According to this article from Pitchfork, the song Old Town Road by Lil Nas X (with an assist from Billy Ray Cyrus) is now the most-certified song in RIAA history. The RIAA is the Recording Industry Association of America, which is the trade organization that supports major music companies and tracks record sales.
Here are the sales numbers required to reach each certification: Gold - 500,000 units Platinum - 1,000,000 units Multi-platinum - 2,000,000 units Diamond - 10,000,000 units
By the way, in 2013 the RIAA revised counts to include digital streaming. Ten permanent track downloads count as one unit and 1,500 on-demand audio or video streams count as one unit.
Old Town Road was just certified 14x Platinum, meaning over 14,000,000 units. The previous record-holders were All of Me by John Legend and Despacito by Daddy Yankee, Luis Fonzi, and Justin Bieber, both songs certified 13x Platinum.
I never got John Legend. Sure he's a talented guy, but I think he has fallen into the trap of believing in his own hype (and last name). Despacito I totally get, even if I don't understand all the lyrics. Catchy tune, flashy video, this one does not surprise me. I'm open to new music from a variety of genres.
In 2019, Old Town Road broke the record for most weeks at number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart for 19 weeks. I've listened to the song multiple times. I've watched the video. I've read the lyrics.
I don't get it.
I don't think it's a bad song, but to be certified the most of any song ever?? What am I missing here? Perhaps abrahamKim, who has extensive knowledge of the work products of non-names can provide some insight.
Such metrics are simply about engagement. Just like 100 dollars today is worth nothing like 100 dollars 50 years ago -- why? because of inflation of available dollars -- these RIAA metrics don't mean the same thing today as it did last decade or before then when it was the CD era.
abrahamKim
