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It has been four years since Jay-Z released a solo studio album, with The Blueprint 3 (2009). With the announcement of Magna Carta Holy Grail on July 4th 2013, Jay-Z will do more than just simply release an album.
Over the past month Jay-Z has made various announcements, revealed track listing, artwork, lyrics as well as several promotional advertisements, which has all lead up to a bold business plan.
Hov first announced the project during halftime of Game 5 of the NBA Finals. A commercial aired featuring Jay-Z recording in a studio with Rick Rubin, Pharrell Williams, Swizz Beatz, and Timbaland.
The commercial, however, was actually a Samsung advertisement, as Hov and the electronics giant have teamed up for a bold business plan.
Samsung has purchased 1 million copies of Jay’s next project, Magna Carta Holy Grail. The new business venture between Jay-Z and Samsung will give all Samsung Galaxy smartphone users a free copy of the album, three days ahead of the release date. Users will access the music through an app that is available now.
Click here to download the Magna Carta app at www.magnacartaholygrail.com
“Give it to the world at the same time and letting them share it…”
Today, it has been reported that because of Magna Carta Holy Grail‘s unique marketing strategy it has caused the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to change the way it certifies releases as gold and platinum.
For those who do not know, an album reaches RIAA Gold Status once it has sold 500, 000 copies and Platinum Status at 1 million copies. According to the original policies, classification would only be available after 30 days of the project’s release date. The 30-day certification rule was established to account for returns of physical product, namely CDs, cassettes and vinyl version of a release.
It has been reported that the RIAA announced a change in its certification policy.
“Going forward, sales of albums in digital format will become eligible on the release date, while sales of albums in physical format will still become eligible for certification 30 days after the release date.
When we first created the Digital Single Award in 2004, we elected not to impose any 30-day rule because there are very few digital returns. According to our auditing firm, digital returns on average account for less than two percent of sales included in reports provided by the labels for certification. Sales of digital albums were virtually non-existent and accounted for a small fraction of overall digital sales in 2004.
Fast forward a decade and that’s obviously no longer the case.
We believe it’s sensible and logical to align digital album rules with those we have maintained for digital singles since the program’s inception, we also consider today’s move in line with our larger efforts to modernize the G&P Program to reflect the new music marketplace.
The reality is that how fans consume music is changing, the music business is changing as labels and artists partner with a breathtaking array of new technology services, and the industry’s premier award recognising artists’ commercial achievement should similarly keep pace.”
– Liz Kennedy, Director, Communications and Gold & Platinum Program, RIAA
July 1st, 2013
If 1 Million records gets SOLD and billboard doesnt report it, did it happen? Ha. #newrules #magnacartaholygrail Platinum!!! VII IV XIII
— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) June 17, 2013
Jay-Z’s latest business ventures have become one of the most innovative marketing strategies to be implemented alongside a music project.
The timing of the release could not have come at better time, with fellow Roc artists Kanye West and J. Cole both releasing their projects in June. Head honcho Jay-Z decided on America’s birthday, July 4th, Independence Day.
The biggest problem with music in the digital age is piracy, consumers want content for free, yet artists are not able to receive financial gain for their hard-earned work. Jay-Z has pioneered a new method in an attempt to counter that problem to provide for both the consumer and the artist, whilst simultaneously pushing forward the use of digital media through Samsung.
Existing Samsung smartphone users will benefit most from this, but for the rest of the population who are not using Samsung products, they will have to wait for album to be available for distribution.
Though it won’t directly stop all digital piracy at once, with the recent changes to the RIAA policy, Magna Carta Holy Grail will instantly receive Platinum Status among it’s release date.
“The internet has no rules, it’s like the wild west, we need to write the new rules.
Even the smallest person can have their voice heard by millions…”
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