Ok. First of all props to Jay-Z because aside from Kanye, I’m not sure any other hip hop artist would be able to pull this off. In addition to bringing in some of the best producers in hip hop to collaborate on an album, he’s gone platinum approximately 3 weeks before the album release.
In a deal with Samsung, the electronic lifestyle provide purchased 1 million albums at $5 a piece and plans to give it away to its Galaxy phone users via a new app. Galaxy user will be able to get the new album on July 4 while the non Galaxy users can purchase the album on July 7.
In my opinion Samsung got Jay-Z for a pretty cheap price. 5 million dollars to compete in the smartphone wars isn’t alot compared to other marketing efforts Samsung has done in the past. This also offers people looking to switch or purchase their first smartphone a reason to go with Samsung and opening up the manufacturer to a broader customer base.
Jay-Z on the other hand, has a deal where he can’t lose. First of all by industry standards, Jay-Z has already made a successful album by selling 1 million copies to Samsung. At this point Magna Carta Holy Grail could be Blue Ivy’s baby gibberish and Hov is up 5 million in sales. Second by releasing the album via an app, he opens the door for advertising and now can release exclusive content on his own app without having to use other media outlets to get his message out. Where Bjork and Funkmaster Flex benefitted by releasing albums via apps (Bjork still wins this hands down check out the album if you haven’t), Jay-Z changed the game by paying for a 3 minute slot during the NBA Finals. So for every hip hop loving sports fan Hov had watching the ad. Millions more got to it today via articles on the Internet.
Now that two Hip Hop albums have been released via smartphone apps, could we see a new trend in hip hop albums being released? Time will only tell but for the young tech kids out there, there is a brand new opportunity to generate income by making music apps.