The way Frank Ocean released his highly-anticipated new album Blonde has influenced Universal Music Group to end all streaming exclusives for the artists.
Blonde, an Apple Music exclusive, was released on Ocean’s independent label Boys Don’t Cry, which is not affiliated with his former publisher Def Jam or its parent company Universal Music Group (UMG). Metadata on Apple Music shows that the copyright on Ocean’s news album belongs to Boys Don’t Cry and not to Island Def Jam Music Group as on Channel Orange.
UMG CEO Lucian Grainge sent an email Monday [August 22] stating that the company, which represents artists like Kanye West and Drake, would end all exclusives with music streaming companies like Apple. According to FORBES his decision was influenced partly by Ocean’s partnership with Apple for his newest album, as he also believes these exclusives only benefit the streaming service, “because there’s a conspiracy between Apple Music and the industry to change the game, to get everybody to pay for a subscription by putting hit content behind a paywall.”
Music industry analyst and critic Bob Lefsetz wrote: “Shame on you Frank, and shame on everybody else who takes money from Apple and screws fans. There’s enough money in music without taking every last buck, and the joke is on you, for thinking so short term, you want your music available to everybody, because in these days of information overload we need nobody, everybody is superfluous, you don’t want to enter the marketplace with one hand tied behind your back.”
Streaming albums exclusively on certain platforms creates an issue of accessibility, as fans don’t want to have to subscribe to multiple streaming services just to hear new music. With these services however, artists often receive fractional royalties, making deals like the one Drake signed with Apple Music for a reported $19 million seem attractive.
Before releasing Blonde Frank dropped a 45-minute visual album titled Endless exclusively on Apple Music on Thursday. Endless listed Def Jam in its credits, which reportedly fulfilled Ocean’s contract with Def Jam and Universal and allowed him to do whatever he wanted with his new music.
Blonde dropped two days later.
