Sideshow: Beyoncé multitasks for fans and the money

In this, our civilization's winter of discontent, art has become nothing but commerce and commerce the highest form of art. So it is. Just ask

Beyoncé

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The diva's PR machine has so hyped her upcoming album that fans are desperate for any crumbs of music. She has obliged by releasing a snippet of the new song "Standing on the Sun" in a 90-second video. Mind you, it's not a music video, but a TV ad for H&M. (Fact, it's a double advert: for the retail clothing company, and of course, for B's LP.)

In the ad, B "shows off sexy swim- and beachwear while flipping up sand and surf in the Bahamas to the pulsating sounds" of the tune, People says.

Plato wanted to ban all art, believing it a dangerous distraction from reality. He may have been right after all.

Police in Stockholm raided Justin Bieber's tour bus after an officer smelled pot when he approached the vehicle, which was parked at the Globen concert venue, where Justin was performing Wednesday night.

The bus was empty: The raid occurred half an hour after Justin and his act took the stage. Police reps on Thursday said they found a small quantity of drugs (they won't specify, but the Swedish media say it was pot) and a stun gun. No arrests.

Operation Clean Sweep X Factor may be coming to a close. As previously announced, Britney Spears and L.A. Reid aren't returning next season, and earlier this week Simon Cowell announced that Khloé Kardashian won't be back, either.

Cohost Mario Lopez, however, will return. So who'll fill the gaping void?

Anonymous Source tells Us Weekly that sly Brit Si is signing up sexy ghost whisperer Jennifer Love Hewitt and singer/actor Demi Lovato. Rumors persist that Kelly Rowland, who judged the Brit edition of the show in '11, and Reba McEntire also are in the running. "This is pure speculation," X Factor's peeps tell Us.

Two TV heroes from our prehistory have tied their souls in matrimony: Little House on the Prairie's Half-Pint Melissa Gilbert, 48, and thirtysomething's Timothy Busfield, 55, said their vows in a small ceremony Wednesday at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, her reps tell People. It's the third marriage for both.

Bella Thorne, 15, star of Disney Channel's Shake It Up, has signed to write a series of young adult novels called Autumn Falls. The books will be cowritten by Elise Allen, a screenwriter on the Barbie video series (Barbie: A Fairy Secret; Barbie: A Perfect Christmas). Thorne describes the stories as "mysterious and magical . . . [and] inspired by different aspects of my personal life, which I hold very near and dear to my heart."

Novelist and short-story writer Richard Bausch (brother of that other noted author, Robert Bausch) has won the $30,000 Rea Award for the Short Story for making a "significant contribution" to the genre. Former honorees include James Salter, Ann Beattie, and John Updike.

Kim Kardashian, who is seven months pregnant, is "freaking out about her body," Anonymous Friend tells In Touch Weekly.

Kim, who is 5-foot-2, has put on 60 pounds, the mag claims, far more (as much as twice?) the recommended amount for her height. To recover her figure - face it, it's her one marketable skill - Kim is working out more than twice a week with help from five trainers. Is this healthy? Kim reportedly had a miscarriage scare in March and was ordered to suspend her exercise regime. Is she allowed exercise now?

Will the most important pregnancy since Gaius Julius Caesar was delivered into the world remain healthy?

Drexel University College of Medicine's Institute for Women's Health and Leadership will honor 6ABC (WPVI-TV) anchor Lisa Thomas-Laury with its 11th annual Woman One Award at a reception Monday at the Rittenhouse Hotel.

"Lisa is an inspiration for her professional achievements and her personal courage," says institute director Lynn Yeakel. "For more than three decades, she has been a trusted news source and an example of community leadership."

Thomas-Laury left PVI in '03 when she was diagnosed with the nerve disorder POEMS syndrome. She returned in '06, after undergoing a bone-marrow transplant.

Filmmaker Asif Kapadia, best known for his 2010 bio of Brazilian motor-racing champ Ayrton Senna, is shooting a docu about the late soul singer Amy Winehouse. It'll feature previously unseen footage. . . . James Carville and Mary Matalin, who have parlayed their unique relationship - they're married yet work for opposing political parties - into many media dollars, are cowriting a memoir. You Can Go Home Again is due sometime next year. . . . French authorities have arrested the publisher of Closer mag and a female photog with La Provence for "invasion of privacy" for publishing topless pics of the Duchess of Cambridge.