Rihanna‘s unique rollout for her new album ‘ANTI‘ may have impressed her fan base, but it now seems that the same cannot be said for the powers that be over at the British Phonographic Industry.
Bad news below…
Released before Beyonce is set to return with her new studio set, ‘ANTI’ is yet to appear on any major music retailers because it is being used to pull music lovers into Jay Z’s Tidal music streaming service.
However, yesterday saw the ‘Work‘ singer find a way around this predicament by sharing a link on Twitter which directed her followers to the release…where they could spin it…for free.
Today, as some critics suggest this was done to soften the blow of a commercial failure should the album tank, the BPI has revealed that they have been forced to exclude it from its chart system because it refuses to acknowledge numbers “pulled in” by free downloads.
A spokesperson for the Official Charts UK told Daily Star Online:
Free downloads don’t count towards the Official Chart, meaning ANTi currently won’t be eligible for the Official Albums Chart.
It has not yet been announced when ANTi will be available to download and stream on other services, including iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify.
The star’s move will now see her take on the task of keeping the hype around the project high enough to ensure she doesn’t sink when it is released to music retailers.