“Ordinary Man”, Ozzy Osbourne’s latest album, proves to be a great commercial success, since it was officially certified gold on September 9 by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) for sales in excess of half a million copies.
The RIAA developed its gold and platinum awards program in 1958 to honor artists and create a standard by which to measure the commercial success of a sound recording. The program trademarked the gold record and formalized the industry practice of presenting awards to artists for music sales achievements.
Presently, the RIAA awards a gold honor for 500,000 units sold, a platinum honor for 1 million units sold and a diamond award for more than 10 million units sold.
In the streaming age, each permanent digital album or physical album sale count as 1 unit for certification purposes, 10 permanent track downloads from the album count as 1 unit for certification purposes, and 1,500 on-demand audio and/or video streams from the album count as 1 unit. For songs, 150 on-demand audio and/or video streams count as 1 unit for certification purposes.
“Ordinary Man” came out in February 2020. Recorded in Los Angeles, the LP features Andrew Watt on guitars, Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses) on bass and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) on drums. Beyond the core band, “Ordinary Man” features a who’s-who of Ozzy friends and collaborators, including Elton John, Post Malone and Tom Morello.
