RIAA

The Weeknd Now Has The Second-Most Diamond Singles Ever Thanks To Two New RIAA Certifications

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The Weeknd is one of the most decorated artists both in recent years and over the course of the modern music industry more broadly. That’s true pretty much regardless of whatever measure you use, but right now, let’s look at certifications from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association Of America). There’s actually some news on that front today, as two The Weeknd songs — “Blinding Lights” and “Starboy” — have now achieved Diamond certification, indicating sales of at least 10 million units in the US.

That in itself is a big deal, but what’s even more noteworthy is what this does for The Weeknd’s placement on the all-time ranks: According to the RIAA website, today’s certifications put The Weeknd at three total Diamond singles, which is the second-most ever. (His other Diamond single, by the way, is “The Hills.”)

He’s now behind only Bruno Mars, who has four Diamond singles. The Weeknd is currently tied with Ed Sheeran, Eminem, Imagine Dragons, Katy Perry, and Maroon 5, at three. All those artists are among the few who have multiple Diamond singles: Those with two Diamond singles are Cardi B, Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Post Malone, and that’s it.

Meanwhile, The Weeknd got some other RIAA certifications today, too: “I Feel It Coming” is now 6-times Platinum, “Die For You” is 4-times Platinum, “Heartless,” “Party Monster,” and “Reminder” are 3-times Platinum, and as far as albums, Starboy is 4-times Platinum. Overall, The Weeknd now has 30 Gold singles, 30 Platinum singles, and 16 multi-Platinum singles.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” And “Starboy” Certified Diamond By RIAA

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Today, The Weekend released the music video for “Out Of Time”, the latest single from his critically acclaimed album DAWN FM. The video was directed by Cliqua and features appearances from Jim Carrey, who is also on the song, as well as South Korean model and actress HoYeon Jung. The Weeknd also saw his previous singles “Blinding Lights” and “Starboy” became certified by the RIAA. With these certifications, The Weeknd becomes only the sixth solo artist to reach 3 diamond digital single awards.

 Additionally, the recently announced After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour will feature special guest Doja Cat and kick off up north in The Weeknd’s hometown of Toronto on Friday, July 8th at the Rogers Centre with other stops at iconic U.S. stadiums including Metlife in New York City, Soldier Field in Chicago, Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and more, before wrapping Friday, September 2nd at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The tour is produced by Live Nation. This is the first leg of The Weeknd’s massive world tour, with additional dates in Mexico, South America, Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa & Middle East to be announced soonS

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REPORT: Kanye’s “DONDA” Album Goes Platinum

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Kanye West’s DONDA is officially going platinum. The Recording Industry Association of America confirmed that the album had reached over one-million equivalent sales since its release in August 2021.

DONDA was released after multiple delays and is West’s ninth solo album to reach platinum certification.

Jesus Is King and recently released DONDA 2 are his only projects that haven’t reached the mark.

West announced that DONDA 2 would only be available on his Stem Player platform.

However, that move made the album ineligible for the Billboard Charts since it violates Billboard’s merchandise bundle policy.

Billboard announced the bundling rule back in 2020, stating that selling merchandise along with a physical album or digital album download (often a free download) as a way to boost album sales numbers would skew sales numbers.

Ye’s player, has reportedly sold 39,500 units for a total of about $8.6 million.

Congratulations to Kanye achieving platinum status for DONDA. Share your thoughts with us on social media.

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Eminem Becomes The Most Certified Artist For Singles In RIAA Gold And Platinum Program History

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The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) today announced 73.5 million new Gold & Platinum Program certifications for Eminem. The Shady/Aftermath/Interscope artist is now the number one awarded musician for singles in the program’s history and one of only seven artists in any genre or era with three or more Diamond Album Awards.   

Eminem’s combined six RIAA Diamond awards, three albums and three singles, catapult him into music’s stratosphere and cement his place as one of the most accomplished artists in history. With today’s 73.5 million new award units, Eminem’s RIAA Award career total is now 227.5 million – 166 million single certifications and 61.5 million album certifications. 

RIAA Chairman & CEO Mitch Glazier says, “These awards recognize Eminem’s unflinching commitment to his craft and the enduring connection he has forged with fans over the last twenty years. With today’s announcement, Eminem becomes the top certified singles artist in our program’s history and adds a rare third Diamond Album to his many creative accomplishments. Congratulations to Eminem and his entire label team who have set the bar higher than ever!”  

“Interscope joins Aftermath in congratulating Marshall, Paul, and the entire Shady team on this remarkable achievement. It has been an honor to be part of one of the greatest journeys in the history of recorded music. The most beautiful part of this is it feels like the journey has just begun,” said Steve Berman, Vice Chairman, Interscope Geffen A&M. 

Created by the RIAA in 1958 to honor artists and create a standard to measure the commercial success of a sound recording, the Gold & Platinum Awards Program is the industry’s premier barometer for recognizing artistic achievement in the music marketplace.  

The program trademarked the Gold Record (500,000 units) and formalized the industry practice of presenting awards to artists for music sales achievements. Later came the Platinum Award (1,000,000), Multi-Platinum Award (2,000,000 plus) and the Diamond Award (10,000,000 plus). In 2000, the RIAA created its Premios de Oro y Platino Awards to celebrate Latin music, specifically albums and songs that are more than 50 percent Spanish language. The RIAA has counted digital sales since 2004 and on-demand streams since 2013. 

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Eminem Becomes The Most Certified Artist (For Singles) In RIAA History

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Did you know that artists who perform the Super Bowl halftime show do so basically for free? While the NFL covers the production costs for the performance, it does not pay the artists directly for agreeing to perform on the most-watched event of the year. However, that doesn’t mean artists don’t get anything out of the arrangement. The visibility that the performers receive often results in increased catalog sales in the … ahem … aftermath of the show, with a ton of future opportunities waiting as brands scramble to work with them and take advantage of the publicity.

Case in point, after performing this year’s halftime show, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg’s “Still D.R.E.” video became their first to reach a billion views on YouTube, while all of Dre’s co-stars — Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and Snoop — all saw an increase in streams overall. However, it turns out the biggest beneficiary — at least in terms of accolades — might well be Eminem, who saw his catalog spawn 73.5 million new units, making him The Recording Industry Association of America’s most-certified singles artist in history. The RIAA tweeted about the achievement today, congratulating Eminem on the awards, which include “Lose Yourself” (naturally), “Love The Way You Lie” featuring Rihanna, “Not Afraid,” and nearly 50 other Platinum records, as well over 30 Gold ones.

Even before performing at the Super Bowl, Eminem reached streaming distinctions that almost no other artist can boast. In December, every Eminem album crossed the one billion streams threshold on Spotify,
lending weight to his comment earlier this year that “no one ever really gets canceled.” Eminem is living proof after spending his whole career setting people off — even doing so by kneeling during the halftime show (at least this time it was the right people getting rankled) — and if nothing else, you can say it paid off big for him.