Though the details of Sprint's investment in 4:44 have not been made public as yet, it seems that Carter, as the artist, was compensated in line with the RIAA's requirements. In addition to providing a value-add for its clientele, Sprint has good reason to get behind 4:44 in a big way. This past January, the company purchased a one-third stake in TIDAL. However, Roc Nation has now confirmed that the Sprint download arrangement accounts for today's platinum announcement and that TIDAL streams did not factor into that. Whatever way their customers accessed the album, their individual actions would count towards the platinum certification. Indeed, 4:44 was made available for a period of time as either an MP3 or FLAC download for Sprint customers over the weekend, provided that a voucher code and email address was provided to TIDAL. Sprint also offered Sprint customers a six month free trial of the TIDAL service. Affirmative steps on a listener's part are required. Still, a corporate purchase alone doesn't make an album platinum. Much like Carter's 2013 deal with Samsung surrounding his Magna Carta Holy Grail album, which as a result went platinum off of the business' one million digital copy purchase, Sprint purchased enough copies of 4:44 to allow it to happen once again, and quickly at that. That listener then must take affirmative steps to acquire the album or song. Alternatively, a business can purchase the album or song and offer it to listeners. A sale counts toward a certification if purchased directly by the customer. Under the program's rules, there needs to be demonstrated consumer demand in the United States, either for an on-demand stream or a sale.

Most album releases take weeks or months to achieve certification, presumably at least partially a function of the time required to conduct the audit. For context, Drake's streaming behemoth Views took about one month to reach its initial platinum milestone.Īccording to a source at the RIAA, it appears that Carter has Sprint to thank for 4:44's swift certification.

Given the nature of RIAA's certification audit requirements, the brisk timing of 4:44's platinum plaque-on an extended holiday weekend, no less-indicated another factor at play.

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