• June 17, 2013

In what the company is calling a first for the music industry, Samsung will release rapper and mogul (and Beyonce spouse) Jay-Z’s upcoming new album, “Magna Carta Holy Grail” to select Samsung Galaxy S users through an app before its official release date. 

According to a release, Samsung will offer the album to one million Galaxy S III, Galaxy S 4 and Galaxy Note II users who download the app for the album beginning on June 24. The app will go live on July 4, a few days before its official sale date. 

Samsung announced the promotion via a three-minute television ad that aired during Sunday night’s NBA Finals game. In the ad, Jay-Z appears, along with producer Rick Rubin, and music artists Pharrell, Swizz Beats and Timbaland in the studio as they bring the album together. Jay-Z says the record is about navigating everything life has to offer -- successes, failures and the in-between -- while saying, “We need to write the new rules.”

Samsung executives were not available for further comment.