It "s a whole new game for music and technology, starting on July 4.

Jay-Z "s "Magna Carta Holy Grail" comes out that day, but only to the one million Samsung/Sprint users who downloaded his official app.

Ever since the demise of the traditional music industry, artists have been looking for ways to connect with fans, be it Prince bundling albums with ticket sales or Radiohead allowing fans to have a new album for free.

Jay-Z has upped the ante, working with one of the biggest cellphone manufacturers and service providers to get his music out early to uber-fans. Along with it comes a bunch of added bonuses in the app, as well as a bit of history-making. With the Recording Industry Association of America "s new rule change, "Magna Carta Holy Grail" will be the first album to ever be certified platinum before it is officially released. Samsung/Sprint paid for those million downloads for its users, so come Thursday Jay-Z will have a platinum-selling album, even if Soundscan and Billboard refuse to recognize the methodology as actual sales.

If you "re a Samsung/Sprint user there are still a few downloads left of the app that will get you the album early, and it "s well worth it. In the lyrics, bonus material and videos that Jay-Z had included in the app, one gets the notion that this is going to be entirely different from anything he has done before. It "s far more personal, real and compelling.

The bonus videos of Jay-Z talking about his life and the making of this album may be staged, but if they are he "s the best actor ever. He talks about "the trappings of fame" and seeing others who came before him, be it Mike Tyson or MC Hammer, losing everything they achieved.

He talks about the music industry and his new deal with Samsung: "We don "t have any rules. Everyone "s trying to figure it out....we need to write the new rules."

In discussing the song "Jay-Z Blue" he is at his most personal and most emotional, talking about his child and his own lack of a father to teach him right and wrong, "how to be a man, how to raise a child, how to treat a woman." That one is on the web and is worth a visit.

In talking about the song "Heaven" he even says "heaven is in your child "s laughter" and it doesn "t come off as anything but heartfelt. With producer Rick Rubin, Jay-Z talks about life and how to live it without sounding preachy - indeed, he sounds burdened with self-doubt and vulnerability, something we rarely see from a superstar of Jay-Z "s magnitude.

And there "s more to the album than meets the ear; reports are out that he "s adding two extra tracks as a last-minute bonus.

Yes, some of it is clearly marketing. The RIAA just happened to change its 30-day waiting-period rule on platinum certifications just in time to benefit Jay-Z "s new album. But even they acknowledge that times have changed and they need to change to keep up with it, noting that the rule "no longer makes sense" in the digital age. If the music industry as a whole had taken that stance 15 years ago it might not have experienced the total collapse of recent years.

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