Jay-Z leads RIAA to include digital album sales in certifications

For a long time, Jay-Z has set the standard for the hip hop lifestyle. Most of everything the people consume was orchestrated by Jay-Z in one fashion or another. With Jay-Z, his life is a business and the latest venture is Magna Carta Holy Grail. When he did his #NewRules Twitter rant, Jay-Z mentioned his album already shipping 1 million copies.

Out the gate, Jay-Z admitted he would not certify platinum, but he did not agree with the sentiment. A business deal with Samsung for their Samsung Galaxy phones sold 1 million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail, digitally, which do not count. This brought up the argument of this being right.

Now, the RIAA has come forward, admitting they have updated their digital policy, making sales available the same day. But, when it comes to physical sales, there will still be a thirty day wait. So, Jay-Z wins big off this, as Magna Carta Holy Grail is already platinum and the RIAA released a statement regarding the matter.

Read Jay-Z’s statement below:

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.