The Brand and Businesses of Beyoncé (2024)

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter is an American singer—and a global brand. Even people who don't know her as a performer may recognize the Beyoncé name from fashion labels, cosmetic lines, and Pepsi commercials.

Beyoncé began her career as the lead singer of the rhythm and blues group Destiny's Child, one of the world's top-selling girl groups in the late 1990s. In 2003, Beyoncé's first solo album, "Dangerously in Love," was released by Columbia Records, a division of Sony Corporation (SNE). Beyoncé performed at the Super Bowl half-time event in 2013 and 2016.

Beyoncé's net worth, as of December 2022, was an estimated $450 million. According to Forbes, she is ranked 61st place on its list of America's Wealthiest Self-Made Women.

Beyoncé and Jay-Z Net Worth

In 2008, Beyoncé married rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, and soon the two were named pop music's first billionaire couple. In 2014, the duo grossed $109.6 million from their joint On the Run Tour. Their follow-up, the On the Run Tour II, grossed $253.3 million in 2018.

Beyoncé also makes money from appearances, modeling jobs for fashion magazines and concert tours. Through her company, Parkwood Entertainment, Beyoncé produces movies, music, and clothing. Media projects produced by Parkwood Entertainment include the movies "Cadillac Records" and "Obsessed."

Parkwood also produced Beyoncé's documentary, "Life Is But a Dream," on AT&T's (T) subsidiary channel Home Box Office, Inc. In 2016, Parkwood Entertainment launched Ivy Park, a streetwear fashion line carried by the U.K.-based retailer Topshop.

Jay-Z has an estimated net worth of nearly $1.3 billion as of December 2022. The total net worth of the entertainment power couple amounts to a combined $1.8 billion.

In addition to his career in music, Jay-Z has increased his net worth over the years through other business ventures. Jay-Z sold his Rocawear clothing brand to Iconix Brand Group for $205 million. He is an owner of The 40/40 club, a chain of upscale sports bars. Furthermore, Jay-Z is the founder of the record label Roc Nation and owns the sports agency Roc Nation Sports.

Tidal

In 2015, Jay-Z, through his company Project Panther Bidco Ltd., bought Tidal, a subscription-based music streaming service from the Norway-based Aspiro Group, also known as Aspiro AB, for $56 million. Tidal had just launched in the U.S., U.K. and Canada and was about to launch in more European countries when Jay-Z purchased the company.

Tidal is the first artist-owned streaming music company and offers songs and music videos as well as exclusive, curated content. Music streamed through Tidal features high-fidelity, lossless audio quality. Other Tidal artist co-owners include Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Chris Martin, Alicia Keys, and Madonna.

In its first year, Tidal announced that its global subscription base grew from 540,000 to 3 million subscribers. The high-fidelity audio has received mixed reviews, as listeners need special headphones to hear it.

Critics of the service have also complained about the $240-per-year subscription rate. The current rate is $9.99 per month for the premium subscription that includes high definition music videos and $19.99 a month for the Hi-Fi option including lossless High Fidelity sound quality. There are also less expensive options for students, families, and members of the military.

Celebrity Endorsem*nts

Beyoncé signed a $50 million endorsem*nt deal with PepsiCo (PEP) in 2012. Under the terms of the hybrid deal, Beyoncé appears in Pepsi print ads and commercials, and Pepsi provides funding for selected creative projects. She is also a celebrity spokesperson for the cosmetic company L'Oreal (LRLCY).

She has appeared in high-profile ad campaigns for American Express (AXP), Samsung, Ford Motor Company (F), and DirecTV.

Jay-Z's celebrity endorsem*nt deals include the Anheuser-Busch beer Budweiser, Samsung Group and the Brooklyn Nets, a National Basketball Association team.

Album Release Marketing

Beyoncé has successfully used social media networks and unconventional techniques to market her albums. In December 2013, she released her namesake visual album without announcing it. The surprise release triggered a ripple effect response on social networks. With over 800,000 downloads on iTunes in the first three days after release, the album was the fastest-selling album in the iTunes Store. In November 2015, Adele's "25" album sold over 900,000 downloads in its first day of release, which surpasses the prior record held by "Lemonade."

Before the release of her 2016 visual album, "Lemonade," Beyoncé posted lemon-themed pictures on her Instagram page as teasers about the name of her new album. "Lemonade" debuted exclusively on Tidal for its first weekend and reached the number one spot on the Billboard magazine charts in May 2016. As of April 23, 2019, "Lemonade" is available on other streaming platforms besides Tidal.

Using Her Brand Power

In September 2018, Beyoncé appeared on the cover of Vogue for the fourth time. She shared the story of her pregnancy with twins along with her thoughts on body acceptance and her legacy.

It was a first for the magazine, in that it ceded complete editorial control over to the subject: Beyoncé dictated the content of both the cover story and the accompanying articles; she dictated how the cover itself would look and who would shoot it. Her choice, Tyler Mitchell, was the first African-American to ever photograph a Vogue cover.