New version of Beyonce album out on Nov 24

 

NEW YORK - Beyonce on Tuesday announced an expanded boxed set of her multi-million-selling self-titled album, as a new study ranked her as the top-earning woman in music.
Following rumours that she would drop another surprise album, the singer said that a platinum edition of Beyonce, with two CDs and two DVDs, would feature two new songs, four new remixes with star collaborators and a concert video.
The edition - which goes on sale on Nov 24, ahead of the holiday shopping season - also includes the full album, Beyonce, which she released unexpectedly in December on iTunes with no prior publicity.
The announcement will temper speculation that Beyonce is planning another surprise album of entirely new material.
Since the weekend, social media have been abuzz with an image of what appeared to be a record-company memo describing an upcoming Beyonce release, raising hopes among her fans.
The purported memo said that a four-disc set would be physically released on "Monday, Nov 25", although Nov 25 is a Tuesday.
The album Beyonce, which was accompanied by videos for each song, sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide, broke the iTunes record for debut sales and spawned hit singles including XO and Drunk In Love, performed with husband Jay Z.
In a ranking on Tuesday, Forbes magazine said that Beyonce was the top-grossing woman in the music business. She earned US$115 million (S$149 million) between June last year and June this year - more than double the US$53 million she made from the previous year, the magazine said.
Taylor Swift ranked second with US$64 million. The timeframe does not cover her release last week of 1989, which is forecast to be this calendar year's top-selling album.
Pink, who has focused heavily on touring, was the third top-grossing woman in music, followed by Rihanna and Katy Perry.
Beyonce enraged some major retailers by releasing the self-titled album last year first on iTunes, brushing aside the usual practice of timing digital and physical sales together.
The purported memo appearing on social media said that her new release would come out first on iTunes on Nov 14. Beyonce's announcement made no mention of an iTunes version.
The alleged memo also said that Beyonce's release would feature Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and Nicki Minaj, which - if accurate - could explain the star collaboration promised in the boxed set's announcement.