Not everyone is excited about the new certification rules of the RIAA, particularly Top Dawg Entertainment CEO Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. Early Monday (February 1) RIAA CEO Cary Sherman announced it will count streaming when tracking album sales, which bumps 11 time Grammy nominated Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly to platinum status.
While the news sounds like a win, Tiffith didn’t jump over the moon about it. In fact, he hopped on Twitter to blast the new regulations.
we don’t stand behind this @RIAA bs. ole skool rules apply, 1 million albums sold is platinum.until we reach that #, save all the congrats.
— dangeroo kipawaa TDE (@dangerookipawaa) February 1, 2016
no cheat codes 2 platinum… #TDE
— dangeroo kipawaa TDE (@dangerookipawaa) February 1, 2016
Under the new rules, streaming won’t be counted individually. Instead, the RIAA will count every 1,500 audio or video streams as 10 equivalent sales, which in turn brings Big Sean’s Dark Sky Paradise to platinum status, The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind The Madness to 2x platinum and Michael Jackson’s classic Thriller to 32x platinum.
Being a platinum selling artist is a highly coveted title, yet it seems until a million people by Cornrow Kenny’s LP, TDE isn’t taking the honor.