Amount of Multi-Platinum Album Certifications By Year

[EvanJ]

As you know, album sales have gone down in the 2000s. I went to the RIAA website and counted multi-platinum certifications. I think "multi-platinum" is defined as two times platinum with additional certifications (three times platinum, etc.) not listed again (unless the album makes the separate Diamond list), so an album can only count once. Here are the results:

2000: 287
2005: 121
2010: 32
2015: 17

I can count for more years if you want. Note that an album can go multi-platinum many years after it was released and may not have sold many copies during the year it went multi-platinum.

[areyoureadytojump]

There were 22 multi-platinum certs in 2015. Listed here:

www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/RIAAS-2015-GOLD-PLATINUM-AWARDS1.pdf

30 multi-platinum certs in 2014:

www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2014.pdf

There were only 15 multi-platinum certs in 2013.

In 2012, there were 19 Multi-Platinum album certifications.

In 2011, there were 26 Multi-Platinum album certifications.

I have a list of about 128 albums that need updated multi-platinum certs.

Labels are more interested in certifying digital singles.

[EvanJ]

My list from www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&ar=&ti_option=album&ti=&lab=&genre=&format=Album&date_option=certification&from=2015-01-01&to=2015-12-31&award=M&type=ST&category=&adv=SEARCH#search_section has 17 albums. I must have counted wrong yesterday, and I'm editing my original post to change the number from 18 to 17. Your list has 22 certifications, but has the same 17 albums as my list, with 3 albums having gotten multiple multi-platinum certifications in 2015.

[areyoureadytojump]

^Yes, I count the certifications, not just the albums.

Adele's 5xP counts as 1 for you.

I count 2xP, 3xP, 4xP, 5xP. That's four certs.

But, it's all moot now really with the newly updated requirements for RIAA album certifications.

2016:

Sam Hunt, 2xP
The Weeknd, 2xP
Adele, 6xP, 7xP, 8xP
Michael Jackson 31xP, 32xP

[areyoureadytojump]

2016 had 108 multi-platinum album certifications:

www.riaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/2016-RIAA-Awards.pdf