Frank Ocean is a 2-time Grammy winning artist and writer for multiple artists like Justin Bieber, Beyonce, and John Legend. In 2009 after picking up an audience with his breakout mixtape Nostalgia, ultra. He got the attention of multiple labels, including Def Jam Recordings. Ocean signed a 2 album deal with Def Jam.
But in 2016, Ocean was one of few artists to find a loophole in his label deal and beat out his record label. August 19th, 3am. After a 4-year hiatus from releasing his last album Channel Orange, Ocean would release an exclusive Apple live stream of him building a wooden staircase. This stream would go on for another 140 hours, until fans got to hear the first snippets of a what was a new visual album, named Endless. This got Def jam and Universal thinking they got their long-awaited Frank Ocean album and would fulfill his 2-album deal. But after paying his 2-million-dollar advance and gaining all ownership of his album. One day later he released his true album he was working on the past 4 years, Blonde.
Under his own label Boys Don’t Cry, Ocean gained all profit from the album and it went on to become #1 album on the Billboard 200. According to Forbes, Ocean made $1 Million in the first-week release alone. Additionally, it was rumored from Rapper Asap Rocky, Ocean also received a 20 million payout from Apple music.
With all this, this has caused outrage among multiple music executives. Lucian Grange, CEO of Universal music group, reacted to this, and quickly banned exclusive albums.
Sources:
“Frank Ocean Already Made $1 Million by Going Independent” By: Natalie Robehmed https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2016/08/30/frank-ocean-already-made-1-million-by-going-independent/?sh=ee4dc53308fd
“Frank Ocean’s Album Is the Straw that Broke Universal Music’s Back” By: Dan Rys https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/frank-ocean-endless-album-straw-broke-universal-music-back-may-get-sued-7487032/
“A tale of two versions: The elaborate heist inspired by Frank Ocean’s moniker” By Staff Reporter