The Recording Industry of America has announced that streaming will, finally, now contribute to the certification of albums as Gold or Platinum. Effective immediately, the RIAA will include on-demand audio and video streams and a track sale equivalent in determining which releases get the coveted album awards, a change that follows a similar tweak in 2013 to include on-demand streams for its Digital Single Award.

"After a comprehensive analysis of a variety of factors," writes the organization in a statement, "including streaming and download consumption patterns and historical impact on the program – and also consultation with a myriad of industry colleagues the RIAA set the new Album Award formula of 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video song streams = 10 track sales = 1 album sale.  Also effective today, RIAA’s Digital Single Award ratio will be updated from 100 on-demand streams = 1 download to 150 on-demand streams = 1 download to reflect streaming’s enormous growth in the two plus years since that ratio was set."

"For nearly six decades, whether it’s vinyl, CDs, downloads or now streams, the Gold & Platinum Program has adapted to recognize the benchmarks of success in an evolving music marketplace," said Cary Sherman, chairman and CEO of the RIAA, in a statement.

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Responding to the rule change James Donio, president of the Music Business Association said in a statement that the change "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."