4: The Remix

Background

On February 8, 2012, it was announced through Beyoncé's website and a press release issued by Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records that "End of Time" would be released as the fifth single from her fourth studio album, 4. Preceding its release, a remix competition for the song began in association with audio sharing site SoundCloud, which enabled public voting on the submission of remixes by participants. The contest was open to entrants in 25 countries from February 8, 2012 to March 9, 2012; it was announced that the remix winner would win a cash prize of US$4,000 and that the remix would be included on her then-unspecified upcoming release, which was later titled 4: The Remix.

Over two thousand entries had been uploaded to SoundCloud by March 4, 2012, and the following day another press release was issued, announcing the members of the international judging panel who would choose the winner of the competition; the panel consisted of Beyoncé, British musician Isabella Summers of Florence and the Machine, Dutch music producer and DJ Afrojack, the duo DJ and Polish producing team WAWA, New York premier DJ Jus-Ske, and Oscar-winning producer and composer Giorgio Moroder. The public was able to vote for entries and SoundCloud, and the top 50 ranked remixes were reviewed by the announced panel of judges; the originality, creativity and musicality of these 50 remixes were taken into consideration when choosing the winner. On April 17, Radzimir "Jimek" Dębski from Poland was announced as the winner in a press release.

Release and production

On April 17, 2012, the release of the remix extended play (EP) titled 4: The Remix, along with its cover artwork and US release date of April 24, 2012, was announced. The EP was released in digital stores in France, Ireland, United Kingdom, Belgium, Finland, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Greece, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Malta, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, and United States on April 23, 2012 and South Korea on April 27, 2012. The album consists of six remixes of songs from Beyoncé's fourth studio album, 4 (2011). It comprises a Dave Audé remix of "Run the World (Girls)", an Isa Machine remix of "Countdown", a Lars B remix of "Best Thing I Never Had", a DJ Escape and Tony Coluccio remix of "Love on Top" and two remixes of "End of Time"—one by WAWA and the other by Jimek.

Chart performance

4: The Remix debuted on the UK R&B Albums Chart at number twenty-eight and number forty-four on the UK Budget Albums for the week of May 5, 2012. For the issue of Billboard dated May 12, 2012, 4: The Remix debuted at number eleven on the US Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and number thirty on the R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart.

Track listing

(*) Denotes co-producer

Credits and personnel

Credits for 4: The Remix, taken from the liner notes of the EP.