The world may be able to hear U2's new album Songs of Innocence in full now, thanks to its surprise release at the Apple iPhone 6 and iWatch launch earlier this week. However, just because the album is out doesn't mean it's eligible for any 2014 awards or next week's sales charts.
Two of the highest album success markers, Grammy nominations and a place on the Billboard 200 US Albums Chart will elude U2's Songs Of Innocence... for now at least.
Though 500 million copies of Songs Of Innocence were sold to Apple for distribution to its iTunes customers on Tuesday (Sept. 9), those copies will not chart on the Billboard 200. According to Billboard, free album giveaways or corporate promotions are not eligible for its charts. This is a precedent set by Jay Z's 2013 album Magna Carta... Holy Grail, which was given away to one million Samsung users upon its release, but the "platinum" status was not included in its Billboard 200 debut.
Similar rules follow for free Google Play downloads, like Demi Lovato's current DEMI giveaway.
The Billboard 200 will not elude Songs of Innocence forever though. The album will be eligible for the chart upon its commercial release date, Oct. 14.
That marker of a commercial release date also means problems for U2's Grammy nomination. The album release deadline for the 57th Annual Grammys, to be held on Feb. 8, 2015, is Sept. 30, which U2 will miss by exactly two weeks.
"The album must be commercially available in order for it to be eligible, and the official release date determines its eligibility in a particular awards year," a Grammys representative said to Billboard. "In this case, the album is commercially available on Oct. 14, 2014, so it will be eligible for consideration for the 58th Grammy Awards."
