Well it’s about time. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has announced a massive update to its awards consideration. They will now count streaming sales as part of its singles and albums certification process. The rule change means both on-demand video and audio streams will be calculated in the RIAA’s certifications, with 1,500 streams counting as the equivalent of ten track sales or one album sale. 150 streams will equal one download instead of the previous 100.
The development has made 17 albums automatically certified gold (500,000) or platinum (1 million), with Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly recognized as having sold 1 million units, after setting a single-day Spotify record when it was released last March. Additionally, the RIAA has agreed to recognize Rihanna’s latest album Anti as platinum based on the 1 million prepaid albums she sold through a deal with Samsung.
“For nearly six decades, whether it’s vinyl, CDs, downloads or now streams, the Gold & Platinum Program has adapted to recognize the benchmarks of success in an evolving music marketplace,” said Cary Sherman, Chairman and CEO, RIAA. “We know that music listening – for both for albums and songs – is skyrocketing, yet that trend has not been reflected in our album certifications. Modernizing our Album Award to include music streaming is the next logical step in the continued evolution of Gold & Platinum Awards, and doing so enables RIAA to fully reward the success of artists’ albums today.”
The rule restructuring is long overdue, with many artists expressing frustration that streaming sales don’t count toward overall album sales.
The list of newly-minted gold and platinum albums:
Alt-J, An Awesome Wave (Atlantic Records): Gold
Big Sean, Dark Sky Paradise (Def Jam Recordings): Platinum
Brett Eldredge, Bring You Back (Atlantic Nashville): Gold
Coldplay, Ghost Stories (Atlantic/Parlophone): Platinum
Elle King, Love Stuff (RCA): Gold
Fifth Harmony, Reflection (Epic): Gold
Halsey, Badlands (Astralwerks): Gold
Hozier, Hozier (Columbia): Platinum
Kendrick Lamar, To Pimp a Butterfly (Top Dawg Entertainment/Interscope): Platinum
Michael Jackson, Thriller (Epic/Legacy): 32X Multi-Platinum
Miranda Lambert, Platinum (RCA Nashville): Platinum
Romeo Santos, Fórmula Vol. 2 (Sony Latin): 11X Diamante/RIAA Latin G&P Program
Sam Hunt, Montevallo (MCA Nashville): 2X Multi-Platinum
Shawn Mendes, Handwritten (Island Records): Platinum
The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness (XO/Republic Records): 2X Multi-Platinum
Vance Joy, Dream Your Life Away (Atlantic Records): Gold
Wale, Ambition (Atlantic Urban): Gold
