Update: On Friday evening, Drake put on a surprise performance outside the Toronto Raptors game for his fans during which he claimed to have received a text that the album had so far sold over 600,000 copies. That would make the album gold status and on its way to platinum, according to RIAA certifications.
Streams of last year’s mega-hit count towards the certification of Drake’s new album.
Recent changes in the way the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) calculates the numbers needed to achieve album award certifications mean that Drake’s Views should quickly reach platinum thanks to ‘Hotline Bling’.
The RIAA’s new rules mean that 1,500 streams in the USA have the same value as 10 track sales or one full album sale, meaning artists like Nicki Minaj and Kendrick Lamar retroactively reached platinum when the changes took effect.
RIAA CEO Cary Sherman confirmed in a recent interview with Billboard that streams of songs released ahead of an album also count towards album certification, saying: “These are lifetime awards, so before and after an album’s release all count.”
As Forbes notes, Drake will be able to take advantage of these rules with the inclusion of last year’s hit ‘Hotline Bling’ along with recent singles ‘One Dance’ and ‘Pop Style’.
There’s no way to confirm how many times ‘Hotline Bling’ has been streamed in the USA, but it’s been streamed over 400m times globally on Spotify alone, meaning that Drake has a head start in terms of reaching platinum status.
Views was released today (April 29) as an Apple Music streaming exclusive, but it’s also available to buy on iTunes. The album’s list of production credits and collaborators includes Rihanna, Future and Kanye West.
