Digital downloads to go gold

The Recording Industry Association of America said Thursday that it will add sales of digitally downloaded singles to its longstanding gold and platinum sales certification program.

Under the program, artists who sell 100,000 downloads of a song will receive a gold award; songs that sell 200,000 downloads will be certified as platinum; and multi-platinum awards will be given out for increments of 200,000 sales thereafter. The program will launch with an awards ceremony in August, the group said.