Frank Ocean “Blonde” does qualify for the Billboard album chart and has around 275,000 traditional album sales, streaming-equivalent album sales, and track equivalent-album sales.
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Frank Ocean’s long-awaited release Blonde has scored him a first United Kingdom number one – while David Brent also has a spot in the top five.
Still, some industry experts believe UMG may try to sue Ocean for releasing the album through his own label and denying it profits.
Frank Ocean’s Blonde has hit industry headlines this week – for more than its status as the comeback album from one of this generation’s most acclaimed talents.
Blonde was available exclusively to stream via the Apple Music service and for sale through the iTunes Store (but only as a full album – none of its tracks were sold a la carte).
Ocean’s latest problem isn’t new for an exclusive release. Many recording contracts also specify a window of time during which contracted artists can not release music on another label.
This was technically enough to discharge Ocean from his contract with UMG, and Blonde itself – regarded as the “proper” follow-up by fans – was released via his own label Boys Don’t Cry. That project fulfilled his contractual obligations with Def Jam who might pursue legal action against the singer. Ocean, it seemed, was no longer signed to record company Def Jam, when Blonde was released.
UMG has not yet responded to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Apple isn’t the only music streaming service using exclusive access to high-profile artists as a means to intensify competition with the likes of Spotify.
Frank has got some way to go to beat Kanye’s The Life of Pablo illegal download numbers however.
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Amid the hoopla over this release strategy, another defining feature of Blonde has been somewhat underplayed: the fact it’s now a complete Apple exclusive, and therefore unavailable on services such as Spotify.
