Taken from fullinbloom.com: Did Metallica just come up with a blueprint for manipulating RIAA certifications? On April 12, 2017, Metallica’s Hardwired…To Self-Destruct was not only certified gold (sales of 500,000 copies) but was also certified platinum (sales of 1,000,000 copies).

Blueprint #1

Release a video for every song

Earlier today, countless articles acknowledging / praising Metallica’s accomplishment began to surface online, but I couldn’t help thinking that it all seemed a bit misleading. On April 12, 2017, the album was not only certified gold (sales of 500,000 copies) but was also certified platinum (sales of 1,000,000 copies). RIAA certifications are no longer solely based on traditional album sales, but now include individual digital song sales and audio / video streams (Metallica released a video for every song on Hardwired). Read the entire article