I don't get this logic, 1st what Jay and Ye are doing is different cause they are releasing it digitally 1st. Than to retail. Do you realize how upset retailers are about that?. Jay even admitted he got a lot of heat from different retailers all around the country cause of that decision, his own label even wasn't too happy about it. But they did not want this to leak and for that I commend them. As for it not happening for their artist, again not many artist if any release LP's digitally 1st. Maybe going forward obviously everyone will follow suit cause when in the digital age has an album not leaked at least 2 weeks in.
To me what Jay and Ye did was phenomenal and will change the game. Yes it does hurt retailers but it helps the artist recoup more sales that they lose from downloading. I think people tend to forget that leaking = Stealing. You are not suspose to get music for free but since the Napster age this new generation feels entitled. I remember the days of going to cop CD's the day an album drops, opening the package and listening to it fresh for the 1st time. Don't know when the last time I did that. I think the album will do very well off the strenth of their names.
Tommy is right even though "Otis" is the offical single it's already #12 on the pop charts and the song doesn't have video and dropped about 2 weeks ago. The album will be released with no Video either, this is how Big Jay and Ye are. What's funny is Jay didn't even want to make a full lenth LP, he wanted it to be an EP as a bouns disc on Kanye's album. Ye convinced Jay that would be a waste and that if they were going to do a full album they should go all out. I'm glad KanYe convinced Jay. I think it does about 400-450k Opening week, no lower than 350k. In my view it's clearly the most anticpated rap album of the year. Yes, Wayne, Drake, NaS and J. Cole will all have buzz for their albums but Jay and Ye just stole so much thunder with this. What's amazing is this must be the weakest promoted album of either of their careers. As far as buying the album, hey obviously Jay and Ye don't need the sales but supporting good music only helps Hip Hop grow. Also the T/S said he won't cop if it doesn't leak, well as soon as it hits digital it will leak online so technically it's still leaking before it hit retail, it's just Jay and Ye were smart cause they will recoup more cause it didn't leak.