Short answer: no. Long answer: yes. Martin Garrix has not actually achieved either the coveted RIAA Gold or Platinum status. However, this is not to disparage the young Dutchman’s achievement. Earlier today, Spinnin’ Records announced that Martin Garrix had received Gold and Platinum status for his massive hit single ‘Animals‘ for respectively selling 10,000 Beatport copies and 20,000 iTunes copies.
Anyone who pays attention to the Recording Industry Association of America sales certification should know that Gold status starts at 500,000 sales and Platinum after 1,000,000. Unfortunately that means that the combined Spinnin’ awards (30,000) wouldn’t even hit the 10% benchmark of an RIAA Gold award.
The coveted RIAA platinum award tends to be a rarely bestowed to artists in the EDM world, with the recent exceptions of Zedd‘s Clarity and Avicii‘s Levels among a handful of others. While the RIAA is just one recording association and accounts for the American market, many countries have their own individual associations with their own unique sales certifications. So technically, an artist can go triple platinum in New Zealand without getting any recognition Stateside. In this case, Martin Garrix has actually achieved a Gold and Platinum status, but only for Belgium who benchmarks at 10,000 and 20,00 respectively!
But, we definitely have to give credit where it’s due, and tip our hats to Martin Garrix for his accomplishments, especially given his young age, it’s worth noting that he’s not quite yet at the level of Platinum and Diamond like The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Jay Z.