The long-awaited Frank Ocean album is dropping this Friday, exclusively on Apple Music (AAPL)

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The new Frank Ocean album everyone's been waiting for is going to be an Apple Music exclusive for the first two weeks of its release, according to The New York Time's Ben Sisario and Joe Coscarelli, who cite "a person with knowledge of the release plans."

The album, called "Boys Don't Cry," will be released this Friday.

According to the Times, it will also include a "major video" and a "printed publication" of the same name, which will be "distributed at Apple stores."

After that two-week window is up, the album will get a wide release. But this window is a win for Apple, who has been competing with rivals like Jay Z's Tidal for exclusive content. The window is also longer than the one week Apple got for Drake's latest album, after signing a reportedly $19 million contract with him.

That makes you wonder how big of a check they wrote to Frank Ocean.

Exclusives

Exclusives have been a hotly debated strategy in the streaming industry over the past few months. Tidal has used high-profile exclusive windows from Kanye West, Beyonce, and Rihanna to boost its downloads. And while this strategy has worked in the short term, it's less clear whether it has provided a bump in long-term, paying Tidal users.

In fact, data from SurveyMonkey Intelligence suggested that the uptick in loyal Tidal users from these exclusives was disappointing. 

Perhaps that's why there are rumors that Jay Z is trying to sell Tidal to Apple. Kanye West fanned these rumors over the weekend, by tweeting about discord between Apple and Jay Z that seems to stem from acquisition talks.

"This Tidal Apple beef is f------- up the music game," West wrote. "I need Tim Cook Jay Z Dez Jimmy Larry me and Drake Scooter on the phone or in a room this week!!! F--- all this dick swinging contest. We all gon be dead in 100 Years. Let the kids have the music. Apple give Jay his check for Tidal now and stop tying to act like you Steve."

Spotify, for its part, has come out swinging against the very concept of exclusives.

"We’re not really in the business of paying for exclusives, because we think they’re bad for artists and they’re bad for fans," Jonathan Prince, Spotify's head of communications told The Verge earlier this year. "Artists want as many fans as possible to hear their music, and fans want to be able to hear whatever they’re excited about or interested in — exclusives get in the way of that for both sides. Of course, we understand that short promotional exclusives are common and we don't have an absolute policy against them, but we definitely think the best practice for everybody is wide release."

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