Posted March 14, 20196 yr I'm so confused by how the certifications in the US work. :wacko: Looking on Twitter, people are saying that Shallow has sold 2,675,000 copies in the US in latest estimates, however looking on Wikipedia and other websites it says the Shallow has only been certified as 1 x Platinum in the US. Is this because websites are out of date or has the certification not yet been updated? I've seen other cases with Just Dance being technically Diamond certified, but not being shown as being certified as that!?
March 17, 20196 yr Labels have to apply for certifications in the US! The UK does it automatically - if a song passes 600k combined units, it is automatically certified platinum - but the US is manual. It's down to the label to apply for the next certification for Shallow now it's eligible!
March 17, 20196 yr Certifications in the US aren't automatic like they are in the UK. Labels still have to apply for them. "Shallow" was certified platinum on December 11th 2018 (you can check via the RIAA website). The figure of 2.675mil is correct, but the label haven't requested an update to the certification (It would be certified 2x platinum). I assume they will when it hits 3 million for a 3x platinum certification.
March 20, 20196 yr Author Thanks for clearing that up everyone - must be so many songs out there that are unclassified to the level they should be!
March 20, 20196 yr Thanks for clearing that up everyone - must be so many songs out there that are unclassified to the level they should be! Some labels are good at updating their certifications, especially for new artists as it looks good when promoting however for many artists they'll go ages without any and then suddenly the label will update them all at once. This is because it costs $350 to get a new cert but if done simultaneously, there's no extra fee. Interscope could pay $350 now to get the x2 Platinum and then pay another $350 when it reaches x3 Platinum or just wait and save themselves some money. Doesn't sound a lot for a multi-million company but it all adds up.
March 21, 20196 yr Author Some labels are good at updating their certifications, especially for new artists as it looks good when promoting however for many artists they'll go ages without any and then suddenly the label will update them all at once. This is because it costs $350 to get a new cert but if done simultaneously, there's no extra fee. Interscope could pay $350 now to get the x2 Platinum and then pay another $350 when it reaches x3 Platinum or just wait and save themselves some money. Doesn't sound a lot for a multi-million company but it all adds up. Makes total sense - well it will easily achieve 3 x platinum, so will wait to see that certification! :cheer:
