keropmix.blogg.se

(Sources close to the situation at both Def Jam and Universal Music say that no legal action against Ocean is currently being considered.)įrank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’ Proves Why Artists Shouldn’t Be Rushedįor one, many record contracts are based on minimum-delivery clauses, meaning that if Ocean’s deal was just for two albums, he typically would have had to deliver them within a set time frame, and at a label-acceptable level of quality, in order to fulfill his contract. Ocean delivered Endless instead, fulfilling his deal and severing his contractual ties to the major.īut to release another full-length, fully-realized album outside the label’s purview just 24-hours later is controversial, to say the least, and a source tells Billboard that while UMG hasn’t taken any legal action against Ocean or his team, the label group may have grounds to do so. Now it appears that Ocean, perhaps through an advance via his new deal with Apple (though one source suggests a separate, private benefactor), paid that amount back to Def Jam, absolving him of any recoupable claims from Def Jam/UMG and essentially buying Ocean his own recordings back. In July, Billboard reported that Def Jam had spent as much as $2 million on recording costs for Ocean’s album, at the time thought to be called Boys Don’t Cry.

Now, the question is, how did Ocean win this battle? Did he? And what does it mean for the other labels, streaming services and the industry at large?

UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge reacted swiftly by informing the heads of his labels that Universal was done with streaming exclusives on one platform and on a global basis, which has been at the center of the streaming services’ arms race in the last 18 months, though it remains unconfirmed whether or not Grainge’s policy change was a direct result of Ocean’s strategy behind Blond. 25, were left with what amounts to a very long music video and without one of their marquee artists.įrank Ocean’s ‘Blonde’: 10 MVPs Who Contributed to the Album Def Jam and its parent Universal, stuck with an overshadowed visual album that isn’t for sale, and cut out of any revenue from the “proper” album that’s headed to the top of the charts on the strength of 225,000 to 250,000 equivalent album units earned in the week ending Aug. Homer recently unveiled a new collab collection with Prada, which was followed by Ocean’s appearance at the Met Gala, accompanied by a robot baby.Frank Ocean‘s four-year sabbatical from the public eye following his 2012 album Channel Orange ended emphatically and dramatically last week with back-to-back releases: the visual album Endless, released as an Apple Music video stream via Def Jam/Universal Music Group and the 17-song album Blond, released as an Apple exclusive a day later on Ocean’s own label, Boys Don’t Cry, without Def Jam’s - or Universal’s - involvement.Īfter an interminable wait (in music industry standards, at least), Ocean fulfilled his contractual obligations, sources tell Billboard, and increased his potential profit share from 14 percent to 70 percent of total revenues from Blond within a 24-hour period, seemingly pulling a fast one on the biggest music company in the world in the process. More recently, Frank has been focusing on ventures other than music, launching his independent luxury company Homer. While Ocean is known to take his time on music, there was only a four year gap between his albums Channel Orange and Blonde, making this wait seem that much longer. The last album released by the beloved musician, Blonde, just celebrated its five years anniversary, meaning it’s been that long since we’ve heard any new material from him. Regardless of whether or not this news is real or simply an unsubstantiated rumor, it’s no secret why fans are thirsty for some updates from Frank Ocean. With news breaking a couple weeks back that Frank is the headliner for Coachella in 2023, it wouldn’t be surprising for the rapper to drop an album sometime between then and now–but given how far away that milestone is, he’s probably not rushing things. He’s Back…Well Kinda! Frank Ocean Launches Independent Luxury Brand ‘Homer’, Teases Prada Collab

Puppeteer Papa Preciousness: Proud Pappy Frank Ocean Stuns On The Met Gala Carpet With Alien-Robot Son Named ‘Cody’