Following up on a discussion sparked earlier this week in the wake of Jay-Z’s album announcement through Samsung, MTV has confirmed that the 1 million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail purchased by the mobile giant will not count towards his Billboard ranking.

In a new story put together with help from Billboard, MTV reveals Neilsen Soundscan will not include the million units purchased by Samsung as part of their promotion with Jay-Z even though the company paid $5 for each copy. According to the policy, Billboard doesn’t count bulk sales, and even if they did all albums must be sold by a label/artist/music company to a retailer (Target, Best Buy, Amazon etc.) at a minimum of one-third of the album’s suggested Retail Price in order to qualify.

Jay-Z commented on the debate earlier this week with a rare tweet. He posted:

Before ending their article, MTV notes that an RIAA spokesperson informed them that albums only become eligible for RIAA certification (Gold, Platinum, Diamond) 30 days after their initial release date. Once that time frame passes for Magna Carta, Jay-Z and his team will be able to apply and, if needed, be able to dispute the exclusion of the sales to Samsung.

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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