After much anticipation, Frank Ocean's album, Blonde has finally arrived and people are understandably pumped.
Since the self-released record, which followed a surprise 45-minute visual album -- Endless– dropped on Saturday, it has been a huge hit.
However, because the album is currently anApple Music exclusive, die-hard users of popular streaming services like Spotify are seeking out alternate methods to get their Blondefix. So far, the album has been illegally downloaded more than 750,000 times. No big deal or anything.
Data released to Music Business Worldwide (MBW) by MUSO -- a data-analytics and ‘piracy audience reconnection’ specialist -- shows that as of midday UK time on Aug. 25, Ocean's album had been illegally downloaded 753,849 times.
In case that number wasn't impressive enough, according to MBW, MUSO's data only reflects illegal downloads of the album as a whole, not single track downloads or any illegal streams. This means the true number of illegal downloads and listens is probably significantly higher.
A study by MUSO revealed that in May 2016, illegal streaming sites had become the most popular form of piracy in the world, and as more and more albums are being released exclusively, like Kanye West's Life of Pablo, these high piracy rates will likely continue.