It’s not quite the Super Bowl, but if you have a message you want to announce to the world, taking up an entire three-minute commercial during halftime of the NBA Finals isn’t a bad place to start.
On Sunday, Shawn Carter — otherwise known as Jay-Z — did just that, announcing his new album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, via a longform ad that almost upstaged LeBron James and Tim Duncan. What’s more is that the album represents a fairly revolutionary business model for the music industry.
Although Jay-Z has been in the news far more for his sports agency, Roc Nation, of late, apparently his mind has been divided among marketing strategies. While he’s been busy allegedly courting athletes like Geno Smith and Robinson Cano, he’s also been negotiating a deal with Samsung, as well.
The mobile giant has already bought 1 million copies of the album — earning Jay-Z $5 million before it even hits shelves — which it will give away for free, three days before the record’s formal release date, to Galaxy smartphone users. Although Jay-Z certainly isn’t the first musician to partner with a corporate entity for distribution, this may be the most massive deal of that ilk.
Check out the commercial announcing Magna Carta Holy Grail — which also features Timbaland, Pharrell, Swizz Beatz and Rick Rubin — in the video below.
Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Jay-Z
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[tweet https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/346613563642748928 align=’center’]
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