Outkast has become
the group to be certified platinum for digital downloads by the Recording Industry
Association of America.
The group’s
smash single “Hey Ya!” tallied over 400,000 downloads, double the
amount needed to be certified platinum by the RIAA.
Six other songs
– three more from Outkast – qualified for platinum by reaching 200,000
downloads, while 45 other songs qualified for gold status, or 100,000 downloads.
These awards "are
a reflection of both the commitment of the entire music community to consumer-friendly
legitimate digital services and fan appetite for high-quality music," RIAA
Chief Executive Officer Mitch Bainwol said in a statement.
.
According to Bainwol, standards for certification are lower, because fewer people
purchase music online.
According to the
RIAA’s count, over 59 million digital singles were sold in the United
States in the first 6 months of 2004, a fraction of what the online music industry
expects in the coming years.
Certifications
for the records were based on sales data from RealNetworks, Napster, Musicmatch,
Apple’s Itunes and others.
