About a week and a half ago, Jay Z released his 13th studio album. As the record reached RIAA certified platinum status in under a week, many are wondering did Jay Z cheat to make 4:44 go platinum? The answer is…it depends which angle you choose to look at it.
Did Jay Z Cheat To Make 4:44 Go Platinum?
If you didn’t already know, Jay Z is one of the primary co-owners of TIDAL. One of the other co-owners of the company is Sprint – who holds a 1/3 stake with the streaming service. Basically what went down is, Jay Z had Sprint buy over a million copies of 4:44 to give to give to its customers, effectively making the album platinum certified.
But the corporate purchase alone doesn’t qualify the album for platinum certification. There are still steps on the listeners part that are required. Customers were given access to the album as long as they provided their email and a voucher code to TIDAL. To put it simply, since Sprint bought one million copies of 4:44 to offer its customers for free download, and all those copies were in fact downloaded – RIAA rules this meets the requirements for platinum certification.
Roc Nation also confirmed the download arrangement with Sprint is what accounts for the platinum certification. TIDAL streams were not factored in. The album was slated to move around 250k actual units in the first week. 4:44 has now reached platinum status faster than Drake’s Views and Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN without nearly as impressive album sales.
“I’ve turned my life into a nice first-week release date.”
Jay Z has been around long enough to prove he’s able to reach platinum without streaming and through traditional brick-and-mortar album sales. The business model he’s laid out reflects the high level of IQ he has of the recording industry and his ability to adapt along with it.
The Marcy Project native prides himself on being the ultimate hustler and I think this move is evidence of it.
Definitely get in the comments and let us know. Do you think Jigga rigged the system or did he reach platinum certification fair and square?
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