Rihanna released her new album ‘Anti’ this week, first on Tidal and then on iTunes. And yesterday the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified it with Platinum status…but Billboard magazine refused to recognize the platinum status.
And here’s why. As part of a $25million deal with Samsung, Anti became available as a free download on Jay Z’s Tidal this week, making it to go platinum instantly…
The free download is the reason Billboard isn’t interested. A Billboard spokesperson tells Digital Trends,
“Billboard has a well documented policy of not counting free albums towards the charts.”
Physical copies of the album will go on sale Feb 5th.