A2IM Certifications FAQ

The metric used for A2IM award certification combines album sales, song sales, and on-demand audio streaming. This uses all data from the start of modern retail tracking in 1991.

Album Equivalent activity is a measure of combined weighted streaming, digital, and physical sales figures converted to one (1) album unit.

Album Equivalents = Album Sales + Weighted Song Sales + Weighted Streams

• 1 purchased album = 1 album
• 10 digital song sales = 1 album
• 1,250 premium/paid on-demand audio streams = 1 album
• 3,750 ad-supported/free on-demand audio streams = 1 album

Song Equivalents = Song Sales + Weighted Streams

• 1 digital song or physical single purchase = 1 song sale
• 125 premium/paid on-demand audio streams = 1 song sale
• 375 ad-supported/free on-demand audio streams = 1 song sale

Here are the top reasons submissions are declined:

1. The album's total equivalents did not meet the required threshold for certification
2. The UPC submitted for the album was not found in the Luminate system
3. ISRCs for the album were not found in the Luminate system

Certification plaques can be ordered at https://www.promoplace.com/a2imstarcertifications

The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit trade organization headquartered in New York City that exists to support and strengthen the independent recorded music sector. Membership currently includes a broad coalition of over 700 independently-owned American music labels. A2IM represents these independently owned small and medium-sized enterprises' (SMEs) interests in the marketplace, in the media, on Capitol Hill, and as part of the global music community. In doing so, it supports a key segment of America's creative class that represents America's diverse musical and cultural heritage. Billboard Magazine identified the Independent music label sector as 37.32 percent of the music industry's U.S. recorded music sales market in 2016 based on copyright ownership, making Independent labels collectively the largest recorded music industry sector.

Labels, companies seeking a portal to the independent music industry, and artists who wish to join A2IM can review member benefits and apply HERE.

Luminate is the entertainment industry’s most trusted data partner, unleashing access to the most essential, objective, and trustworthy information across music, film and television, with data compiled from hundreds of verified sources. Today, the company maintains its more than 30-year legacy of accurate storytelling by powering the iconic Billboard music charts, while also acting as the premiere database for the television and film industries, which includes fueling Variety’s Streaming Originals Charts. Working closely with record labels, artists, studios, production companies, networks, tech companies, and more, Luminate offers the most valued source of comprehensive, independent, and foundational entertainment data that drives industry forward. Luminate is an independently operated company and a subsidiary of PME TopCo., a joint venture between Penske Media Corporation and Eldridge.

Luminate's CONNECT platform is the music industry standard for measurement, aggregating data from over 500 verified streaming, retail and airplay sources and tracking millions of artists, albums and songs globally.