Last week Billboard Magazine vowed not to count the first 1 million downloads of Jay Z's new album Magna Carta Holy Grail because it was being given away for free to consumers who downloaded a Samsung smartphone app [click here if you missed that].
Welp, Billboard might not count the free downloads but the RIAA, who certifies Platinum album status, just changed their rules to accommodate Jay Z...
From MTV
On Monday (July 1), the Director of the Communications and Gold & Platinum Program of the Recording Industry Association of America, Liz Kennedy, announced that the music industry's trade organization would change its long-standing rules to meet the challenge of Jay's roll-out.
"We think it's time for the RIAA ... 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," Kennedy said of the organization's gold and platinum certification program, which typically requires a 30-day wait from release day to tally sales certifications. "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."
