J.Cole's third album, 2014 Forest Hills Drive, which was released in December of 2014 has finally gone platinum. A big congrats to Cole for selling over a million copies of this album. I mean, the album didn't have any guest appearances, no big time producers on it, and it still sold over a million copies. I think this is a bigger success than any other rapper that has gone plat in the last few years (which is very few). Read more on this below.
Isn't that crazy? Album sales are so bad these days that we are in November of 2014, and not one rap album has gone Platinum. In fact, no rap album has gone Gold. Hip Hop album sales are at an all time low currently. And I guess a lot of rappers are scared of dropping their albums right now cos rappers just keep pushing back their albums.
We are at a time when elite rappers like Young Jeezy and T.I have to struggle for many weeks to sell what they normally sold out the gate in their first week in stores. Both artists aren't even close to going Gold...they ain't even close to the 300k mark yet. What's happening? Is it the illegal downloads? I don't think we can keep putting the blame on that. A lot of people outside Hip Hop are still selling huge numbers. At least Taylor Swift just sold over 1.2 million copies in her first week in stores, with her 1989 album. So, what's up with Hip Hop? Could it be that a change is needed?
Yea, Eminem keeps winning. He has always been in a lane of his own, and he still is. One of the few rappers (if not the only one) that can still sell over 2 million copies of his album. He doesn't need no surprise dates, or no deals with electronic companies to boost his sales...he just drops, and the whole world stops to listen. His 7th studio album, The Marshall Marthers LP 2 has sold a total of 3.5 million copies to date worldwide, and it is still selling.
This sales numbers should not be confused with national sales; in America, the album is at a total of 1,850,000 sold, and would hit double platinum status very soon. But globally, the album sold 70,000 this week to put it at a global total of 3,500,000 sold.
It's good to see her going platinum with a single after being in the music industry for over 24 years. Mariah's Carey is working toward dropping her 11th album (The Art Of Letting Go) later this year, and the first single off the album, Beautiful just went Platinum (sold over a million copies). Mariah Carey actually had an accident while filming the video to the remix of Beautiful (which features Jeezy), that's why she is wearing the sling in the pic below. She was fatigued from long hours of work during the shoot, and fell of the stage...on cement. Doctors had to pop her dislocated shoulder back in place.
And below is a message to her fans...
“As I heal from my recent injuries,it was nice for Steve Bartels, president of IDJ to come by and celebrate the Platinum success of #Beautiful Thank you #lambily for having patience with me as I recover,I’ve never experienced any pain like this and I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,lol yet true,L4L LYM”
Jay-Z's new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail is set to drop on July 9th, but some specific set of people would get the album on their phones by July 4th...actually, a million people with some specific Samsung Galaxy Mobile phones will get it on their phones on July 4th. Jay made a power-move with Samsung Mobile, and sold 1 million copies of his album to them before it even got fully completed. It's actually a really cool business move, but dose it show actual consumer preference? Samsung bought the million copies to give away to people with some new models of their Galaxy Smartphone collections- Samsung Galaxy S3, S4, and Note 2.
Billboard has said they wont count the Million copies bought by Samsung as actual sales, but RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) have said they have re-reviewed their rules to make it official that Jay's one million copy sales to Samsung counts and earns him a platinum plaque. Hmm! Talk about having friends in high places. Read the official statement from RIAA below-
"By now, many of us in the music business, as well as Jay-Z
fans, know that Samsung has purchased one million "Magna Carta Holy
Grail" digital albums to be given away to the phone maker's customers.
It is a novel and creative marketing move and it has rightly stimulated a
healthy conversation about the sale's meaning and implications for the
modern music business. For us, the move prompted a re-examination of our
historic Gold & Platinum (G&P) Program award rules. As we dug
through the records of audits, re-reviewed rules and consulted with our
auditing firm of more than thirty years, Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman,
we discovered one rule disparity that no longer makes sense. We think it's time for the RIAA - and Gelfand, Rennert
& Feldman - to align our digital song and album certification
requirements. That's why 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. Not only do 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. In May we announced the
integration of on-demand streams to the program to more broadly
recognize online demand for songs." (RIAA)
Nice! Jay just made $5 million out the gate with this album, and earned himself another platinum plaque before his album hit stores. That is definitely a power move. He sold the album $5 a piece to Samsung. All his albums have platinum plaques, and his last one, Blueprint 3, which was released in 2009, has sold over 1.9 million copies to date. If left alone to sell organically, the album would still have gone platinum.
Check out the tracklist of the 14 track album below-
'Picasso Baby'
'Heaven'
'Versus'
'Tom Ford'
'Beach Is Better'
'F**kWithMeYouKnowIGotIt' (Feat. Rick Ross)
'Oceans' (Feat. Frank Ocean)
'F.U.T.W.
'Part II (On The Run)' (Feat. Beyonce)
'BBC'
'La Familia'
'Jay-Z Blue'
'Nickles & Dimes'
'Holy Grail' (feat. Justin Timberlake)
'Open Letter'
Yup! That's right. Some weeks back, the internet was buzzing about a 20 million dollar deal Jay-Z was supposedly inking with Samsung Mobile. People knew there was a deal in the works, but no one knew the full details of the deal. But, word is out. Jay-Z is about to drop his 12th album, Magna Carta Holy Grail on July 4th, but he is not doing it the conventional way. Samsung has already bought the first million copies of the album, and they will give it out free to the first one million people that download the album App on google plus (Android market), through some selected Samsung smartphone models.
This is a crazy marketing strategy. It's a win-win for the two parties involved. Jay-Z will get to sell a million copies of his album without even trying, and Samsung will get more people to buy their Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note 2 phones. This will be the only phones that would be able to download the album for free; this is a genius marketing strategy. As jay once said- "I am not a business man, I'm a business, man." This is a testament to how big the 'Jay-Z' brand has grown through the years. He is a business genius for sure.
I guess the new way to promote albums is to do less and less promotion, and drop the album quickly with no delays. Justin Timberlake dropped his latest album (The 20/20 Experience) barely two months from when the first single off the album hit radio, and it sold a million copies first week. Kanye's Yeezus album is dropping tomorrow, and has no radio singles, nor videos, and yet is predicted to sell half a million copies first week. Now, Jay-Z is about to drop his 12th album, and is already assured Platinum status.
Read more on Jay's move below- The connection: Samsung has purchased 1 million copies of Jay-Z's coming album, entitled "Magna Carta Holy Grail," slated for release July 4, and plans to give them to Samsung Galaxy smartphone users for free - 72 hours ahead of the release. The users are to receive the music through an app they'll receive later this month. (Recipients won't be able to share it until the official release date.) Samsung paid $5 apiece for the albums, according to a person familiar with the matter. It wasn't immediately clear if Nielsen SoundScan will count Samsung's purchases in its sales tallies. (Wall Street Journal) Below is a 3 minute Samsung commercial, which shows Jay-Z in the studio with Pharrell, Rick Rubin, Timbaland, and Swizz Beatz...some of the best music producers in the game. The commercial aired during last night's NBA Finals Game 5 (Miami Heats vs. San Antonio Spurs). Jay has been known to complete albums in weeks, and with these producers around him, he can do no wrong with the album's production. Magna Carta Holy Grail will surely be a banger.
Two months after releasing her 7th album, Unapologetic, and it has already sold over 2 million copies worldwide. I guess her 777 tour paid off. Around the time the album dropped back in November last year, she embarked on a world tour, touching 7 cities around North America and Europe- she kicked off the tour in Mexico City (Mexico), and then flew over to Toronto (Canada) the next day, and then Stockholm (Sweden), and then Paris (France), Berlin (Germany), London (UK), and ended the tour in New York City (U.S). 7 cities in 7 days for her 7th album.
She pretty much has given her life to music the last couple of years, so I don't care about her personal life, and all the bullshit people talk about. I just appreciate her music. Please note that the album has sold 610,000 copies in the U.S, but is globally at 2,058,000 sold.
Congratulations to Roc Nations's own, J.Cole. His Work Out single just went platinum. He hit twitter to share the good news with his fans. And it is really funny that he got a lot of criticism for releasing this song as a first single for his Cole World: The Sideline Story album. Personally, at first i didn't like the track cos it wasn't what i was used to him doing. But when i gave it a little more listen, it became of of my favorites on the album, along with "In The Morning" and "Lights Please".
“As I heal from my recent injuries,it was nice for Steve Bartels, president of IDJ to come by and celebrate the Platinum success of #Beautiful Thank you #lambily for having patience with me as I recover,I’ve never experienced any pain like this and I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,lol yet true,L4L LYM”
Yup! That's right. Some weeks back, the internet was buzzing about a 20 million dollar deal Jay-Z was supposedly inking with Samsung Mobile. People knew there was a deal in the works, but no one knew the full details of the deal. But, word is out. Jay-Z is about to drop his 12th album, Magna Carta Holy Grail on July 4th, but he is not doing it the conventional way. Samsung has already bought the first million copies of the album, and they will give it out free to the first one million people that download the album App on google plus (Android market), through some selected Samsung smartphone models.
Below is a 3 minute Samsung commercial, which shows Jay-Z in the studio with Pharrell, Rick Rubin, Timbaland, and Swizz Beatz...some of the best music producers in the game. The commercial aired during last night's NBA Finals Game 5 (Miami Heats vs. San Antonio Spurs). Jay has been known to complete albums in weeks, and with these producers around him, he can do no wrong with the album's production. Magna Carta Holy Grail will surely be a banger.
Congratulations to Roc Nations's own, J.Cole. His Work Out single just went platinum. He hit twitter to share the good news with his fans. And it is really funny that he got a lot of criticism for releasing this song as a first single for his Cole World: The Sideline Story album. Personally, at first i didn't like the track cos it wasn't what i was used to him doing. But when i gave it a little more listen, it became of of my favorites on the album, along with "In The Morning" and "Lights Please".