Furtado, Lavigne ringtones go double-platinum (and beyond)

TORONTO – The Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) kicked off a new Gold/Platinum awards program for mobile ringtones with the announcement today that 43 ringtones have been awarded Platinum certification, while another 17 ringtones have achieved Gold status. Platinum certification is awarded for sales of 40,000 ringtones and Gold is awarded for 20,000 ringtones. And in fact, 15 ringtones have already achieved Double-Platinum status or higher. Among the top-selling ringtones are “Smack That” by Akon, which was awarded 8X-Platinum certification and “Sexy Back” by Justin Timberlake, which achieved 6X-Platinum status. Chamillionaire’s “Ridin’” also reached 6X-Platinum. Canadian notables include Nelly Furtado’s...