A digital-only release featuring collaborations with Madonna and Lil Wayne that Drake described as a "mixtape," 'If You're Reading This, It's Too Late' sold nearly 500,000 copies without any 'bricks-and-mortar' stores sales back in February, knocking Taylor Swift's '1989' from the top spot.

'Channel Orange' had five singles, including "Thinkin' 'Bout You," and sold 131,000 copies in its first week, but to avoid it leaking on the Internet, Frank Ocean released the album a week earlier than its publicly announced date of July 17, 2012. On July 9, he made his television debut on 'Late Night With Jimmy Fallon' and announced the album's release on July 10. For that first week, it was available only as a digital download exclusively on iTunes

Game 5 of the 2013 NBA Finals. Two weeks later, fans could download the album with a Samsung app. The first million Samsung customers who downloaded the exclusive app were offered the album free of charge, with Samsung paying Jay Z $5 an album

The album, Bowie's 24th studio release, was announced on his 66th birthday, Jan. 8, 2013, with his website featuring the video for the lead single, "Where Are We Now?" The announcement took everyone by surprise: Bowie's last album had been 2003's 'Reality,' and it was assumed that the reclusive rock icon had retired. Two months after the single's surprise release, on March 8, 2013, 'The Next Day' was released to rave reviews and received numerous nominations for Album of the Year.

Hopefully anyone waiting on Azealia Banks's debut album wasn't doing so standing up. Rumors regarding its release began in early 2012! Singles were released in the interim (and several appear on the album) but with Universal dropping her from their label, the delays kept on keepin' on until Nov. 6, 2014, when, with no prior announcement, the album was made available for download by Banks herself and Prospect Park through Caroline Records. The album peaked at #2 Billboard's Top Rap Albums and Independent Albums charts.

Bjork rush-released 'Vulnicura' to iTunes on Jan. 20, just a week after announcing the album, her first in three-plus years, would be coming out in March. However, the Icelandic singer was not expecting her material to be leaked prematurely on Jan.18, and when it was, she sprung into action, wanting only the best fidelity and the proper mixes getting into the hands of her fans who she treats like extended family. As an artist always engaged with the latest technology, Bjork has kept a cool head about this inevitable hiccup in her planned release schedule. The album peaked in the top 10 in many countries, going to #1 in her homeland.

With so many high-profile artists working low-profile, it was inevitable that a leak would eventually spring somewhere. Madonna had been updating fans on her new album's progress through Instagram, when 13 songs she described as "unfinished demos" leaked to the public, forcing her to officially release six of the tracks immediately to iTunes in December 2014 and declare March 10, 2015 as the official release date for the full-length LP, 'Rebel Heart.' While the leak rattled her team and forced them to work overtime, it also proved just how much demand still exists for new Madonna product. The day after the EP hit iTunes, she was #1 at iTunes in 41 countries, including Russia!

R&B artist D'Angelo was prime material for a "Where Are They Now" column in November 2014. Nearly an entire generation of R&B fans had never heard of the man, or were young tykes when their parents were listening to 'Voodoo,' D'Angelo's 2000 album and the last one he'd released. He'd been touring and had some high-profile gigs, but new music? The controversies surrounding decisions made in the Ferguson and Eric Garner cases inspired D'Angelo to move up the release date of 'Black Messiah' from 2015 to a full-on digital release on Dec. 15, 2014. The album sold 117,000 copies in its first week and won a critics' poll for Album of the Year at the Village Voice, despite, or because of, its last-minute release. Not bad for someone who held his tongue for 14 years.

As if it wasn't surprising enough when Miley closed out the 2015 VMAs with a performance featuring the Flaming Lips and 30 'RuPaul's Drag Race' queens... she wrapped by announcing that this new project (a psychedelic "unofficial" album with her buddies the Lips and featuring cameos by Big Sean, Ariel Pink, and Phantogram's Sarah Barthel )was now available for free streaming on her website. Her website crashed immediately after this announcement, of course

Dr. Dre admits his long-rumored album 'Detox' never met his exacting standards and will never be released, but a new album, 'Compton: The Soundtrack,' inspired by his time on the set for the new N.W.A. biopic 'Straight Outta Compton,' will see release on Aug. 7. Dre made the surprise announcement this week on his Beats 1 radio show, 'The Pharmacy.' Guests on this 16-track comeback album will include Dre’s longtime friends Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Xzibit, as well as this decade’s star, Kendrick Lamar. Dre calls 'Compton' his “grand finale,” suggesting there will be no further releases from the good doctor.

At midnight on Dec. 13, 2013, Beyoncé released a surprise self-titled "visual album" out of nowhere, and the Internet basically exploded. At 14 tracks and with 17 videos, it was a modern miracle that no word leaked out prior to release. The album may have lost to Beck's 'Morning Phase' for the Album of the Year Grammy, much to Kanye West's dismay, but 'Beyoncé's" massive success saved the diva untold marketing dollars. Yep, that last "S" in "Success" is for "Savings." And the "B" in " Beyoncé " stands for "Brilliant."