Published February 19th 2016
If “Anti” were a relationship in its early stages, this would be the moment where you have to start thinking about leaving it behind. Rihanna’s new album already took a long hard journey to come together, than a blunder led to an early release and now Rihanna’s had to postpone the first shows of her “Anti” world tour.
Rihanna’s “Anti” stays troubled. Now, it’s her tour
Rihanna’s Anti Tour
While many people tie this news into her cancelled Grammy performance last weekend, officially due to health reasons, but unofficially due to a rant at the rehearsal, the tour dates actually are postponed because the production is just not fully together yet.
8 Dates Postponed
Rihanna was supposed to kick off her tour this month, but the first 8 dates have been postponed to the beginning of May. The dates canceled are for San Diego, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix, New Orleans, Oakland and San Jose.
The “Anti” tour will now kick off on March 12 at Jacksonville.
Rihanna’s Health
After appearing at the launch of her very own Puma collection on February 12th, Rihanna had fallen ill with bronchitis. Even though, she was medicated, she was not vocally fit enough to perform at the Grammy’s and put to bed rest, on doctor’s orders.
RIAA Under Criticism For Certifying “Anti” Platinum
Even though the release of Anti was troubled, it immediately become a hit. The album was certified Platinum by the RIAA two days after its release, when it hit 1.4 million downloads and 13 million streams after 15 hours. Immediately showing how their new formulas take effect.
However, Samsung, who sponsored the release of the album, was giving away 1 million downloads of the album, which some considered would be unfair to take into the equation. The RIAA explained that they saw more than a million confirmed downloads from the US and those met the demand that artist and label got paid a certain minimum amount to be qualified for the count. They don’t say a word about the suspicion that this was still paid by Samsung due to their giveaway, therefore artists and endorsers can influence the sales numbers…
Other chart companies like Billboard and Nielsen are not counting the Samsung downloads.
TIDAL
For troubled streaming service, Tidal, which hosted the release, this has been a blessing. Quickly after, Rihanna’s album exclusive was followed by Kanye West’s release. Both albums are drawing in more subscriptions for the music service.