The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) took a huge step in the modernization of album certification by announcing streaming will be counted towards records’ Gold & Platinum certifications.
With the topic of music streaming constantly at large in recent news, its about time these programs revamped the rules to better reflect the current times. “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 Chairman and CEO of RIAA Cary Sherman. “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…”
Effective today, on-demand audio and video streams will be included in the Gold & Platinum Album Award consideration: 500,000 (Gold), 1,000,000 (Platinum) and 2,000,000 plus (multi-Platinum) – will count both sales and streams for single and album certifications. And with this new rule in place, seventeen titles were included in the inaugural certifications of the new Album Award such as The Weeknd’s “Beauty Behind the Madness”, Coldplay’s “Ghost Stories”, and Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. A huge step for the music industry, artists, and listeners alike with this grand recognition of streaming; let the streaming continue!
Source: RIAA
