Addictive ‘Baby Shark’ child song recognized with RIAA’s diamond status

The catchiest children’s song of all time, “Baby Shark,” which went viral for years with its addictive tune, recorded another milestone with Diamond certification by the Recording Industry Association of America.

"(Baby Shark) is the only diamond awarded children’s single in RIAA Gold & Platinum Program history,” the association noted in its social media. For 60 years, the association has issued the Gold & Platinum certifications which has become a benchmark of success in the music industry.

According to RIAA, Diamond certification is defined as 10 million units with each permanent digital download counting as one unit and 150 on-demand audio or video streams counting as another one unit.

“We were surprised and delighted to hear that the Baby Shark song was recognized by the RIAA, which is considered the largest music market,” said Kim Min-seok, CEO of Smart Study, the parent company of Pinkfong which produced the music.

Since its release in 2016 by Pinkfong, an educational brand, “Baby Shark” has received a record 7 billion views on YouTubebecoming popular with its catchy “doo doo doo doo doo” hook. There are many variations of the song in different languages as well as with different themes such as Christmas, Halloween and others, including one combined with Korean traditional music.

On social media, the hashtag “Baby Shark Challenge” has become one of the most popular challenges after it started in South East Asia. In September 2018, “Baby Shark” entered the British Official Chart Top 40.

By Park Yuna (yunapark@heraldcorp.com)