Frank Ocean recently made the decision to exit his contract with Def Jam by releasing two albums, and it's paying off nicely for him. Although the label had him for one more album, he decided to release Endless first, a 45-minute visual album that's only available to stream. This technically fulfilled his obligations, and he then dropped his album Blonde two days later via his independent label Boys Don't Cry. The move definitely angered suits at Universal Music Group—Def Jam's parent company—who have moved to ban streaming-only releases by their artists in the future.
While the threat of a lawsuit from his former label still hangs over his head, at least Frank can take solace in the fact that the move has already netted him $1 million. According to a report from Forbes, the amount of money Frank took in per album increased significantly. While under Def Jam, Frank would have made $1.50 - $2 per album, his independent label will get him $5 - $7.50. Considering he moved 276,000 units according to Billboard, that represents a difference of more than $1 million even after subtracting marketing costs. It's not a bad payday at all for the singer.
One issue, Forbes notes, would come if he tries to release it physically. Since it was online-only first, many stores would be unlikely to order many copies. That's more of an issue for some than others, though, depending on what percentage of their sales typically come from physical copies. Either way, Frank is coming out of this with a nice paycheck.
