Frank Ocean and The Heist of The Year

I know, you’re tired of hearing, “Frank Ocean’s new album is amazing!!!!1!” Me too. For me, I’m interested less in the album itself, and more in what it means for the future of music.

Recap

Here’s a recap if you don’t know: Frank Ocean released Channel Orange in 2012 to much acclaim. Everyone went bananas for it. He won all kinds of awards. He also gave a weird, and really terrible performance at the Grammys (we’re talking Nick Jonas guitar solo bad).

In the 4 years since his first album (and in the last year in particular) ‘ol Frank has been teasing his next album, supposedly titled Boys Don’t Cry. Teaser release dates came and went, and Frank started to seem a bit like the boy who cried wolf. (sidenote: the name of the album should be Boys Don’t Cry Wolf amirite???)

Last Week

Well last week Frank Ocean pulled off something that’s known in the music industry as a “Double-Beyoncé” with hint of a “Classic Prince Two Step” (Read on and you’ll understand).

On Friday, with no prior announcement, he released a 45 minute “visual album” titled Endless as an Apple Music exclusive. It’s basically one giant music video.

Surprisingly, Endless is apparently “too long” for TRL and “not released in the same decade as when this show was on.” Screw you, Carson Daly.

Endless features 45 minutes of new music. It’s part R&B, part Hip Hop, part suuuuper chill, and all Frank Ocean.

Oh, it’s also part staircase-building tutorial. Not a joke.

Oh but wait, there’s more. After releasing what many people (just me) are calling, “a much longer, much more relaxed Thriller video” Frank released an entirely different album the very next day. Two back to back releases without any promo ahead of time? Now that’s what I call a Double-Beyoncé!

His new “audio album” is called Blonde and is an iTunes and Apple Music exclusive. But here’s the really fascinating thing: While Endless was released under the Def Jam label, Blonde was released independently under Frank’s own label, coincidentally named Boys Don’t Cry (Wolf).

Why does this matter? Apparently by releasing the visual album Endless, Frank fulfilled his contract with Def Jam. What did he do to celebrate? He released an entirely new “actual album” as an Apple Music and iTunes exclusive the very next day.

Apple Music has been making a name for themselves, primarily through their streaming exclusives. They’ve had a head start on releases by artists like Chance The Rapper, Drake, Adele (and the Stranger Things soundtrack) and pay top dollar for it.

Increasingly, services like Apple Music and Tidal are setting themselves apart with streaming exclusives and becoming more powerful than the labels themselves. Why make a record deal when you can get an exclusive streaming deal?

This isn’t to say that Endless is particularly bad, but a music video won’t climb the Billboard charts, and doesn’t have the same profitability of a regular audio album (you know, like the one he had in his back pocket the whole time).

Let’s recap the Frank Ocean story:

2012: Signs to Def Jam. Releases Channel Orange. Everyone loves it.
2013: Chillin. “You guys wanna hear more?”
2014: Chillin. “My new album is coming guys!”
2015: Chillin. “Coming so soon! It’s gonna be amazing!”
2016: Chillin. “I swear! #boysdontcry”
Last Friday: “Check out my new visual album! Hey Def Jam, we good?”
Last Saturday: “Check out my actual album. Hey Apple Music, sup!”

#nochill. This dude basically just side stepped his existing recording contract but pulling a pretty sneaky move; he technically fulfilled his contract, but then immediately released another album on the side. Now that’s what I call a Classic Prince Two-Step.

Here’s a list of winners and losers in this scenario from most winningest to least.

Most Winningest: Frank Ocean Fans, for getting a double dose of new music after years of teasing.
Also Winning: Frank Ocean, for being sneaky and releasing his new album independently as an Apple Music exclusive, and presumably making much more money.
Still Winning: Apple Music, for locking down yet another exclusive stream. People will sign up just to hear it.
Biggest Loser: Def Jam, for missing out on Frank’s real album, and instead getting what basically amounts to a really long Home Depot commercial (albeit with a dopesoundtrack).

Are streaming services the new record labels? Will artists cut out the middle man and start leaving traditional labels for greener pastures? We’ll have to wait and see. All I know is, Frank Ocean has managed to pull off the heist of the year.

Oh, by the way, have you heard about Frank Ocean’s new “Movie Album” coming out?

This post originally appeared in my weekly email for musicians called The Load In. New issue every Friday includes music news, helpful tips, and a free chart for song you should know. Sign up here.