Drake To Release ‘Views From The 6’ As An Apple Music Exclusive, Drops Trailer For New Album
Drake has finally confirmed an official release date for his highly anticipated Views From the 6 album, but after reports confirmed rumors suggesting that Drake’s upcoming release would come in the form of an Apple Music exclusive, it looks like some fans may hold off on streaming the album until it reaches other platforms.
Confirmation of an official release date for VFT6 came during episode 19 of OVO Sound Radio via Apple Music’s Beats 1 radio yesterday, where Drake revealed to fans that there will be “a lot of music” on his forthcoming studio release. While Drake offered no additional information regarding the album’s cover art or rumored features, the “Hotline Bling” rapper did preview a new verse from his most recent release, “Pop Style,” before taking to Instagram to drop a teaser trailer in honor of his new album.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEAR3EyjQMB/?taken-by=champagnepapi&hl=en
While the countdown to Views’ release is officially underway, it looks as though some fans are upset by the news that Drake’s long-awaited album would be released exclusively through Apple Music with no word regarding on when other platforms, such as Spotify and Tidal, may obtain the record for their streaming services.
Drake’s #VIEWS drops April 29. Watch the trailer: https://t.co/0KYsP0Lm0k pic.twitter.com/il8UlNd7NH
— Rap-Up (@RapUp) April 10, 2016
According to HipHop-N-More, Drake confirmed speculation of an Apple Music release on Twitter shortly after announcing the album’s drop date on OVO Sound Radio, however, later edited the tweet to remove his comments regarding the Apple Music exclusive.
The news comes just days after Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo became widely available to other streaming services after initially being released as a Tidal exclusive on February 13. While there appears to be much debate over whether or not an Apple Music exclusive release may hurt Views‘ chart debut, it’s worth noting that West’s TLOP debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 chart for the week ending April 7 despite keeping the record on Tidal for nearly two months, Billboard reports.
The news comes just months after Apple Music was widely blamed for costing the “Summer Sixteen” rapper his first No. 1 single following the release of his “Hotline Bling” video due to the terms of his partnership with the streaming service; although, it’s worth noting that Apple was later reported to have financed the video’s creation.
How Apple Music prevented Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’ from becoming a No. 1 single https://t.co/QTq2QWKj7G pic.twitter.com/hilAiKorB5
— BGR.com (@BGR) October 28, 2015
According to Business Insider, Drake’s rumored $19 million deal with Apple requires that any of the rapper’s releases be available exclusively on Apple Music for its first week; however, because Apple doesn’t report video views to Nielsen Music, any streams of the “Hotline Bling” music video were not counted towards the single’s chart placement. Drake ended up losing out on the No. 1 spot to The Weeknd’s “The Hills,” with “Hotline Bling” peaking at No. 2 one week after the video’s debut.
Drake gushed over the idea of reaching the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 prior to the video’s release in October, taking to Instagram to write, “If I get my first number one during the month of October it will be the biggest moment of my career to date (in my mind) and if you are looking for me on that particular evening I will be passed out in the water slide that connects to our pool.”
Drake continued with, “I love you and thank you for these memories. I always love the moment right before it happens more than when it actually happens. So thank you…even if it doesn’t.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/82ZRfGDQGf/
What are your thoughts on Drake’s Views From the 6 album being an Apple Music exclusive?
[Photo by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images]