Madonna's 'MDNA' Certified Gold (And It Only Took 7 Months to Get There)

Madonna’s 12th studio album, MDNA, has been certified "Gold" by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), representing sales of over 500,000 units.

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Curiously, it took the album seven months to reach the threshold, even after selling 359,000 in its first week of release back in March. MDNA then saw a massive second week drop -- 86.7 percent to 48,000, the biggest dip since SoundScan started tracking music sales in 1991 and second only to Madonna nemesis Lady Gaga. From April to the end of October, MDNA moved an additional 93,000 copies.

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While not all that shocking when you consider today’s barometer of diminished music sales, the album’s tepid pace could be more indicative of the fact that MDNA only charted one Top 10 hit, “Give Me All Your Luvin’.” It’s also worth noting that Madonna A&Rs her own albums (the music equivalent of final cut privilege) and that this is her first release for Interscope, after more than three decades at Warner Bros. 

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But don’t cry for the queen of pop just yet -- MDNA marks Madonna’s 20th career gold and her total RIAA certifications represent more than 64 million albums sold, according to a release issued by the organization. That makes Madonna the RIAA’s second most awarded female solo artist after Barbra Streisand. Not too shabby. 

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