The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Jay Z's million-album Samsung sale unlikely to count for charts Posted: 17 Jun 2013 11:59 PM PDT LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Rapper Jay Z's upcoming studio album will go to a million users of Samsung smartphones three days before its official release in a promotional deal, but the distribution is unlikely to count toward official sales figures, an industry expert said on Monday. Jay Z, 43, announced on Sunday in a three-minute television commercial during the telecast of basketball's NBA Finals that his latest album Magna Carter Holy Grail will be released on July 4 exclusively to 1 million users of Samsung smartphones who had downloaded a special app. That is three days before its public release. On Monday, the rapper (pic) said the record was "platinum," posting on Twitter, "If 1 Million records gets SOLD and billboard (magazine) doesn't report it, did it happen? Ha...Platinum!!!" For official counting purposes the answer is "no," said David Bakula, an analyst for Nielsen Entertainment, whose Nielsen SoundScan figures are used to rank Billboard's weekly music chart. Although the rapper's latest album is expected top the U.S. Billboard 200 album chart in its first week, bulk sales that are given away are not counted in total sales, according to Billboard's policy, even if the rapper and his record label are paid for the records. "The bottom line is they're getting paid on a million albums," Bakula told Reuters. "From what Billboard considers chart-eligible, we don't count free-to-consumers (albums)." In the commercial for Magna Carter Holy Grail, Jay Z is seen in a recording studio discussing the new album, release date and the deal with South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. The decision to distribute the album to Samsung users three days before the record becomes available to the general public on July 7 may come as a blow to Samsung's chief smartphone rival, Apple Inc., makers of iPhones and music distribution service iTunes. This is the first solo album since 2009's The Blueprint 3 for Jay Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter. The rapper last collaborated with rapper Kanye West on the 2011 album Watch The Throne, which topped album charts and was accompanied by a sold-out world tour. Jay Z will begin a Legends Of Summer North American stadium tour with pop singer Justin Timberlake on July 17, after featuring on Timberlake's hit song Suit & Tie. Samsung holds the largest global market share among smartphone makers with 32.7 percent. Apple is in second with 17.3 percent. Samsung shipped 70.7 million phones in the first quarter this year. |
| Mumford & Sons bassist on the mend after brain op Posted: 17 Jun 2013 11:28 PM PDT REUTERS - British folk band Mumford & Sons' bassist Ted Dwane posted a message on Monday saying he was recovering after brain surgery to remove a blood clot. Dwane posted a picture of himself with a shaved head on the band's official website with the caption, "Bear with a sore head! Thanks so much for all the well wishing, it seems to be working! I'm home." The Grammy-winning London band was forced to cancel the final three U.S. dates of its Summer Stampede tour last week after doctors discovered a clot on the surface of Dwane's brain, which required immediate surgery. Hawaiian folk musician Jack Johnson filled Mumford & Sons' headline slot on Saturday at the Bonnaroo music festival in Manchester, Tennessee. The four-member band, which formed in 2007, also includes Marcus Mumford, Winston Marshall and Ben Lovett. They won Album of the Year for Babel at the Grammy Awards in February. |
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