlets or fans.

Formation is the first single to be released off of the diva’s next project, but there hasn’t been any announcement as to when more tracks will drop. Fans have long known that Beyoncé is working on a new record, which is confirmed to feature the handiwork of another pop superstar: Sia.

One fan site says claims that the singer’s new album will appear in April, and that it will feature a “mini-film.”

Adding fuel to that fire is the fact that Beyoncé will embark on a 40-stadium tour beginning on April 27. Called the Formation tour, it’s a pretty good bet that Formation will be the name of the upcoming album.

The stars, it appears, are aligning to indicate new material from the pop queen, despite no formal announcements from her camp. If she does intend to surprise-release this album like the last, it seems that fans have caught on.

Dropping an album of this magnitude without any pre-release buzz, it appears, is a feat that’s hard to pull off twice.

Parker Hall
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Parker Hall is a writer and musician from Portland, OR. He is a graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Oberlin…
What is hi-res audio, and how can you experience it right now?
Dlyan Wireless Headphones

High-resolution audio, hi-res audio, or even HD audio -- whatever you decide to call it (for the record, the industry prefers "hi-res audio"), it's a catch-all term that describes digital audio that goes above and beyond the level of sound quality you can expect from a garden-variety MP3 file and even CDs. It was once strictly the domain of audiophiles, but now that major streaming music services like Apple Music, Amazon Music, Tidal, Deezer, and Qobuz have embraced it, almost everyone can take advantage of what hi-res has to offer.

But what exactly is hi-res audio? What equipment do you need to listen to it? Where can you download or stream it? And does it actually sound better? We've got the answers.
What does the term 'hi-res audio' mean?

Read more
How to download music from Spotify for offline listening
How to download music and podcasts from Spotify: The downloads folder.

If you're a Spotify Premium user paying that premium Spotify fee, chances are you've taken at least some time curating playlists, liking songs, and using the platform's easy-to-use (and recently revamped) user interface to discover new and old music.

But sometimes all that music or your favorite podcasts aren't available if you find yourself without an internet connection to stream them from — like on a long plane ride or weekend camping trip in the sticks. That's where Spotify's offline listening feature comes in handy, allowing you to download playlists, albums, and podcasts through its desktop and mobile apps so you can still rock out while you're off the grid.

Read more
How to switch from Spotify to Apple Music
Spotify and Apple Music transfer on a smartphone.

Spotify is the world's most popular music streaming service for a reason. It has a massive catalog of music and podcasts, is full of cool music discovery and sharing features, and is really easy to use.
However, with its recent price increase and the fact that it still hasn't joined most of its peers in offering a hi-res audio quality option, you may be considering jumping ship for its closest competitor, Apple Music, which counts lossless hi-res tracks, mind-bending spatial audio, Dolby Atmos Music tracks, and a catalog that rivals Spotify's among the many attractive reasons to switch.

But there's one problem: you’ve spent a lot of time creating playlists and marking songs and albums as your favorites in Spotify. Is it worth the switch? Will all that hard work be lost in translation?

Read more