Billboard Explains Not Counting Jay-Z’s Million Copies Of “Magna Carta Holy Grail” Bought By Samsung

But our role as the chart of record is to set the rules, and hopefully even raise the level of play. It is in this spirit that I say it wasn’t as simple as you might think to turn down Jay-Z when he requested that we count the million albums that Samsung “bought” as part of a much larger brand partnership, to give away to Samsung customers. True, nothing was actually for sale — Samsung users will download a Jay-branded app for free and get the album for free a few days later after engaging with some Jay-Z content. The passionate and articulate argument by Jay’s team that something was for sale and Samsung bought it also doesn’t mesh with precedent.

If Jay keeps every penny of Samsung’s $5 purchase price, he’d be more than doubling the typical superstar rate.) But in the context of this promotion, nothing is actually for sale.
Full Story: Billboard

The editor of Billboard gives a long and detailed letter explaining why, “Magna Carta Holy Grail,” Samsung sales won’t count on the charts. Do you think Jay-Z cares? Billboard goes on to say they might make some changes in how they report sales.

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