Beyonce handed out $50 gift cards to 750 Walmart customers on Friday, Dec. 20, 2013, after Amazon and Target refused to stock her new CD because she released it in secret on iTunes just minutes before midnight EST on Friday morning, Dec. 13, 2013.

(Credit: YouTube/Beyonce)

Beyonce's bold move to secretly release a self-titled visual album with no fanfare, such as sneak peeks or album leaks, was unprecedented and is considered revolutionary in the music industry. However, the fact that Beyonce released her album on iTunes a week before making it available to others didn't sit well with mass retailers who think of iTunes as one of their biggest competitors. That's why both Amazon and Target were reportedly irked that they weren't given a heads up about Beyonce's album.

As a result, Amazon and Target both decided not to stock physical copies of Beyonce's latest CD.

"At Target we focus on offering our guests a wide assortment of physical CDs, and when a new album is available digitally before it is available physically, it impacts demand and sales projections," said a Target representative in a report from The Age.

But, not all is lost for Beyonce and Amazon. Amazon is still offering Beyonce's album, but only as an MP3 version for $16. Plus, individual tracks such as the hit single "Drunk in Love" featuring Jay-Z, "Pretty Hurts," "XO" and "No Angel" are made available on the online marketplace's Web site at $1.29 each.
Check out a preview of the music video "Drunk in Love" featuring Jay-Z below:

(Credit: YouTube/Beyonce)

The exclusive visual album released by Beyonce also features Drake, Frank Ocean, Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche and daughter Blue Ivy. It contains 14 songs all in all. Beyonce and Drake's collaboration is called "Mine." Frank Ocean's song with Beyonce is entitled "Superpower." Meanwhile, Beyonce's team up with Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche is for the song "Flawless." And, one of the highlights of the special album is Beyonce's song with her little princess, daughter Blue Ivy. It's aptly called "Blue."

The other songs in the unique album are: "Haunted," "Blow," "Partition," "Jealous," "Rocket and "Heaven."

According to The Age, Beyonce's new self-titled visual album is currently the fastest selling album to be released on iTunes. It is already a certified platinum success in the U.S. alone because it has already sold more than 1 million in the past 7 days, with 828,773 copies sold on the opening weekend.

Click here to check out Beyonce's self-titled visual album on iTunes. This is Beyonce's fifth studio album and the first album to be released without any prior warning or announcement, including an early promotional campaign. Check out Beyonce's "Self-Titled" Part 2 . Imperfection video below:

(Credit: YouTube/Beyonce)

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