Although I'm sure he could have gone about it better some degree of backfire is sometimes inevitable.
We know it was the case with Self-titled but even Lemonade is super hard to find in retailers in the UK. It's like thr 3Rd best selling album year and most places choose not to stock it.
even drag queens managed to release CD so I don't see what his problem is tho distribution will be a trouble for sure, but if he wants to do physical release, he can always pull a Kanye and sell it on his website
The album has now come and gone, and rights owners are using Ocean’s failed DIY experiment as a case study illustrating why artists still need record companies.
Labels are such trash and this is exactly why. The "don't want to send a bad message to artists" quote is literally them saying "we don't want artists to think they can have release without us and actually have creative freedom". It's the lowest of low fear tactic and it's the number one reason why labels will continue to die out as the internet makes it easier and easier for artists to self-release and self-promote.
Good riddance to them. Frank will continue rolling in his dough.