Nerd time!

In a thread about sales of 4ever, RODSERLING posted the following information about sales of Prince's albums in the US in 2016:

RODSERLING said:

In fact Prince sold in the US 2.05 millions albums / 2.6 with added streaming.

06 - 652,000 - THE VERY BEST OF - Prince ( 2,740,000 )
13 - 478,000 - PURPLE RAIN - Prince & the Revolution ( 3,550,000 )
70 - 160,000 - 1999 - Prince ( 950,000 )
92 - 137,000 - ULTIMATE - Prince ( 416,000 )
106 - 128,000 - THE HITS/B-SIDES- Prince ( 829,000 )

191 - 78.000 Prince.

Sadly, 4ever won't enter the yearend top 200.

I think the numbers listed here indicate the rank among 2016 album sales, the number of sales during 2016, and in parentheses, the number of sales during the Soundscan era (1991 to present).

This got me thinking about what it would take to get RIAA to recertify his catalogue. I imagine that several albums and (especially) singles could be issued with new certifications now. Here is how Prince's albums are currently certified in the US:

• Prince: platinum on February 21, 1980
• Dirty Mind: gold on June 20, 1984
• Controversy: platinum on January 11, 1985
• 1999: 4x platinum on March 24, 1999
• Purple Rain: 13x platinum on May 16, 1996
• Around the World in a Day: 2x platinum on July 2, 1985
• Parade: platinum on June 3, 1986
• Sign o' the Times: platinum on July 2, 1987
• Lovesexy: gold on December 5, 1988
• Batman: 2x platinum on August 29, 1989
• Graffiti Bridge: gold on November 1, 1990
• Diamonds and Pearls: 2x platinum on January 30, 1992
• Symbol: plantium on December 17, 1992
• The Hits/The B-Sides: platinum on December 1, 1993
• The Hits I: platinum on August 10, 1995
• The Hits II: platinum on August 10, 1995
• Come: gold on October 18, 1994
• The Gold Experience: gold on December 7, 1995
• Emancipation: 2x platinum on February 7, 1997
• Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic on December 10, 1999
• The Very Best of Prince: platinum on September 21, 2004
• Musicology: 2x platinum on January 31, 2005
• 3121: gold on June 26, 2016

The Soundscan era sales totals from RODSERLING's post indicate that The Very Best of Prince should at least be certified 2x platinum and The Hits/The B-Sides should be certified 2x platinum (each sale counts three times for this given that it contains 3 discs). In addition, Purple Rain has sold 3.5 million since the beginning of the Soundscan era in 1991. I imagine at least 2 million of that total has been sold since its last certification in May of 1996, so a 15x platinum certification seems reasonable. I also wonder whether 1999 could be upgraded, given that its vinyl sales should count as double, though it's unclear whether that adjustment was made at the time of its last certification in 1999. Also, it wouldn't surprise me if albums like Sign o' the Times and Diamonds and Pearls were due for higher ceritifications, given that their latest certifications came during the middle of their chart runs.

Here is how Prince's singles are currently certified in the US:

• I Wanna Be Your Lover: gold on March 18, 1980
• When Doves Cry: platinum on August 21, 1984
• Let's Go Crazy: gold on November 7, 1984
• Purple Rain: gold on December 5, 1984
• Kiss: gold on May 5, 1986
• Batdance: platinum on August 11, 1989
• Partyman: gold on November 8, 1989
• Thieves in the Temple: gold on October 2, 1990
• Gett Off: gold on October 23, 1991
• Cream: gold on January 16, 1992
• 7: gold on March 10, 1993
• The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: gold on May 26, 1994

I think even more certifications are likely here, given that the requirements for a gold single used to be 1 million sales. I imagine "I Wanna Be Your Lover", "1999", "Little Red Corvette", "When Doves Cry", "Let's Go Crazy", "Purple Rain", "I Would Die 4 U", "Raspberry Beret", "Kiss", "Sign o' the Times", "U Got the Look", and "Diamonds and Pearls" at least would be eligible for either increased or brand new certifications.

Who would we have to contact about requesting new certifications from the RIAA? Is it Londell?

Also, if RODSERLING or feeluupp (our resident chart/sales experts) have any detailed Soundscan totals for all of Prince's albums, it would be great to see them listed here.

I did a bit of digging, and found some digital sales figures for Prince's songs after he flooded the chart in late April:

https://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=24&t=37099&p=6054665&hilit=raspberry+beret#p6054665

When Doves Cry: 1583666

Kiss: 1474373

Purple Rain: 1467907

Let's Go Crazy: 1120285

Little Red Corvette: 1080601

1999: 874433

Raspberry Beret: 818425

I Would Die 4 U: 664603

I Wanna Be Your Lover: 511395

Darling Nikki: 399261

Erotic City: 386644

U Got the Look: 357349

Adore: 355854

Diamonds and Pearls: 315313

Cream: 280599

7: 259515

Gett Off: 231034

Do Me, Baby: 225029

Baby I'm a Star: 217981

The Beautiful Ones: 207419

Delirious: 177284

Pop Life: 171924

If I Was Your Girlfriend: 160696

Controversy: 158388

Nothing Compares 2 U: 152345

Take Me With U: 145321

Sexy MF: 136060

Sign o' the Times: 118810

I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man: 96802

Insatiable: 94041

When You Were Mine: 68693

Batdance: 68659

D.M.S.R.: 67981

How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore: 66611

Scandalous: 64955

International Lover: 64619

Alphabet St.: 59400

Thieves in the Temple: 57466

Soft and Wet: 55089

Partyman: 51409

Sometimes It Snows in April: 47988

Head: 47987

While My Guitar Gently Weeps: 47533

Housequake: 47173

Starfish and Coffee: 43657

I Feel for You: 40686

My Name Is Prince: 28459

The Cross: 22530

This list of digital sales (which will have grown since late April) suggests that the following certifications are justifiable:

When Doves Cry: 3x platinum (previous platinum = 2 million + 1.58 million digital)
Kiss: 2x platinum (previous gold = 1 million + 1.47 million digital)
Purple Rain: 2x platinum (previous gold = 1 million + 1.47 million digital)
Let's Go Crazy: 2x platinum (previous gold = 1 million + 1.12 million digital)
Little Red Corvette: platinum (1.08 million digital)
1999: platinum (874k digital + at least 202k sales of 1999 single reissue in 1999: https://www.ukmix.org/for...p?t=34161)
Raspberry Beret: gold (818k digital)
I Would Die 4 U: gold (664k digital)

These numbers aren't completely exhaustive, either. "Raspberry Beret" likely should be eligible for platinum certification because I'm sure it sold at least 182k when released in 1985. "I Would Die 4 U" might be worthy of a platinum certification as well. "Diamonds and Pearls" had scanned 429k copies by May 2006, so I imagine it is well over 500k by now and eligible for a gold certification. "U Got the Look" should also be eligible for gold given it has sold 357k digitally and must have shifted at least 143k back in 1987-88.

I think the undercertified albums are the following :

.

PRINCE is a good contender to 2*PLATINUM in the future, if it gets re-released

. It was certified P in february 1980, and spent 8 more weeks in the top 100, and 6 more in the top 200, so it surely shipped 150 k more by the end of 1980. Between 1981 and 1991, it surely sold 200 k more, especially with the PURPLE RAIN craze. It sold 350 k in the soundscan era (including 80 k after his death !) so it's one of the most popular album of Prince in the US for sure.So it sold 1.7 million, without even taking into account the fact that soundscan sales were not scanning the whole country the first years, and without music club...

.

DIRTY MINDS : should be PLATINUM, for sure.

.

1999 : can't be counted as a double album because its lenght is less than 100 minutes. Must be at 4.8 millions now in the US. Need a re-release to get the 5 PLATINUM mark.

.

PURPLE RAIN : should be at 15 PLATINUM now, for sure. Estimated sales at 15.7 millions minimally, need the re-release to get the 16 PLATINUM mark !

.

AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY ; should be at 3 PLATINUM.

.

PARADE : should be at 2 PLATINUM.

.

SOTT : could be at 2P with a re-release. Really close to that.

.

LOVESEXY : should be 1 P for sure.

.

GRAFFITI BRIDGE : should be 1 P.

.

DIAMONDS AND PEARLS : should be 3 P.

.

THE HITS / THE B SIDES : shouldbe 3 P, because the HITS 1 and 2 were among the best seller of music club.

.

THE HITS 1 : 2P

.

THE HITS 2 : 2P

.

COME : was certified Gold with only as of now a total of 350 k ex soundscanned. It tells a lot about Prince's huge sales in the music clubs in the early 90's.

.

THE VERY BEST OF : of course should be 2 P, in the near future could be 3P.

.

ULTIMATE : as a double album, should be PLATINUM. Needs 84 k more to be 2 PLATINUM.

.

LOTUS FLOWER / MPLS : as a feature of more than 100 min of music, should have been certified PLATINUM

[Edited 12/10/16 3:27am]

[Edited 12/10/16 3:28am]

Moonbeam said:

This list of digital sales (which will have grown since late April) suggests that the following certifications are justifiable:

When Doves Cry: 3x platinum (previous platinum = 2 million + 1.58 million digital)
Kiss: 2x platinum (previous gold = 1 million + 1.47 million digital)
Purple Rain: 2x platinum (previous gold = 1 million + 1.47 million digital)
Let's Go Crazy: 2x platinum (previous gold = 1 million + 1.12 million digital)
Little Red Corvette: platinum (1.08 million digital)
1999: platinum (874k digital + at least 202k sales of 1999 single reissue in 1999: https://www.ukmix.org/for...p?t=34161)
Raspberry Beret: gold (818k digital)
I Would Die 4 U: gold (664k digital)

These numbers aren't completely exhaustive, either. "Raspberry Beret" likely should be eligible for platinum certification because I'm sure it sold at least 182k when released in 1985. "I Would Die 4 U" might be worthy of a platinum certification as well. "Diamonds and Pearls" had scanned 429k copies by May 2006, so I imagine it is well over 500k by now and eligible for a gold certification. "U Got the Look" should also be eligible for gold given it has sold 357k digitally and must have shifted at least 143k back in 1987-88.

RIAA doesn't add up digital and physical sales in their certifications.

RODSERLING said:

That seems odd! In that case, is it possible for a song to have multiple certifications, like "When Doves Cry" getting a digital platinum certification to go with its platinum physical certification?

Moonbeam said:

RODSERLING said:

RIAA doesn't add up digital and physical sales in their certifications.

That seems odd! In that case, is it possible for a song to have multiple certifications, like "When Doves Cry" getting a digital platinum certification to go with its platinum physical certification?

Yes, to my knowledge, physical and digital certifications are separated.

RODSERLING said:

Moonbeam said:

RODSERLING said: That seems odd! In that case, is it possible for a song to have multiple certifications, like "When Doves Cry" getting a digital platinum certification to go with its platinum physical certification?

Yes, to my knowledge, physical and digital certifications are separated.

That seems correct. A search for "Billie Jean" brings up 3 different certifications, one for the type "Standard", another for the type "Mastertone" and another for the type "Digital".

http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=billie+jean#search_section

I don't think albums are the same way, however.

Moonbeam said:

RODSERLING said:

Yes, to my knowledge, physical and digital certifications are separated.

That seems correct. A search for "Billie Jean" brings up 3 different certifications, one for the type "Standard", another for the type "Mastertone" and another for the type "Digital".

http://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=billie+jean#search_section

I don't think albums are the same way, however.

You're right, Physical and digital sales sales for albums = the same certification.