July 12th, 2012
12:50 PM ET
Why Target won't sell Frank Ocean's 'Channel Orange'Frank Ocean’s “Channel Orange” has received plenty of praise since debuting early in digital form, and hitting No. 1 on iTunes in 10 countries. But despite the apparent demand for Ocean’s debut album, which dropped after he revealed last week that he was once in love with a man, Target will not carry “Channel Orange.” The retailer cited the album’s early iTunes release as the reason behind its about face. Buzz surrounding Target's move not to offer the album in its stores initially focused on whether the decision had anything to do with Ocean's revelation about his same sex love. The retail giant has since defended its decision not to sell “Channel Orange,” telling CNN: “The claims made about Target’s decision to not carry the Frank Ocean album are absolutely false. Target supports inclusivity and diversity in every aspect of our business. Our assortment decisions are based on a number of factors, including guest demand.” The Target rep continued: “Target has a longstanding tradition of supporting music and artistry that reflects the diverse landscape of American culture. Our history of partnering with diverse artists includes recent partnerships with a variety of musicians.” On Tuesday, Ocean's manager Christian Clancy backtracked on a now deleted tweet suggesting the retailer had other motivations, tweeting, “I apologize for my comments about Target. They are not carrying Franks album because it went digital first. Not for ANY other reason.” As for Ocean, he offered his own analysis and tweeted "album won't be available at target. blame it on a generational gap. best buy on deck though."
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Interesting. They carried "Watch the Throne" which also was released digitally a week prior to the physical CD being released....
New Blackhat and money making site opened! Check it out! http://www.you1ube.com
I love you're music and support you 100%. I think the CEO of target is gay because this is not the first time, it was an incident with lady gaga .When you are in business its about making money thats what ceo 's do. He must be gay which makes it a personal jealousy issue
of course like your website however you need to take a look at the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I find it very troublesome to tell the truth nevertheless I will certainly come again again.
What a STUPID HEADLINE!! Target IS SELLING THE CD!! So the headline "Why Target won't sell Frank Ocean's Channel Orange" is COMPLETELY MISLEADING and FALSE. Shame on CNN! You wonder why your ratings are in the basement......
Cant we just move the "gays" somewhere else – to avoid this problem? Like pick a state and just move all of them over there? – Like Alaska? – Or maybe put them behind a high circular fence and just fill them with water... I am tired of hearing about the damn gays. Why are they constantly in your face with all these things? – Who cares? Isnt anyone interested in economy, politics, children, healthcare, technology, stock market???? Who gives a # 2 about the gays?
If you are interested in those topics then why are you looking at the entertainment section of this site? Gays everywhere? Ooh you scared thing why don't you go into your basement and hide. Moron.
Or maybe we should put them behind electrified fences, as in concentration camps. Do you have any shirts that aren't black or brown?
Get over it ! Just like there are people of different races everywhere there are gay people everywhere and there are a lot more gay people than you imagine . If you do not like it TOO BAD !!! The only way to get away from all the gay people is to hide under a rock somewhere . We are not going anywhere just to make someone like you feel more comfortable ! Chances are some of your friends and family members are gay and you have no clue about it yet . You are gonna hear about and see more gay people every year from now on and nothing is going to change that fact .
You obviously protest way too much. Gays have to be bombarded with your straight ass day in and day out. These straight celebrities split, that straight celebrity had a kid, blah, blah, blah. Hopefully someday nobody will care who is gay and it won't be such a big deal. Why don't you move to Alaska and get off the internet. Then you won't have to read about who is gay.
Too late,you read the story and now you're infected with secondhand gay
you should go wash your eyes out with soap and a Brillo pad
the label decided to let everyone start selling the CD on Thursday so maybe their ploy worked. Great album
Let me get this straight. They are going to carry an album that already has record sales because it was released digitally?
As a business man that doesn't make since. Why would they not want to get in on the profits?
Tommy – you probably meant sense (as a business man) – it has nothing to do with profits – I just dont want my children shopping at a store that supports this "gay" agenda...
Who is Frank Ocean anway? If he hadn't came out as gay and CNN posted a stort about it I doubt anyone of us would mention his album. Maybe Target don't wanna stock his album cause they know that it won't sell, last I heard Target was a for-profit company.
Target's right to do so, plain & simple. Right or wrong, can't 'force' a retailer to sell something.
Target's right (as in their right, not they are right)... it's their prerogative.... sing it Bobby!!
surprising, since this is the same company where the employes's cannot say Merrry Christmas or donotes or promotes support for the troops.
Yeah, that's not true at all. Just more internet myths.
Target is sooooo over rated, I rarely shop at Target simply because their prices are rediculously high and they don't have anything that I can't find somewhere else.
Hey – Great – Thanks Julia... We all care about why you dont shop at target.... LOL! What a bimbo!!! -
arrow straight you best start growing you're own foods because all stores sell gay items..you may pump gas behind a gay individual it sit in a restaurant behind a gay person or ect . All schools has gay people so prepare you're children for home school better yet put them in a bubble that's safer. please don't say you're a Christian because Christian don't judge
Ho-Hum! Only Ocean I wouldl buy would be Billy Ocean.
Regardless of Target's view on gays, their PR people should have been smart enough to realize that many people will jump to conclusions that this move is related to his coming out. They should recognize that the cost to carry an album that won't sell because it's available to download is miniscule compared to the lost revenue from the knee-jerk reaction they should have foreseen...This is just blatant incompetence on the part of their public relations department.
Well then I guess less business will come to Target as a result, which is probably a good thing considering the almost-monopolistic stranglehold that they and WalMart have on the household goods retail market.
Ninety-five percent of the posters here are truly disgusting. Sub-human.
This is dumb. They make it out to be a gay issue but people have been upset at Target for supporting gay rights. Funny how quickly people forget.
funny, because i remember the uproar over Target's giving more than $100,000 to a politician with very anti gay rights stances, and support from a Christian rock group with lyrics about killing gay people. i never see a Target add without thinking of their anti-gay stances. not surprised they won't carry this album, and i don't believe the corporate line on it.
They say they won't sell it cause it went digital first?? They stocked their shelves with Radiohead's album In Rainbows in January 2008, the digital download was available October 2007. Seems like alot of B.S to me. I mean anyone can google this info and fact check it if you like, it's very true. Target is lying about the true reason, think we all know what the real reason is.
Perhaps the sales figures on that Radiohead album were poor and that's why the don't want to sell any previously released albums anymore. The company has such a strong record of supporting gay rights that it seems strange that they would suddenly make a public anti-gay move like this now.
Target's policy to not carry albums who first release digitally has been in place for the past 12 months. It is a strict policy and has had no exeptions in the past year. Target will not be bullied by record labels or special interest groups; they have business to do.
Amazing how many people are concerned about what Romney does with HIS money. Shouldn't you be more concerned with what Nobama is doing with YOUR money?
Concern about what anybody is doing with their money is irrelevant to the discussion at hand. Romney is a conservative Xtian therefor he is evil personified. Obama is not the one that makes money spending decisions, it is the Congress so he is blameless if he gets no bills that he can sign from the Congress. Neither has anything to do with Target's bizarre marketing strategy.
I have seen this line before, but if Romney becomes President it is then our money. So this dumb statement holds no water!!!!
Lucky for us these idiots are not reproducing. Not just these atrociously boring "artists" who need to talk about their gay love to get attention since their music is sad and thin, but the whole generation of ignorant liberal Millenials. They disdain and eschew marriage and childbearing, and so they and their lifestyle will be effectively deleted from human history within another generation. Problem solved. Caterwauling, uneducated, boring noise silenced.
I am no longer Jebus I am Jebus Christ!
They actually seek marriage as much as anyone else in love. Childbearing SHOULD be "eschewed". With the population of the earth already larger than it can feed, it is the epitome of selfishness to continue breeding like a pack of rats. Breeders are definitely a group that needs to be "disdained". People who have more than 2 children should be financially penalized heavily for such an irresponsible act and they should be socially ostracized as the criminals they actually are.
The GOP supports indiscriminate breeding and should be labeled as irresponsible enemies of mankind and the Earth for this "policy". So long as there is a single orphan left the government should discourage any further breeding programs. If gay are not producing children then they should be glorified for being responsible citizens while breeded need to be vilified for their selfishness.
Of course... Because if I'm going to buy music(ha), I'm going to Target....
I f Targe' was cutting his music for that reason, then there would be almost NO products or clothing in their store or anybody's store! If people really knew who makes what? Who's designing your shoes, hair, clothes, perfume..etc. I laugh when I hear men talk about gays and you look to see what they are wearing..Calvin, Ralph, etc.
I've heard that they won't sell it because every CD is coated with AIDS, not HIV, but full blown AIDS...
He likes meat sticks in his mud whistle? Disgusting!!!
Haha Obama you need to watch what you say you need the black and gay vote to beat my wealth and off shore accounts full of tax free money. If I pay more taxes I won't create more jobs the poor should support the rich.
*Jazz Hands!*
They stock lots of "gay" products. Issac mizrahi (sp?) anyone? I think this is a business decision.
This is like asserting jamba juice or Starbucks is not supportive of gay rights. When was the last time you went into one of those stores, including Target? Take a look at the employees. Target is definitely in support of gay rights. Stupid news cycle looking for a story when there isn't one.
Black and gay. Wow I messed this one up!
lol!
No you didn't. Now be a nice minor storm deity and go take a rest.
Its 2012...chill out with the gayness...half of the world is gay now..let Frank be.
Pursuitof happiness mayb befor you open your mouth and accuse someone of something you should ask i have never voted against gay marriage or for gay marriage i simply dont care who marries who if that is what makes happy more power to you i am simply i of millions who is sick of hearing about it or every time some doesnt do what you want we dont like gays or a black person doesnt get a job its racism or tired of illegal aliens its racism mayb its simply who the f-ck cares
Ohh so I get it you are one of the millions who are complacent because nothing affects you? Because you safely live in your glass house shoving Doritos and McDonalds down your fat gullet and are too busy not giving a fck while other people struggle, while other people fight, while other people value the right they have to be able to vote because others died so we have the right too. Perhaps you open your mouth you should open your eyes and realize you are the problem because you are so busy not caring. Bet you don't vote for education either cause its too much of a burden to get up off the couch between commercials. lol This is America jack wad you don't want an opinion that differs from yours don't post comments.
Leave it to American's to complain about what music Target decides to stock or not. I guess this is more important compared to finding a job.....
Finding a job isn't that hard. Since the flap about "illegal" migrant workers, there are plenty of jobs for fruit and vegetable harvesters. Unfortunately everyone under 25 thinks that they are worth more than minimum wage or justify their lack of a job because "that isn't what I want to do" while farms are begging for prisoners to help in the harvest because of a lack of job seekers. Of course none of this has anything to do with Target's lack of good taste in music..
Isn't this the same guy who sings hammer time?
used to work at Target. they were inclusive to a fault. I believe their statement.
Have not shopped there since they donated to the campaign of extremely right Tom Emmer and will continue not to. Target is so two-faced, they pretend to support diversity and equality, but then do crap like this. They are so anti-abortion, they will reimburse employees half or more of their fees and expenses if they adopt a child. They are so conservative it's scary.
They seem to be suffering very hard financially from your ill-informed boycott LOL. Conservative? LOL LOL!
Wow,Target is showing their true colors or poltical believes regarding Ocean's album and being "Gay."
funny
Let Frank be frank! & Get off of him 4 being him!! If Target dnt wanna sell his Cd then oh well...! He still making money....! & there are people that still like/love him 4 who he is! Or did u 4get >WE ARE ALL HUMAN!?!? LOVE UR MUSIC!!!! <3
I dont understand why gay people are always pushing their life style down our throats any way who cares who sleep with or who u love should be a private thing any way i for one am sick of it i dont hate gays u love who you love just stop beating everyone over the head with it
Its kinda hard to ”stop pushing” our private lives down your throat when we are forced to allow our incompetent neighbors to publicly vote on our private lives. We'll stop talking about acceptance and being gay the day we dont have to be subjected to people like you voting on our rights and our pursuit of happiness. Deal?
Are you sure that's a "lifestyle" that's being shoved down your throat?
Couldn't have said it better myself, pursuit...If being straight was taboo and the right to experience love and happiness and marriage was not allowed then I'll jam it down your throat until you joke. When you have to vote on my rights as human being then I'll start yelling out why voting on it is so ridiculous in the first place. if someone denied your rights, I'm sure you would be mad too! I believe I have the right to the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS!!!! Doesn't guarantee me happiness automatically, but it does guarantee me the pursuit!
Thank you Target. You should do what's good for your store. How can anyone BULLY Target into selling or puting something in their story that don't to carry, and Target don't have to explaine anything to anyone.
Explain, not explaine.
target, is a very gay friendly co. they by no means have to defend itself on this issue. check the facts. and while your at target pick up an elton john cd. he's married to a man.
http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-08-03/news/27071684_1_target-shoppers-target-corp-donation
Please check YOUR facts
1st of all who shops at target 4 musicn 2 all the people who claim they didnt about frank u dodnt need 2 becuz all the black people gone hold u down N 2 target 4 get u all the black people shop at walmart with yall over price a**
Well said Amy.
Learn how to spell, speak properly and form clear concise sentences you hood rat.
Amy...please don't ever speak on behalf of black people OR women...just an ignorant and embarrassing comment. I really hope u are young and will eventually mature and grow.
I love lamp
Make that tony. Sandra seek help
Note to self: cancel trip to france. . Thanks sandra
Who buys CDs anymore?
Millions of Americans and people around the world.
You made your bed, now lie in it and stop whining already!!!!
Chocolate covered pizza with chocolate roses on it taste like chocolate.
Target has every right not to sell his album. Frankly, they don't have to explain why to anyone. They could do it because they don't like his music, the possibility that he is gay, or it could be the way he ties his left shoe lace. That is their right to do so. Just as I have the right not to listen to him...
no target needs to give everyone a chance. We can not discriminate! Sparkle power.
Its horriable that we no longer stand up for the values of the Bible and the Word of the Lord..
it is also horrible that you can't spell the word horrible. Put down the damn bible and pick up a dictionary.
HAHAHAHA! Burn..
Lmfao ! That would be pretty funny to see !
What!!!!!!! I can't brelieve this story
Thank you Target for not selling his album. I was that man he loved. I use to see rainbows come from his bum.
my money is hidden overseas.
well actually i believe that we all should just not care. i mean target isnt the only place that sells music. i dont even understand why they posted this on here. cnn has been putting junk on here nowadays. stuff that people shuldnt care about.
When he farts glitter comes out
Who cares what their reason is? They are under no obligation to carry any artists music.
This story is gay.
There is too much of this gay stuff going on. BLACK GENOCIDE http://WWW.CDBABY.COM/PHATDADDYBU
0cean won't be affected by 1 retailer dissing him. Gay, Bi, Straight, Lesbian has 0 2 do widdit!
I'm sure he has a white boyfriend. They all want white people.
True dat
I hide my money overseas. I have so
Much money so I pay less in taxes.
ever think about reading a book folks.
Ummm then why are you here? You ever read a book? Most people that tell someone else to do something like "read a book" haven't done so themselves in years.
MIND YOUR BUSINESS I WAS NOT SPEAKING TO YOU,.
Sokman was at the paraliment house staying in a hotel room for four days! It is a gay hotel! Yeah his choice! LOL
Never heard of this person and could care less. As it is, Target's music selection is slim to none. I wouldn't think Target to purchase music so I think it's just fine
So then why leave a comment in an article about someone you have never heard of?
Boring.
any how i think everyone is training gay.
Your all useless morons.
Use "you're" correctly when calling others morons, idiot.
"You're" all useless morons.
Be careful to call people morons grammatically correct or, you know, it could look moronic.
Moronic or mormonic
I don't think this has anything to do with him being gay. Bought his album Tuesday. His song "Pyramids" is brilliant. We're looking at a talent on par with Prince here, people.
Also....he didn't technically say he was gay. Said he fell in love with a man.
No you"re both wrong. Target has a new policy of not selling music that sucks. Look for Lady Gaga to be pulled next, followed by all rap albums.
He's not a rapper. And could be bi. You might want to know what kind of music he makes before you comment on it.
Target is not a French company. It's Oprah's fault if people think it is. Target not Tarje
No one knew who this guy was before he deliberately came out right before the release of his album. Target realizes that they won't make enough money from his album, so they won't sell it. Simple as that.
Yeah you're right. None of the millions of people who bought Jay-Z and Kanye's "Watch The Throne" or the millions who are fans of Odd Future had any idea he existed until last week. You sound ridiculous. This may come as a shock but you are not the beginning nor end of everything popular.
Sk8, your reading comprehension is so poor it boggles the mind. Your comments exhibit nothing but the chip on your shoulder since you clearly don't grasp the details of the story. Did you even read story? I bet you only read the headline lol. But feel better, you're in good company on this comment board.
LOL I think he might be a lesbean. A gay one at that.
Jay-Z and Kanye's "Watch the Throne" Album had early and exclusive online rights to itunes among other vendors. Do you really think they would dare not to stock that album? In fact, There were a number of itunes exclusive releases over the years and I am pretty sure that you can find some of them on Target's shelves. What next, they're going to pull Anderson Cooper's book too?
Uhhhh, he's not Jay Z or Kanye ...... ????
Auction in progress for jersey from Frank Ocean's Coachella custom made shirt please read fu description
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170874888728?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1586.l2649#ht_15262wt_1052
Target has the right to sell or not sell any merchandise they wish regardless of the reason. I don't believe Ocean's partner preferance has anything to do with it, as they sell plenty of music & movies with dainty men & rugged women. Just because a minority of the population CHOOSE (yes its a choice & you'll never convince me otherwise) an alternate lifestyle, it doesn't give them the right to determine what product an establishment carries. Get over youselves immorals
^^this right here^^ is exactly what is wrong with the world. Get a clue you shortsighted hate mongrel.
Stunned as F€#K u r zippy
Good for Target. I will shop there even more now.
i want the album so i can hear something other than "banging some hoes in the club"...it'll be "bangin some BROS in the club"....LOOOOOL
As an openly gay woman, I think Frank coming out to the public makes him more respectful as a person, not just an artist. And that is what he is an artist, because his music is ART!
Is someone more respectful as a person if they come out to the world as straight?!
"He is an artist because his music is ART"...what incredible logic! Just think, he could be a hatmaker if he made...HATS! Or a cupcaker if he made...CUPCAKES! You begin your post "as an openly gay woman"...does that mean you would have different thoughts as a closeted gay woman? Or as a donkey? Your entire post says NOTHING.
This amazes me. Target is a French company and gay is so common there. I don't get it.
An easy google search says you are very wrong.
"Target Corporation, doing business as Target, is an American retailing company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota."
also gay is so common in France? what?
Gay is so common there?? Get an education dumb hick !!!!!
Whoa, that's a whole lotta stupid right there
To elaborate on what nonono said, not only are they headquartered in Minnesota, the first Target store was in Minnesota.