5 Things to Know About Frank Ocean’s Blonde Release Strategy
- Blonde was released on August 20, 2016, as a timed exclusive on iTunes Store and Apple Music.
- It followed the visual album Endless, which came out the day before.
- Endless fulfilled Ocean’s contract with Def Jam, freeing him from the label.
- Blonde was released independently on Ocean’s own Boys Don’t Cry label.
- The one-day gap between releases was a deliberate legal move to exit his contract.