 Throughout 2013, Beyoncé worked on the project in secrecy, sharing details of the album with a small circle of people and shifting the deadline, which was only finalized a week before its release. Secrecy was imposed as Beyoncé felt like album releases had lost meaning as a significant, exciting event in the face of hype created around singles and she wanted the album to be released unexpectedly. In July 2013, a spokesperson for Beyoncé denied speculation that her album had been delayed, stating there was no official release date to begin with and that when a date is set, it would be announced via an official press release.
