“Magna Carta” Debuts at #1 but Not Everyone Is Happy
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Jay-Z’s new album, “Magna Carta Holy Grail” has debuted at #1 this week selling over 527,000 copies. Jay- Z however, sold more than that before the album was even released. Jay-Z made a 5 million dollar deal with Samsung selling 1 million copies of his album for the company to give away to users via a free app which was available on July 4th, 3 days prior to the album’s release. The deal ensured his album “Magna Carta” was a huge success even before its official release. Not everyone was thrilled about it though. Here were a few complaints.
“Magna Carta Holy Grail” was trending on Twitter the moment the app was released. Not all of the attention was positive though. There were many users complaining that their download was not properly working, due to some sort of bug. Users complained of apps displaying a white screen after loading. Some even claimed they were so disappointed with Samsung they would make the switch to Apple.
If the app did work for you, you had to give away a lot of personal details to get it. At a time when people are growing more and more concerned about who is collecting information online, Samsung requested an extensive amount of personal information when users downloaded the app.
I read this and…….."Naw I'm cool" pic.twitter.com/x8fXPG1tvC
— Killer Mike (@KillerMikeGTO) July 2, 2013
Privacy groups have asked that Samsung be investigated by the FTC.
Many are concerned about the fact that the RIAA changed their rules to count the 1 million downloads bought by Samsung. Some say that the rules needed to be updated, as the way people get music has changed. Others felt it unfair that the rules were changed specifically to count Jay-Z’s deal with Samsung.
Most complaints about the album were not addressing the music, merely its distribution methods. which his fans seemed quite pleased with.
About Nadine Segal
I am a writer and editor from New York with a passion for music. I write predominately about music, musical artists and the issues they face.