JAY-Z’s 4:44 Goes Platinum in Less Than a Week
By Sam Sodomsky.
Just five days after its release, JAY-Z’s new album 4:44 has been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), meaning it has streamed or sold the equivalent of one million copies. It is JAY-Z’s 17th platinum album (13th solo), according to the RIAA. On Friday, 4:44 was released exclusively through Tidal and was only available to pre-existing subscribers, as well as Sprint customers. Earlier this week, it became available to all Tidal users, with a physical release on the way. Just before JAY-Z put out his last LP, 2013’s Magna Carta Holy Grail, the RIAA changed the rules for going gold and platinum so that digital sales would count toward an artist’s achievements; previously, a record had to be out for at least 30 days. As a result, Magna Carta was able to go platinum on the day of its release, due to a deal with Samsung that offered the first million copies for free to their customers.
Read “Every Corporate Deal that Brought JAY-Z Closer to Becoming Rap’s First Billionaire” on the Pitch.
This story originally appeared on Pitchfork.
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