Here’s How Rihanna’s ‘ANTI’ Album Went Platinum

Rihanna’s new album ANTI is certified Platinum according to RIAA, the company who provides plaques when albums go gold, platinum and diamond. They sent out a tweet via twitter to congratulate RiRi on the success of the album. But, if you’re wondering just how the ANTI album hit the platinum mark so quick, read on.

Straight out the gate, Rihanna’s eigth solo studio album was guaranteed to hit the platinum mark. She teamed up with Samsung and Tidal providing one million ‘complimentary codes’ to fans upon the albums release. Matter of fact if you can recall, we even gave you one which you can see below. However, the album was also streamed 13 million times in the 14 hours of its release.

Billboard and Neilson Soundscan have not yet titled the LP platinum due to the free downloads. Samsung paid for the freebies and Rihanna reportedly struck an initial deal in the $25 million range. This move is very similar to when Jay-Z released Magna Carta, Holy Grail with Samsung, also giving fans free downloads and going platinum with the strategy as well. We’re guessing Jay helped engineer the deal being he had already done it. Take a look below.