A History of Albums Being Released Early

Frank Ocean made another daring move by releasing his major label debut last night, one week before its official release date of July 17. Channel Orange became available exclusively on iTunes at midnight, avoiding the inevitable leaks and giving fans a chance to hear his work earlier than expected. Of course, he's also effectively capitalized on the newfound popularity stemming from his major announcement, but above all, Ocean has reinforced how effective an early release date can be. But he isn’t the only one.

We decided to dig up other instances of artists pushing up album release dates. Whether it was because of the success of a single or to avoid pivacy, there have been at least 25 projects in the last decade that had their release dates bumped up. Continue reading to find out who else dropped an LP ahead of schedule.

Written By Eric Diep (@E_Diep)

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Original Release Date: 9/18/2001
Date Pushed Up To: 9/11/2001
First Week Sales: 426,000 copies

Original Release Date: 6/4/2002
Date Pushed Up To: 5/28/2002
First Week Sales: 1,322,000 copies

Original Release Date: 11/25/2003
Date Pushed Up To: 11/21/2003
First Week Sales: 98,000 copies

Original Release Date: 11/28/2003
Date Pushed Up To: 11/14/2003
First Week Sales: 463,000 copies

Original Release Date: 3/8/2005
Date Pushed Up To: 3/3/2005
First Week Sales: 1.14 million copies

Original Release Date: Mid-July 2007
Date Pushed Up To: 6/26/2007
First Week Sales: 291,000 copies

Original Release Date: 11/13/2007
Date Pushed Up To: 10/26/2007
First Week Sales: 290,000 copies

Original Release Date: 9/11/2009
Date Pushed Up To: 9/8/2009
First Week Sales: 476,000 copies

Original Release Date: 10/5/2009
Date Pushed Up To: 9/28/2009
First Week Sales: Not Available (Sold 400,000 copies total in the U.K.)

Original Release Date: 11/16/2009
Date Pushed Up To: 11/9/2009
First Week Sales: 160,000 copies

Original Release Date: 12/15/2009
Date Pushed Up To: 12/8/2009
First Week Sales: 102,000 copies

Original Release Date: 5/25/2010
Date Pushed Up To: 4/27/2010
First Week Sales: 84,000 copies

Original Release Date: 6/15/2010
Date Pushed Up To: 6/9/2010 (Rumored after leaks, but never actually changed.)
First Week Sales: 447,000 copies

Original Release Date: 6/22/2010
Date Pushed Up To: 6/18/2010
First Week Sales: 741,000 copies

Original Release Date: 8/3/2010
Date Pushed Up To: 7/1/2010
First Week Sales: 2,546 copies

Original Release Date: 5/24/2011
Date Pushed Up To: 5/23/2011
First Week Sales: 58,900 copies

Original Release Date: 6/28/2011
Date Pushed Up To: 6/21/2011
First Week Sales: 135,000 copies

Original Release Date: N/A
Date Pushed Up To: 6/29/2011
First Week Sales: 1,700 copies

Original Release Date: 8/8/2011
Date Pushed Up To: 8/7/2012
First Week Sales: 436,000 copies

Original Release Date: 8/29/2011
Date Pushed Up To: 8/28/2011
First Week Sales: 964,000 copies

Original Release Date: 8/30/2011
Date Pushed Up To: 8/2/2011
First Week Sales: Not Available (Peaked at No. 80 on the Billboard 200.)

Original Release Date: 9/27/2011
Date Pushed Up To: 9/6/2011
First Week Sales: 2,920 copies

Original Release Date: Fall 2011
Date Pushed Up To: 7/22/2011
First Week Sales: 77,000 copies

Original Release Date: 3/20/2012
Date Pushed Up To: 3/13/2012
First Week Sales: 176,000 copies

Original Release Date: 3/27/2012
Date Pushed Up To: 3/20/2012
First Week Sales: 34,000 copies

Original Release Date: 5/6/2012
Date Pushed Up To: 4/6/2012
First Week Sales: Not Available

Original Release Date: 6/5/2012
Date Pushed Up To: 5/29/2012
First Week Sales: Not Available (Peaked at #30 on the Billboard 200.)

Original Release Date: 7/17/2012
Date Pushed Up To: 7/9/2012
First Week Sales: N/A