Nicki Minaj thinks her album - which has sold fewer than 1 million copies - should be triple platinum because it's been streamed so much

We're still relatively early in the days of music streaming and its impact on the recording industry. And Nicki Minaj has some thoughts on how it should go.

The rapper and singer went on Instagram Wednesday to celebrate the one-year anniversary of her album "The Pinkprint," and asserted that it is triple platinum, even though sales figures dictate that it hasn't even hit platinum.

#1YearOfThePinkprint this album is now TRIPLE platinum worldwide (3.3 Million), even though we have to wait for a March court date to be credited for tracks & streams. Some artists removed their work off Spotify and other services of that nature, but for the ones who did not, we have to be patient for justice in our industry & it finally looks like it's coming. This judgement, when passed, will work retroactively so that we can receive our plaques, etc for all of the free music given away on these services. On Spotify alone, the sales of this album is 1.4 Million worldwide. The music business doesn't really seem designed to reward our culture with the sales & accolades we deserve, as we don't normally cater to middle America, but I'm so happy that some amazing ppl have been fighting for us. To my fans, thank you for your support. Nothing made me happier than seeing your faces this year on #ThePinkprintTOUR ~ Thank you for this Grammy nominated album. ?????????????? To all the artists out there working hard on your music and feeling discouraged, I feel your pain & completely understand your frustration. Don't let anything stop the love you have for your passion. ?????????? #ThePinkprint

A photo posted by Nicki Minaj (@nickiminaj) on Dec 15, 2015 at 8:05pm PST

 A platinum certification in music, given by the RIAA, signifies that a record has sold at least a million copies, and triple would be three million. "The Pinkprint" has sold less than a million copies in the US, with a gold certification (over 500,000 copies).

But on Twitter, Minaj provided this breakdown from her labe, Universal. As you can see, it combines actual album sales with "TEAs" (a la carte song purchases that are used to count toward album sales) and "SEAs" (the same but for streaming) across the world. The combined numbers make for the 3.3 million figure.

 

Minaj references a "March court date," which she says will decide whether streaming plays count in the official numbers for certifications and plaques awarded to musicians.

"Some artists removed their work off Spotify and other services of that nature, but for the ones who did not, we have to be patient for justice in our industry & it finally looks like it's coming," she wrote on Instagram.

Minaj further defended her reasoning on Twitter, saying musicians should get more credit than they currently do for their streaming numbers.