I'm fine with Jay-Z doing this as a deal; impressed even, as it's a shrewd business move, and it's reinventing how artists can succeed in a business that's screwed them over for years. But I'd be sort of disgusted if the RIAA actually counts these as units sold (their press release doesn't really make it clear if they're making the sales count or not).
Samsung is acting as a distributor, not as a customer. The distributor is in business with Jay-Z - the one million copies sold was part of an endorsement deal. That's not much different from the record label buying one million copies and holding a Twitter contest like "the first one million people to RT this get a free copy of the album." Or, it isn't any different from me buying an album, uploading it to a file sharing site, and saying that you went platinum after a million people download from the free link I uploaded.
The whole purpose of Billboard, Nielsen Soundscan and the RIAA's gold and platinum certification program is to chronicle the support and impact of these albums. So this would be documented as one million people buying Jay-Z's album before it's released, and that's just not accurate.
Now I'd feel completely differently if Samsung bought those albums, and were selling the album exclusively within the app. Or, if the "Magna Carta Holy Grail" app actually costs money. Because that'd show customers actually supporting the album. But giving away an album for free to one million people doesn't mean it's platinum.
The key point is that Samsung is acting like a label/distributor, not as a customer. If this is determined as platinum before it's released, history will give this the same accolades as an album that actually had to connect with fans and earn those copies sold. That's foul, IMO.
