The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is mostly known for two things: suing the hell out of everyone for downloading music and giving out gold and platinum awards for best-selling records. Thankfully the news today only involves the latter.
In a press release today, the RIAA announced they would now factor in video and audio streams into the certification process for their Gold & Platinum Program. This is a big deal for artists, since some rely more heavily on streaming than others to distribute music to their fanbases. The RIAA had previously only updated their certification process for singles to include streaming.
Some notable artists have received updated certifications following the change, including Big Sean’s Dark Sky Paradise going platinum, Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly going platinum, The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness going 2x multi-platinum and Wale’s Ambition going gold. Good news for everyone involved.
The RIAA’s new Album Award formula is 1,500 video or song streams = 10 track sales = 1 album sale.
Their new Digital Single Award formula is 150 streams = 1 download.
These changes should shake up the charts considerably moving forward, and we’re excited to see what happens during “Charts Don’t Lie” on Wednesday.
