Jay-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail Prompts RIAA To Update Rules

New rules…Last week, it was reported that Jay-Z’s first million sales, bought by Samsung and given away for free to Galaxy users, would not be counted. But  RIAA Director Liz Kennedy posted an article today saying that some rule have become obsolete and need to be updated.

One of our program’s requirements is that an album can become eligible for certification 30 days after release date. (There are other rules, of course – such as requiring that the price of the album meet certain requirements.)  The 30-day rule exists to take into account potential returns of physical product – CDs, cassettes, vinyl, etc. that could be shipped to brick and mortar retailers and returned, in which case our auditors do not count the sales.

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.