It seems it really does pay to be “The 6 God” after all. Drake has become the first artist in 2015 to have an album go platinum in the US thanks to the surprise release If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late.
Even though it’s technically a mixtape, If You’re Reading This… clocked over to 1.007milllion units in the US over the last week, meaning Drizzy is the first artist to hit the legendary status this year. It’s the second record to sell over 1 million copies this year, with Taylor Swift‘s1989 also selling 1.463million copies so far – however her album was released in October last year.
What’s really interesting about this is how just a few years ago, artists were shifting much more than 1 million copies in much less time. This highlights just how real the effect is of streaming services, and the internet when it comes to album sales. The fact that only TWO artists, and monumentally huge artists at that, have cleared the 1 million mark is pretty concerning, and it will only get worse from here. As Business Insider Australia said, “Achieving a platinum certification used to be the No. 1 goal of an artist’s career. If that were the case today, the majority of artists would be severely disappointed. Before streaming, if you produced a quality album you had a decent chance to go platinum. That’s obviously no longer the case.”
Not too bad for someone that was recently the subject of controversy over whether or not he writes his own lyrics, and by extension making Meek Mill briefly relevant. Drake acknowledged the achievement on Instagram, saying “Platinum off the tape. Views up next.” with “Views” being a reference to his next, yet-to-be-released album Views From The 6. As he continues his total world domination, we can safely assume Drake has more than a few surprises still up his sleeve, and we can’t wait to see what happens next!