Today the RIAA posted on its blog saying Jay-z Samsung deal sales will count towards digital record sales on the day of its release. The company purchased 1 million digital copies of The Magna Carta Holy Grail to give away to Samsung customers on the Google Play Store on July 4th. At first the sales weren’t going to count and prompted the RIAA to reexamine its rules on counting sales. Liz Kennedy, Director of Communications and Gold & Platinum Program, RIAA wrote, “Today we are officially updating this rule in our G&P Program requirements. 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.” Even though the album will now get platinum status on the day of its release, Neilsen SoundScan has yet to change its rules that would allow those 1 million sales to reflect on the Billboard charts.
If you aren’t one of the lucky million people to get the free download, the album will be available on July 7th and the physical copy will be available for purchase on July 9th.
