Why Is Frank Ocean Endless Not on Spotify?

It has been four years since Frank Ocean’s second studio album, Blonde, was released, and yet it is still not available on streaming platforms such as Spotify. While his first album, Channel Orange, was available for streaming on Spotify for a few months in 2016, Blonde has not been accessible to the public through streaming services.

The lack of availability of the album on streaming platforms has puzzled many fans and left them wondering why it’s not there.

Since its release, Blonde has received immense critical acclaim and has even been named one of the greatest albums of all time. It debuted at number one in both the US and UK Album Chart upon its release.

Despite its success and popularity, it is still unavailable on Spotify and other streaming services.

One possible explanation could be that Frank Ocean is attempting to keep control over his music. Despite being signed to Def Jam Recordings he opted to self-release Blonde in 2016 as an independent artist as opposed to a major label release. This means that he retains full rights over his music and can choose which platforms he wants it to be available on, and which ones he doesn’t – such as Spotify.

Another possibility is that he does not want to support the way Spotify operates with regards to paying artists for their music streams. In 2019, Ocean spoke out against the company’s practices saying “I think that music should probably provide more revenue streams for people who are actually making it…Spotify is becoming the industry standard but I don’t have to participate if I don’t want to.”

Whatever his reasons may be, Frank Ocean’s decision not to have Blonde available on Spotify has left many fans feeling frustrated that they cannot access the album easily or conveniently. It seems that unless something changes with regards to how streaming platforms pay artists or until Frank Ocean decides otherwise, his decision will remain.

Conclusion: Frank Ocean’s decision not to make ‘Blonde’ available on Spotify is likely due in part to wanting full control over his music and also because of his dissatisfaction with how little money artists receive from streams on streaming platforms like Spotify.