They both pulled off game-changing album releases –Jay Z through Samsung and Beyoncé through iTunes—which is one of the reasons the husband and wife power duo share the top spot on Billboard’s list of movers and shakers.
In just under twenty years he went from unsigned hype as an artist who created his own label to release his debut album Reasonable Doubt, to a bonafide mogul with multi-million interests in sports and enterprise as well as music and a net worth of nearly half-a-billion.
Last June he dropped his latest album Magna Carter Holy Grail and garnered instant platinum status thanks to an exclusive deal with Samsung that gave away the album via app for those purchasing a SG4 phone. The partnership reportedly earned Jay Z a cool $20 million.
His wife and partner at the top of the power list is fresh on the heels of releasing her self-titled fifth studio album with a boss move of her own. Beyoncé was released at midnight on Friday December 13 and reportedly sold roughly 300,000 units in the first eight hours. The release of what she called a “visual album” included 14 songs, 17 videos and gave iTunes first rights of sales for seven days. By year’s end – with less than thirty days since its release – Beyoncé became the eighth best-selling album of 2013.
Her “Mrs. Carter World Tour” sold out at venues around the world in a matter of minutes and she is about to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her much buzzed about Super Bowl performance in New Orleans.
Information from Billboard.com contributed to this report.
