RIAA Changes Gold & Platinum Album Rules, Making Kendrick Lamar's 'To Pimp a Butterfly' Platinum

As of today, Februay 1, 2016, the RIAA will now include “on-demand audio and video stream” numbers into the Platinum and Gold certification process. The organization officially announced the program this morning via press release, introducing the change as “a new Album Award methodology for its Gold & Platinum Program.”The new rules have already made a signifcant impact, flipping the status of 17 major albums. Included among those 17 records are Kendrick Lamar‘s To Pimp a Butterfly (now Platinum), The Weeknd‘s Beauty Behind The Madness (now 2X Multi-Platinum) and Big Sean’s Dark Sky Paradise (now Platinum). However, what might seem as a positive bit of news isn’t exactly sitting right with some of those involved with the impacted albums. TDE’s CEO expressed his issue with the RIAA on Twitter, sending out the following tweets:

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