[Baby Boy]

Back in the day, artists were under certified. Now, they're over certified. They never mattered imo.

[shelven]

Streaming is clearly the future of the music industry, so NOT changing certifications to reflect that would make them useless.

But as others have already said, they need to tweak the rules a bit so that one or two hit singles don't single-handedly push an album to a certification.

[Eternium]

Originally posted by Anvarie

Do you think one successful song = an era because at this rate just one single is going to be certifying albums platinum

It can since an era encompasses everything from shipments to single sales to streams.

If your song was such a smash that it went Diamond, it's not unbelievable to assume that it would've helped your album sell a million more copies in the U.S. in a healthier sales climate.

[iHype.]

This post on another forum sums it, perfectly.

I'm starting to change my mind about this whole RIAA thing because I've started seeing things differently. If the RIAA stuck to pure album sales, they would either have to drastically decrease quantities for Gold, Platinum, Diamond, etc... or they would be completely irrelevant and pointless, right along with pure sales. They would just kinda be there to award something on the off chance it actually sold 500k. It wouldn't be able to sustain itself. I feel like decreasing the quantities required for awards would be the beginning of the end, anyway, and doesn't solve anything. It would also create an obvious unfairness between yesterday's sales and today's. That said, I also have been in a place where I thought making streaming and equivalents part of the equation was unfair, too.

So... it's a huge conundrum. There's no apples to apples. Period. And we can't just dismiss music's popularity because sales are in the gutter and it's being streamed instead of being purchased in many cases.

The only way to solve this RIAA thing is to morph it into something new that represents today's climate and culture, and make it less about sales and more about consumption. I think the key for me is letting go of what the RIAA awards used to signify, and embracing what they mean now. There's a clear difference in many aspects of the industry and the charts - this is just another one of those differences. This is the first time since recorded music existed that we have a way to listen to our favorite music repeatedly and on-demand without having to shell out money for individual singles and albums. It's huge. It certainly shouldn't be ignored.

So again - it's about recognizing we are in a different age now. Evolution is happening. Do we want something to track what is being consumed for historical purposes and artist achievement, or should it just go away and die like the 8-track? Should it be replaced with something else? And if so, why not replace it with a new version of itself? That's what they're doing, and while it's really hard to get used to... what other sustainable options are there?

[leociccone]

Streams shouldn't be counted in the album SALES chart or the Hot 100.

If one wants to know how many streams an artist had, they can refer to the STREAMING chart.

It's as if the record companies are paying Billboard to make up these silly rules.

FACE REALITY and realize that unless a singer releases amazing pop music like Adele and Taylor Swift....they aren't going to sell very much. This whole "SPS" thing is so tacky and makes the industry look desperate for recognition.

How about we as consumers make our own decision about what is a successful album/single? In 2016 an album that sells over 200K seems successful. Because if you look at year-end charts the sales are so low. If an artist or record company is embarrassed by that number then perhaps they should've produced better music and promoted more.

[TheLuckyOnes]

yes unless a company buys the album

[rlj]

Honestly I stopped paying attention to certifications once streaming was included. I almost ignored them completely when Gaga got certified platinum* for selling her album at .99cents but then Billboard corrected the rule quickly - but now rihannas selling her album to phone companies and it's all too confusing.

I still don't 100% understand it but one day stans were claiming 2X platinum albums within days & diamond singles and I just decided to ignore certs from that point on.

Convenient for me given my faves current certifications

[Caesar]

Originally posted by Jaxswim

Yes, they matter

Streaming is the future of music. Don't get left in the past.

.

[Caesar]

Originally posted by leociccone

Streams shouldn't be counted in the album SALES chart or the Hot 100.

If one wants to know how many streams an artist had, they can refer to the STREAMING chart.

It's as if the record companies are paying Billboard to make up these silly rules.

FACE REALITY and realize that unless a singer releases amazing pop music like Adele and Taylor Swift....they aren't going to sell very much. This whole "SPS" thing is so tacky and makes the industry look desperate for recognition.

How about we as consumers make our own decision about what is a successful album/single? In 2016 an album that sells over 200K seems successful. Because if you look at year-end charts the sales are so low. If an artist or record company is embarrassed by that number then perhaps they should've produced better music and promoted more.

The problem is people aren't really buying albums except for like a handful of 5 artists.

Streaming is the future, stay mad ATRL.

[leociccone]

Originally posted by Caesar

The problem is people aren't really buying albums except for like a handful of 5 artists.

Streaming is the future, stay mad ATRL.

So what's wrong with having a sales chart and a separate streaming chart? I don't get why streaming has to be included in other charts.

[Bey_Rihstan]

Yes but I feel like ppl should be listening to the full Alber for the certifications to count tbh

Like one hit doesn't mean someone's interested in the entire album

[Dark XXX]

Originally posted by Misanthrope

These kinds of things only matter to fans whom live vicariously through their fav. Nothing matters but the artist and their music.

.

[Miss me with that]

Originally posted by Caesar

The problem is people aren't really buying albums except for like a handful of 5 artists.

Streaming is the present, stay mad ATRL.

Corrected for ya.

[LovingYourCareer]

For today's songs they don't, but back then they did.

[♚ PRiNCE HiGH ♚]

not esp recently thanks to certain album

[shelven]

Originally posted by leociccone

So what's wrong with having a sales chart and a separate streaming chart? I don't get why streaming has to be included in other charts.

Because the Hot 100 is an overall popularity chart? Having a music popularity chart that ignores one of the biggest sources of music consumption would make absolutely no sense

[KillingYourCareer]

They should just count pure album sales and lower Platinum to 500k and Gold to 250k

[slw84]

Originally posted by Anvarie

Watching YouTube selling albums
Listening to a song on spotify selling albums
Buying a 99cent song selling albums
Cellphone companies buying albums

Does it matter anymore? Is 2016 officially the year when saying "my faves last album is 3x platinum" is the most useless receipt

I have to laugh at Anti being responsible for this.

I called out the double counting before the new rules can into place and now when people's non faves benefit it becomes a problem.

Love it.

Rihanna ha 3x platinum Anti album is coming.


I always thought that SEAs/TEAs should only impact the Hot 100 because we are talking about individual songs.


So instead of having taylor swift have 10 songs on the hot 100 and dropping. It would mix up the hot 100 chart and it would make it harder for songs to stay on the chart for at minimum 20 weeks unless they truly are popular at the moment and airplay isn't going to keep a song stagnant on the charts.

[slw84]

Originally posted by shelven

Because the Hot 100 is an overall popularity chart? Having a music popularity chart that ignores one of the biggest sources of music consumption would make absolutely no sense

agreed streams should count towards hot 100 but not as album sales.

[Homebrand]

I hope you dummies realize that people pay for streaming too