In the past few weeks, we have lived for the applause, heard a woman roar, and listened to one of the great MCs go berzerk. It's been an exciting kick off to the fall music season; however, as these recording artists embark on promotion for their current singles and forthcoming album releases, one other act has taken a different marketing approach for her upcoming music. In the process, she has managed to command everyone's attention and get people talking -- or tweeting, as the case may be. The end result has been the eager anticipation of the return of Britney Spears to the realm of pop music.
Although there have been several cryptic posts on Britney's social media accounts throughout the summer about her new project, things really kicked into overdrive on August 20 when her main website became a blacked-out page that ran the title "All Eyes On Me" across the top along with a countdown timer of days, hours, minutes, and seconds leading up to Tuesday, September 17. Immediately, people began speculating that "All Eyes On Me" was the name of either Spears's eighth studio album or the title for the first single, which Britney herself tweeted on August 13 was coming "MUCH sooner than you think."
Since the countdown clock went live, there hasn't been a lot of information made public about Spears's new project. No announcements or press releases have been generated by her record label or management team. Britney has also been relatively silent, with the exception of occasional posts about dance rehearsals and working with a vocal coach. Then last Wednesday she took to Twitter and teased that a surprise would be coming this week. The tweet ended with #WERK. (It should be noted that @hannahspears, the Twitter account for Britney's dog, continued using #WERK in tweets the rest of that day.) Once again, speculation mounted about her new music, and by this past Saturday sources were claiming that her new single was indeed titled "Werk Bitch." A photo of the artwork for the new single started circulating on Instagram, but I suspect it was creative photoshopping by a die-hard fan. Whether or not "Werk Bitch" is even an actual song that Britney recorded, let alone her upcoming single, remains to be seen.
In a time when people have become over sharers on social media it's odd when someone does the exact opposite, yet that is exactly what Britney Spears is doing. And this shrouding in mystery is what's keeping everyone guessing. There's no gold truck driving across the country. No talk of a smartphone app that will accompany her new album. She luckily hasn't fallen victim to any of the music leaks that other recording artists have suffered through either. It seems this tactic of not using any tactics is working in her favor. By maintaining both a tight lip and a tight wrap on her project, she is generating more publicity than her peers.
Let's face it: Britney Spears has helped shape and define pop music for the past fourteen years. We know nothing about what's coming next, but it seems we are all ready for her return. All eyes on Britney.