Jay-Z teased a big announcement via Samsung earlier this week, but we didn't know it would be this big. In a commercial which aired during Game 5 of tonight's NBA finals, the jigga man took us behind the scenes of his upcoming album Magna Carta Holy Grail. The album will be available free for 1 million Samsung users July 4th through a specialized app, and the rest of the world 72 hours later.
Samsung apparently bought a million copies of the album up front to give away. Each one was purchased for $5, mich means Jay has already made a cool $5 Million off an album that hasn't dropped yet. It's unclear whether the million copies purchased by Samsung will be counted in Nielsen Soundscan numbers (would be kind of ridiculous if they did).
You can download the app here.
Watch the commercial which features appearances from Rick Rubin, Pharrell, Timbaland, and Swizz Beatz below.
[UPDATE: Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" will not go platinum prior to its release.]
After it was announced that Hov would be selling 1 million copies of his upcoming new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, to Samsung at $5 a piece, it was debated whether or not those sales would be counted by Nielsen SoundScan, and thus make it the first album to go platinum prior to its release.
Well, it turns out, it will not be the first album to go platinum before it drops, because those sales to Samsung will not be counted by SoundScan. It's being reported by MTV News that Billboard does not count bulk album sales. As well, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) says that albums only become eligible for RIAA certification 30 days after the initial release of the LP.
On top of this, another factor that prohibits the LP from going platinum already is that the label/artist/music company must sell the albums to a retailer (such as Target, Best Buy, Amazon) at a minimum of one-third of the album's Suggested Retail Price (although at this time the SRP of Magna Carta is unknown).
The rapper's label is reportedly still negotiating in an attempt to count the Samsung sales, not that going platinum should be a problem for Hov anyways.