James Donio, President of the Music Business Association (Music Biz), commented on this week’s sales numbers issued by Nielsen (published in Billboard) and Border City Media, as well as the RIAA’s recent announcement that it has amended the methodology for its Gold or Platinum certification program:
Music Biz applauds the RIAA’s decision to begin counting streams and track equivalent albums toward an album’s Gold or Platinum certification. This move affirms the importance of streaming in today’s music business and allows for a more modern and complete sales measurement system for this iconic program. We are also happy to see that our Music Biz 2016 Breakthrough Artist Award recipients Sam Hunt and Halsey will be among the first to benefit from this adjustment, with Hunt’s ‘Montevallo’ being certified 2X Multi-Platinum and Halsey’s ‘Badlands’ being certified Gold. It is good to see the industry adapting to today’s sales realities, and we are glad to see artists who have embraced new formats receive the recognition they deserve.
Speaking of sales, Adele reclaimed her spot at the top of the Nielsen and BuzzAngle Music charts this week, selling 116,000 album equivalent units (including 97,000 in traditional album sales) of ‘25’to land at #1. The record is on pace to exceed 8 million total traditional copies sold next week, a simply outstanding feat that is becoming refreshingly common in Adele’s remarkable run. Other notable debuts include veteran Metal band Megadeth at #3 with ‘Dystopia’ and the ‘2016 GRAMMY Nominees’ compilation at #9. With music’s biggest night only two weeks away, we expect to see significant jumps for nominees and performers in the coming weeks. Next week, we’ll be keeping a close eye on Rihanna’s ‘ANTI’ and Sia’s ‘This Is Acting’ to see whether they can overtake Adele at the top of the charts.
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