RIAA to include digital streams for Gold and Platinum certifications

The Recording Industry Association of America said on Thursday that it will now include digital streams when awarding artists its prestigious Gold and Platinum certifications for singles.

According to USA Today, on-demand audio and video song streams will now be a part of the equation to help singles reach Gold (500,000 copies sold), Platinum (1 million) and multi-Platinum (2 million-plus) status.

As part of the announcement, the RIAA released a list of 56 songs that will get the new Digital Single Awards. This includes 11 Gold, 18 Platinum and 27 multi-Platinum singles.

Tracks by Adele, Carly Rae Jepsen, Justin Timberlake, Aerosmith, Kelly Clarkson, Frank Ocean, Kenny Chesney and many others are among the first crop of Digital Single Award recipients. Psy’s “Gangnam Style” did not get one... yet.

"Including music streaming in Gold & Platinum awards marks the continued evolution of the industry's premier program for recognizing artistic achievement,” RIAA chairman Cary Sherman said. "We're thrilled that our awards will now more fully recognize artists' commercial success today.”

The decision follows a recent move by Billboard to include YouTube data to calculate its Hot 100 chart. Thanks to that decision, the “Harlem Shake” track by Baauer debuted at the top of the chart.

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