The Pepsi Lady

Didn’t I predict this months ago? Although Beyonce’s dwindling legions of delusional supporters refuse to accept the obvious, there is no question that the former chart-topper is struggling to find her footing in the current music scene. In case you need further confirmation, Ne-Yo revealed that Beyonce’s team is still trying to figure out the direction of her  new album.

“I’m still putting stuff together for Beyonce’s album,” Ne-Yo stated during his latest Billboard interview. “They’re still trying to figure out what they want that to be, which I’m not mad at. Beyonce’s the kind of artist where you’re not gonna see it till it’s right. And her fans – they love her so they’ll be patient.”

The-Dream first promised that the lead single from Beyonce’s album would have been released since January to build hype for her performance at the 2013 Super Bowl Halftime Show. However, the event passed without any mention of the song, despite Beyonce landing several high profile primetime slots shortly after, such as her interview on Oprah’s Next Chapter and her Pregnancy Life is a but a Dream documentary on HBO.

Since that time, Beyonce has shared snippets of “Bow Down” and “I Been On”, both of which were universally panned by critics, as well as the tunes “Grown Woman” and “Standing on the Sun”. The latter songs served as soundtracks for her Pepsi and H&M ad campaigns, respectively. Additionally, “Rise Up” was featured on the Epic movie soundtrack.

In addition to Ne-Yo and The-Dream, several other hit-makers are doing their best to put Beyonce’s career back together again. Among those songwriters and producers are Ryan Tedder, Hit-Boy, Timbaland, Greg Kurstin and Sia, yet none of them have confirmed whether Beyonce will issue new music by the end of the year.

Surely, if Beyonce was truly the “Queen” – or “King”, as she would say – then she would no problem releasing a song today and easily scoring a monster hit. Yet, as her pets fans are slowly discovering, she is just a recording artist like everyone else and her career is has entered the slow period that all female Pop acts over 30 years of age encounter.

There really is little demand for Beyonce’s new music beyond her fan base. Radio DJs aren’t calling for a single, the entertainment news shows - E! News, Entertainment Tonight – have yet to share single “rumour” about her album and casual consumers seem not to care.

On the other hand, Beyonce fans are boasting about her ticket sales for The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour but do those numbers really reflect a demand for her music or just her live performances? Think about it: Madonna’s MDNA Tour grossed over $305 million but her MDNA album sold less than 530K copies in the US and 120K in the UK, which are her largest sales markets. So, what does that say about Beyonce?

Of course, we all know how the industry works. When Beyonce has finally forced the demand for her music as much as she can in the coming months, she will release a single – either at the 2013 BET Awards or by late September – and promote it with the aid of a Clear Channel radio deal. Then, when the airplay dips after the first week of the song’s premiere, she will promote the record everywhere, arrange a $69 discount and several packaging deals. You know, “pre-order my album and get a copy of my new single for free!”

Watch me predict this entire situation on Trini Trent TV below:

Thoughts?