FIRST RECIPIENTS INCLUDE: JOHN PRINE, FRANKIE COSMOS AND SPICE
New York, NY (June 12, 2025) – Today, during its Annual General Meeting during Indie Week, A2IM (The American Association of Independent Music) proudly announced the launch of the A2IM Star Certification, a first-of-its-kind sales recognition program created specifically for the independent music sector. Thirty-six independent records have been certified today to celebrate the launch of the A2IM Star Certifications.
Developed in partnership with Luminate, an industry-leading music analytics platform that tracks sales and streaming data globally, A2IM introduces three tiers of certification to honor independent albums that achieve meaningful sales benchmarks, including One Star for 50,000 album sales, Two Star for 100,000 album sales, and Three Star for 300,000 album sales.
Built for the independent music ecosystem, the A2IM Star Certification offers official recognition of success across all genres, based on album equivalent activity. The certification will not only celebrate the vibrancy and breadth of independent music but also provide key markers for success within the industry, allowing independent artists to celebrate important milestones in their career. Once certified, award plaques are available through an exclusive partnership with A2IM member company Merch Media.
“This certification was created to recognize real achievement on terms that truly reflect how the independent sector operates,” said Dr. Richard James Burgess MBE, President and CEO of A2IM. “We’re grateful to Luminate for their collaboration and commitment to building a credible, data-driven system that allows our community to celebrate its achievements with integrity.”
Three A2IM member companies were on hand at A2IM’s Annual General Meeting during Indie Week today, each receiving a special plaque for their new A2IM Star Certification. These and future certifications can be viewed on the A2IM Star Certification website HERE:
The first class of certified titles includes:
★★★ Three Star – 300,000+ Sales
★★ Two Star – 100,000+ Sales
★ One Star – 50,000+ Sales
About A2IM
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 600 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.
About Luminate
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 - https://luminatedata.com.
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.