JAY-Z Announces New Album, 4:44, Set To Drop Later This Month, But It’s Exclusivity Begs Age-Old Question

As part of his recent exclusive new one-of-its kind deal between TIDAL and Sprint, multi-platinum superstar emcee and world renowned icon, JAY-Z announced earlier today, the upcoming highly anticipated release of his new album, 4:44 on June 30th.

Set to be released in just about a week and a half, the new album will be the first in a series of exclusives offered to the 45 million postpaid and prepaid Sprint customers and existing TIDAL members.

Thus allowing Sprint customers the incredible advantage of being among the first to exclusively experience JAY’s new album.  Sprint president and CEO, Marcelo Claire said in a statement how exciting today, “is to be a Sprint customer.”

Also having this to say in the statement as part of a press release for the album, “JAY-Z is a global icon and we’re giving customers an incredible opportunity to be among the first to experience his new album 4:44.  Our loyal, existing customers, and customers who switch to Sprint, can experience the album exclusively, plus access a complimentary six-month trial of TIDAL HiFi, giving them access to content they can’t get anywhere else.”

While that is all good for Sprint and even TIDAL customers, it raises the age-old question though again about exclusivity and if in the end it’s really good for artists and their fans.  Which a lot of times, it’s really not because not all fans, no matter how big a fan of that particular artist, whether it be Jay, Kanye West or whomever else it maybe are going to went to switch phone carriers or even get TIDAL, just to hear their favorite artists new music.  In the end it just leads to more piracy of that particular album or if you are of the older generation, like myself, who still likes buying and physically collecting CD’s of the artists new album, you are just left out in the cold.  Hoping and praying that they eventually go that old-fashioned route still at some point.

What do you the readers of the site think though.  Let me and everybody else here at TheHipHopDemocrat know your thoughts?

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