Post Malone's new album headed towards gold certification
Since Post Malone announced the release date for his new album "Beerbongs & Bentleys" earlier this month, fans of the rapper have been dying to get their hands on the record. With the artist's first album going double Platinum, expectations for the new release was already high. Now it seems that Malone might already have turned a massive profit from the album.
Forbes reports that Malone's second LP might already be eligible to be certified gold in the US. The unprecedented success of the album comes largely from streaming sites with revenue from sites like Spotify far exceeding those from traditional stores. Since its inception, online streaming has transformed the music industry by bringing a huge chunk of sales away from online pirates and into the pockets of the legitimate artists. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) changed its certification rules in 2016 to include on-demand audio, video streams and track-equivalent sales into its calculations; marking the entry of commercial music streaming into the mainstream of the music industry.
Under the modified rules, 10 equivalent single units equal one album unit. This means that if a single sells fifty million shipments, it is considered as having sold 500,000 equivalent album units.
While the album is scheduled to drop on 27th April, the lead single "Rockstar" was released last fall. The song has since hit the number one spot in multiple countries including the US, Australia, Canada, the UK and Denmark. Due to the overwhelming popularity of the song, it has been certified five-times platinum by the RIAA. The second single from the album, "Candy Paint", has been certified gold in the US and Platinum in Australia while the third and final single "Psycho" is presently fourth on Billboard's Hot 100 list and will probably join its predecessors in the gold club. Final certification of the record will only happen once the album is released.
Listen to Post Malone's hit single "Rockstar" here: