OCEAN’S NEW ONE SETS SAIL FROM UMG

Along with the bombshell release of Frank Ocean’s Apple exclusive Blonde comes the bombshell news that the artist is no longer signed to Universal.

It seems that his Endless visual album, released just prior to Blonde, satisfied his contractual commitment to UMG; Blonde, credited to the Boys Don’t Cry label (and distributed by Fresh Produce), is Ocean’s free and clear. Meaning he reaps 70% of the revenue from sales and streams, rather than the 20% of 70% (namely 14%) he would be entitled to on a major label.

Some looming questions, among many: How much did Apple pay/advance to Ocean for the exclusive? Given the expected windfall Ocean will realize under this arrangement, how many other superstar acts will follow suit when their contracts with the majors come up for renewal?

The implications of this story go the heart of industry policy regarding digital exclusives. For more on that, go here.

Meanwhile, Ocean, who's managed by Mark Gillespie at Three Six Zero (pictured) could earn up to 75m streams in his first week at Apple, and is looking at roughly 280k SPS.