For years, Beyonce was a hit-machine, defiantly, almost psychotically, churning out chart topping singles. So how, and why, did she become focussed exclusively on the album format? And what does that mean in the age of streaming?
"I might get your song played on the radio station," boasts Beyonce on Formation, the agenda-setting single she premiered at this year's SuperBowl - but her own songs are increasingly failing to make the airwaves.

It is five years since she had a top five hit in the UK, and eight since her last number one - 2008's If I Were A Boy.
"If you compare her to other pop stars like Rihanna, she hasn't really had a defining hit in a long time," says Michael Cragg, features editor at Popjustice. To the casual observer that looks like bad news but here's the thing: Beyonce opted out of the chart race voluntarily.

"I think when you make a Crazy In Love or a Single Ladies, then there's nowhere else to go in the world of traditional pop music," says BBC Radio 1's Annie Mac.
"You have to try and evolve as an artist and push yourself further conceptually and musically. She is growing up and getting more spiritual within herself and her music." In practice, that means Beyonce has become an "albums artist" - making bold, long-form records that tackle weighty topics such as black identity, body image, feminism and marital fidelity (or otherwise). Her new album Lemonade and its predecessor, 2013's Beyonce, work best as song suites, where atmosphere and narrative take precedence over smash and grab pop hooks.

"4 was the turning point," says Cragg. "She realised it didn't make the impact she should be making at that point in her career." "On her last album Beyonce started a pattern of the 'surprise release'. Now it's the norm for big US artists to do it this way - Kendrick [Lamar], Rihanna, Drake etc." (Indeed, Radio 1 held another listening party for Drake's latest album, Views, on Friday.)

But in the era of streaming, is anyone actually listening to these albums?

"While most industry experts would tell you that listeners prefer streaming individual tracks, it's a two-tiered system," says music journalist Eve Barlow.

"There are fair-weather Beyonce fans who might only be interested in her biggest hits, as they've always been. But this album might not be for those fans at all. Increasingly there's the upper tier of Beyonce acolytes who want to delve deeper and truly immerse themselves in the experience.
"For the right artist, there remains a hunger for the full album."