UMG has reportedly banned exclusives on the heels of 'Blonde'īut what Frank Ocean has done is different. Lemonade may have been released exclusively through Tidal, but you’ll still find Columbia Records in the credits. She doesn't actually need to stay with Columbia Records, but her and her team have been on an exemplary run over the last decade, and there’s little reason to switch it up. Younger artists need the structure and nurturing that a music label can provide, and established superstars have usually built up a rapport and are loyal to the group of people - most of whom work for the label - that have helped them become stars and simply choose to stay, after getting a big payday.īeyoncé is a great example of this. Up until now this hasn’t been the case with an artist of consequence, for a few reasons. For years, labels have feared that as streaming services grew in power and scope, there could come a time when some artists could choose to forego working with the labels and engage directly with a streaming service to reach their fans. This is the nightmare scenario for music labels. This marks the first shot in an inevitable fight between music labels and streaming services Meanwhile the labels, in a bid to avoid a future they may not be able to survive, may ultimately end up on the side of some fans who want music available through every viable medium.
Now, in a race to get more subscribers for their streaming services, the biggest company in the world and one run by an artist have positioned themselves as a friendly alternative for musicians. The relationship between an artist and a music label has been a notoriously fraught one, but until recently, there was nowhere an artist could run to when they tired of their label besides the next label down the street. After satisfying his Def Jam deal with the release of Endless, Ocean released Blonde independently in a move that marks the first shot in an inevitable fight between music labels and streaming services.
The release of Blonde marked much more than Frank Ocean’s musical return after four years away.
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