R&B newcomer Frank Ocean’s debut album ‘Channel Orange’ scores a surprise second spot on the US chart with 97% digital sales.
Frank Ocean
‘Channel Orange’ sold 131,000 copies in the US in the last week, against the odds. Billboard report that it almost matched the first week sales of Chris Brown’s Fortune and beat Usher’s recent album. This is without major promotion or radio play, and despite the fact that he released it a week earlier than expected, only on iTunes, with bricks and mortar stores then instructed to put it on shelves.
The biggest hurdle Ocean had to overcome was his sexual history. Last month he was the first R&B singer to publicly admit to having been in love with another man, in a moving blog post. While many fellow musicians supported his bravery, Twitter certainly saw former fans express their disgust at the news.
The sales pattern was also interesting. Out of the 131,000 copies, only 3,000 were actual CDs. The rest were all digital sales, the vast majority from iTunes. Only 2.3% of copies sold were physical.
Country act Zac Brown Band scored their second number one debut with Uncaged.
Check out the most recent single from Channel Orange, ‘Sweet Life’, below. Yes, he hasn’t made clips for any of the three singles from the album.
