Leak and Release
"Sweet Dreams" was leaked under its original title the day after it was recorded in March 2008, eight months before the album's release. It was the first time that a single by Knowles was leaked before its inclusion on an upcoming album. She responded to the leak on her official website, thanking her fans for the positive response towards the song, before clarifying that it was just a work in progress and that she did not intend to release new material in the near future. About the leak, Love told MTV News:
I was more concerned that would feel that we did it. A lot of times producers or songwriters leak records because they feel if you put the song out there it would go . Usually a leak that far in advance of an album release puts the song in serious jeopardy of being excluded from the final track list. It was frustrating. I felt like you work hard to get in the studio to work with Beyoncé. I was blessed ... that song turned out have nine lives.
Under the song's original title "Beautiful Nightmare", "Sweet Dreams" gained some attention in the United States, where it amassed enough airplay to chart at number forty-five on Hot Dance Club Songs chart and at number fifty-seven on Pop 100 Airplay chart. "Broken-Hearted Girl" was initially intended as the sixth US and fourth international single alongside the stateside-only single "Ego" (2009). However, its release was scrapped at the last minute, and replaced by "Sweet Dreams", which Knowles selected for a summer single release because she wanted an uptempo song that would keep people dancing. She added, "It's very rare to find an uptempo song that means something ... that's not just about going to a club or partying or being a sexy girl."
"Sweet Dreams" was added to US contemporary hit radio and rhythmic contemporary radio playlists on June 2, 2009. Dance remixes of the song alongside the album version of "Ego" and its remixes were later released on the same digital EP on August 17, 2009, in the US. In Germany, the album version of "Sweet Dreams" and a radio edit of a remix produced by Steve Pitron and Max Sanna were made available as a digital download and as a CD single on July 13, and July 17, 2009. A different digital EP containing remixes and the music video of the song was released in the same country on July 31, 2011. On July 16, 2009, the album version and the radio edit of "Sweet Dreams" was serviced as a two-track digital single in Oceania and Europe, excluding France, where it was made available on the same format the following day. In the UK, the song was released on CD and as a stand-alone digital single on August 10, 2009. A different digital EP containing four remixes and the album version of "Sweet Dreams" was also released. On the same date, the song was released as a two-sided digital EP in mainland Europe; it contained ten remixes of "Sweet Dreams".
Read more about this topic: Sweet Dreams (Beyoncé Knowles Song)
Famous quotes containing the words leak and/or release:
“One leak will sink a ship: and one sin will destroy a sinner.”
—John Bunyan (1628–1688)
“We read poetry because the poets, like ourselves, have been haunted by the inescapable tyranny of time and death; have suffered the pain of loss, and the more wearing, continuous pain of frustration and failure; and have had moods of unlooked-for release and peace. They have known and watched in themselves and others.”
—Elizabeth Drew (1887–1965)