South Korean electronics giant Samsung has reached an unprecedented $25 million deal to sponsor Rihanna’s upcoming album and tour, The New York Post has learned.
Rihanna, known for hit songs such as “Umbrella” and “Rude Boy,” is signed to Roc Nation, run by rap mogul Jay Z, who has had a long and profitable relationship with Samsung.
The Rihanna deal follows seven months of talks and is the biggest music-marketing tie-up in recent memory. Hammering out the details took longer than expected in part because Rihanna made some last-minute tweaks to the album, sources said.
Samsung couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, while Roc Nation declined to comment.
Rihanna, the 27-year-old beauty from Barbados, is releasing an album in the next few weeks, reportedly titled “Anti.” It will be her eighth studio album. She has talked about wanting to approach an album release in a fresh way.
South Korean electronics giant Samsung has reached an unprecedented $25 million deal to sponsor Rihanna’s upcoming album and tour, The Post has learned.
Rihanna, known for hit songs such as “Umbrella” and “Rude Boy,” is signed to Roc Nation, run by rap mogul Jay Z, who has had a long and profitable relationship with Samsung.
The Rihanna deal follows seven months of talks and is the biggest music-marketing tie-up in recent memory. Hammering out the details took longer than expected in part because Rihanna made some last-minute tweaks to the album, sources said.
Samsung couldn’t immediately be reached for comment, while Roc Nation declined to comment.
The news comes just a day after The Post reported exclusively that representatives of Adele, the 27-year-old UK pop star, are pushing Apple — and perhaps other companies — for a $30 million commitment to back her upcoming album and an as-yet announced world tour.
Rihanna, the 27-year-old beauty from Barbados, is releasing an album in the next few weeks, reportedly titled “Anti.” It will be her eighth studio album. She has talked about wanting to approach an album release in a fresh way.
Both her manager Jay Brown and Jay Z were integral to the deal. Jay Z was pictured on Twitter earlier this month leaving Samsung offices, prompting speculation about whether he was there to sell Tidal, his streaming music service, but sources suggest he was instead trying to nail down details of the Rihanna partnership.
Samsung wants to use Rihanna to help promote its Galaxy line of products and wants exclusive use of Rihanna-related video content to release via its Milk Music radio service, sources said. An open question is whether Jay Z’s Tidal streaming music service will gain any exclusivity given that Rihanna is a backer.
Samsung, which has also cut deals with NBA player LeBron James, will be integrally involved in any Rihanna tour, sources said.
The company also cut a $5 million marketing deal with Jay Z’s Roc Nation in 2013, surrounding the release of the hip-hop star’s Magna Carta Holy Grail album, according to reports. In exchange for a $5 million check, Jay Z provided Samsung 1 million copies of the album to be downloaded on the company’s new Galaxy SIII and other devices.
As for Rihanna, she is keeping busy ahead of dropping her album. The sexy singer will appear on the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on Nov. 10 on CBS and has been tapped by French film maker Luc Besson to appear in this movie, “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.”
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