Beyonce Drops Surprise New Album
LEMON: You know, like Mama always used to say, if your friends jumped off a bridge, would you? Well, if you're Lance Armstrong, sure, of course you would. The cyclist telling ESPN if he had to do it over again, he would still cheat. He'd still dope because everyone else was cheating, too, including his competitors. Armstrong says his team wasn't doping as much as the other guys, so that's why he never thought they'd be caught. In the course of the interview, he calls himself an a-hole and felt he was targeted and stripped of his Tour de France titles because he took on and battled his accusers. More on this coming up in the next hour here on CNN. OK, 14 songs, 17 videos, and virtually no one knew about it until now. We're talking about Beyonce's new album, just released on the sneak tip overnight.</s>LEMON: There was absolutely no pre-publicity about it. Queen Bey -- is that right? Queen Bey, right, not Queen Bee? -- surprised her fans. You can call her Queen Bee if you want. Surprised her fans on Instagram with the big announcement. You know, it's simply entitled "Beyonce." It's her fifth release and the first since she gave birth to baby girl Blue Ivy. But the frenzy over Beyonce's new music is not just about her new album. It's really about how she did it on her own terms in an exclusive deal with iTunes. No pre-A&R;, no music videos or listening parties. She just dropped it on social media. Is this a new model for doing business in the music industry? It has us wondering. So here to talk about the potential impact is veteran entertainment P.R. and brand strategist Marvet Britto. Beyonce surprised everyone by not doing the traditional thing. Is this the new way?</s>MARVET BRITTO, P.R./BRAND STRATEGIST: It's the Bey way. Not every artist can do this. In fact, Beyonce and Jay-Z, the Carters, are the most potent music brand in the history of music. So no, we don't suspect that other artists will follow Jay-Z and Beyonce's model, the Carters' model, but Beyonce can do it. This further differentiated Beyonce's brand from everyone else in the music industry.</s>LEMON: Yes.</s>BRITTO: It showed that she's potent. It shows that she's relevant, and it showed that she has the power and gravity to shock the music world by releasing a record with no advance notice.</s>LEMON: Now, is this -- people are saying there's no middleman. But I mean, still, there is some publicity to this. We were talking about it. Is this the publicity, the shock of it, like wait a minute, what happened to your...?</s>BRITTO: This is a very audacious move. The silence of this...</s>LEMON: Right.</s>BRITTO: ... speaks volumes.</s>LEMON: Right.</s>BRITTO: The silence of this move, Jay-Z and Beyonce together as a family, as the Carters, are the most potent brands in music. And this showed that they have the power to do whatever they want to do in music.</s>LEMON: Is it a smart move, though, Marvet?</s>BRITTO: It's a smart move, because she further differentiates herself from everyone else in music. No one of Beyonce's caliber can do what she did. And it shows...</s>LEMON: Can a Gaga do it or Madonna do it? No.</s>BRITTO: No, they can't do it. They don't have the loyal audience. They don't have -- and think about it. Jay-Z and Beyonce are creative masterminds, and this showed that they can move, create and distribute music on their own terms.</s>LEMON: Can I say this? I love the "Anchorman," right, being a television news person. I love "Anchorman." I'm so sick of the promotion. Everywhere I turn, I'm like, OK, enough. I just want to see the movie. Stop it already with the promotion. And this is the exact opposite. I mean, are there people -- am I -- who feel like me, like stop with all the promotion? Maybe this is... BRITTO; Promotion is important in raising awareness, but Beyonce has her soldiers that are doing the work for her. So she creates the property, the content, and her soldiers and fan base has done the work for her. So the potency and currency that Beyonce Knowles has is evident in the fever and epic proportion in which she released this record.</s>LEMON: When I first heard it, I was like, "Wait a minute." Everybody said, "Beyonce released an album." I was like, "Well, she sings. She's supposed to."</s>BRITTO: But normally, people release records with months and months of promotion.</s>LEMON: Yes, yes.</s>BRITTO: She did it her way, and it's working magically.</s>LEMON: Always good to see you, Ms. Britto.</s>BRITTO: Thank you.</s>LEMON: Happy holidays to you. Merry Christmas.</s>BRITTO: Same to you.</s>LEMON: All right. Appreciate it. Coming up here, we're going to talk about Kanye West now comparing himself to police officers and soldiers. And now a real cop is responding, telling Kanye, "You better check yourself before you wreck yourself." That's next. And later, Speaker of the House John Boehner is fed up with members of his own party. He said some of the Tea Party groups have, quote, "lost all credibility." So I'm just going to go ahead and ask. Is the GOP chief suddenly unafraid of the extreme right wing? Stay with us.