MUSIC TANGENTS: Should the RIAA Change Album Certifications?

There was a time when albums were certified Diamond in the United States, which signifies the shipment (and usually sales) of 10 million albums domestically. However, the last album to achieve that was Usher's Confessions which was released in 2004. Since then, album sales have experienced quite the dramatic fall. And with sales reaching record lows, it appears that for the foreseeable future no album will earn that certification. Albums today are struggling to make Gold (500,000 shipments) and Platinum (1,000,000 shipments) certifications as well, distinctions once expected for even the relatively unknown artists. With album sales dying off, will the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) have to readjust the sales threshold for album certifications?

Are We Post-Rock 'n' Roll?

It is no surprise that the music tastes of the purchasing public has changed over the years. The 1960s were marked by soul and rock, while the emergence of psychedelic pop/rock coming at the tail-end of the decade. The 1970s had disco, while the 1980s had some of the biggest hard rock and heavy metal bands sell huge. The 1990s solidified the presence of superstars Madonna, Michael Jackson, and superbands Metallica and AC/DC, and hip hop became a formidable force of the 2000s. Notably during these various periods of evolving sounds, rock remained a significant portion of music sales. But if 2010 is any indication, rock n' roll may be a thing of the past, at least for the UK.

Of the top 100 best selling singles of 2010 in the UK, an astoundingly pitiful three songs classified as rock made it to the list. A number that small is unsurprisingly the record for the fewest number of rock songs on the list in fifty years. The most successful rock song of the last year happened to be Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'," a track whose resurgence in popularity three decades after its release is due to Glee's cover of the 1981 hit. Although rock albums performed somewhat better than the singles released, it begs the question, is rock on its way out?