Jay-Z's Magna Carta Going Platinum? Not So Fast

Jay-Z is intent on writing some #newrules
 with the unconventional release plan for his upcoming album, Magna Carta Holy Grail. But some rules are not meant to be broken, or rather, just can't be.
Case in point: Nielsen SoundScan's regulation governing what kind of album sales count. As we all learned in a three-minute commercial during Sunday night's game 5 NBA finals, Jay has partnered with Samsung in a promotion for the album that will have the company giving away 1 million copies of Magna Carta to users of its Galaxy line of products three days before its July 4 release.
And while that appears to guarantee Jigga instant platinum status before the album even hits shelves, Nielsen thinks otherwise. "Nielsen doesn't count bulk sales," a SoundScan spokesperson told MTV News. That longstanding edict means that if anyone, even, say, Beyoncé, buys a million copies of Magna Carta and gives them away as Independence Day party favors they can't be counted as sales according to Billboard magazine's long-standing policy on bulk purchases.
The source said this differs from major retailers like Walmart or Target that buy large quantities of popular albums with the intent of selling them to consumers for a set price.
Jay seems to know that his envelope-pushing deal with the South Korean electronics giant is setting a new standard, but he's not letting the possibility that instant platinum may not be a thing stand in his way. "If 1 million records gets SOLD and Billboard doesn't report it, did it happen? Ha. #newrules #magnacartaholygrail Platinum!!!," he wrote on Monday. A spokesperson for the rapper could not be reached for comment at press time.
The rapper's label, Universal Music Group, is reportedly still negotiating in an effort to get the Samsung sales counted, but given the firepower Jigga displayed in the ad (Rick Rubin, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, Pharrell), and his chart track record, platinum is not the problem.