Biggest star in the Galaxy – Jay Z to give away 1 million albums on Samsung’s smartphones

Magna Carta Holy Grail will be available to users for three, three days before public release

American rapper Jay-Z performs during the Heineken Open'er Festival in Gdynia, northern Poland, July 5, 2008. Picture taken July 5, 2008. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel (POLAND)

Jay-Z will be releasing his 12th solo album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, on 4 July, but owners of Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones will be able to download the new release three days before the general public.

An advert from Samsung (see below) aired in on Sunday night showed Jay-Z in the studio with the producers for his new album, Rick Rubin, Pharrell Williams, Timbaland and Swizz Beatz. The advert ended with Samsung’s current tagline ‘The Next Big Thing Is Here’.

Samsung reportedly purchased 1 million copies of Magna Carta Holy Grail for $5 dollars apiece. Owners of the Galaxy S III, Galaxy S4 and Galaxy Note II users will be able to download the album via a free app.

Only the first 1 million users will be able to download the album three days before its public release, but those that do have been promised an “unprecedented inside look into the album” with “personal stories and inspiration”.

The partnership makes sense for both parties, with Samsung helped by the infusion of cool offered by Jay-Z’s personal brand, whilst the rap star will be making $5 million from an album that hasn’t been released yet, whilst continuing to move into new digital ventures.

Jay-Z’s YouTube channel, which hosted a stream of his final show at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn in October last year, is currently the fifth most popular on YouTube, with over 340 million views and more than 215 subscribers.