Search results
RIAA’s historic Gold® & Platinum® Program defines success in the recorded music industry. Originally conceived to honor artists and track sound recording sales, Gold & Platinum Awards have come to stand as a benchmark of success for any artist—whether they’ve just released their first song or Greatest Hits album.
- Certification Criteria
RIAA’s historic Gold® & Platinum® Program defines success in...
- About The Awards
RIAA Gold & Platinum certifications have represented the...
- Story
A Gold & Platinum certification is a pinnacle moment...
- Apply
RIAA’s historic Gold® & Platinum® Program defines success in...
- News
As we hit the mid-year mark, only 1 album and 8 singles...
- Facts & Research
Recorded music revenues grew by 4% to $8.7 billion in...
- Certification Criteria
For albums released until September 24, 1999, the thresholds are 250,000 for Gold and 500,000 for Platinum. For albums released between September 25, 1999, and December 31, 2002, the thresholds are 150,000 for Gold and 300,000 for Platinum. Also, for Jazz albums, the thresholds are 10,000 for Gold and 20,000 for Platinum.
Country/ TerritoryCertifying BodyThresholds Per Award(silver)Thresholds Per Award(gold)Argentine Chamber of Phonograms and ...—10,000Australian Recording Industry Association ...—35,000International Federation of the ...—7,500—10,000 (15,000)RIAA Gold & Platinum certifications have represented the pinnacle of success in the music industry since 1958. The levels described below are earned by as albums, singles and other projects from exceptional artists who meet the program’s rigorous standards.
The platinum certification was introduced in 1976 for the sale of one million units for albums and two million for singles, with the gold certification redefined to mean sales of 500,000 units for albums and one million for singles. [7]
- The Nutshell Version of This Article
- The RIAA According to The RIAA
- In-House Awards Are Not Fake Awards
- Gold Record Award For Singles
- Platinum Record Award For Singles
- Gold Record Awards For Albums
- Platinum Record Awards For Albums
- Certifying Multiple-Record Albums
- Understanding RIAA Gold and Platinum Awards
The entire 3,000 words of this article can be summed up in four statements of fewer than one hundred words: 1.From 1958 through 1974, the RIAA Gold Record Award for albums was based solely on dollar amounts. 2.From 1958 through 1974, the number of albums sold was irrelevant for certification for an RIAA Gold Record Award. 3. RIAA Gold and Platinum ...
The RIAA was formed in 1952 as a united front representing the interests of the larger record companies. The work of the organization included oversight of copyright issues, working with various unions, and carrying on research “relating to the record industry and government regulations.” The RIAA also established universal standards for such techn...
Record companies were giving awards to artists for exceptional sales achievements for years but on February 10, 1942, RCA Victor presented Glenn Miller with the industry’s first known gold record. It was an award for sales of 1,000,000 copies of Chattanooga Choo Choo on their Bluebird Records imprint. (Curiously, RCA has never submitted this record...
The RIAA took an interest in all of this and instituted its own Gold Record Awards program that began in February 1958. Since then, the RIAA awards are considered the only “official” awards. To qualify for certification, record companies had to request certification and pay for an independent audit of their books to verify that a given record had i...
Many hit singles had sold more than 2,000,000 copies in the past by the time the RIAA introduced the official Platinum Record Award in 1976. But the first current hit to pass that mark and be certified for the first of these new awards was Johnny Taylor’s Disco Lady. Unfortunately, many media outlets reporting on this new award made it sound like D...
As stated above, initially the RIAA only counted dollar amounts for albums. The criteria were constant for seventeen years before being changed out of necessity. Other changes have occurred since then.
Not one single or album received an RIAA Platinum Record Award in the ’60s. Why? Because there was no such award until 1976! Starting sometime in the mid-1960s, some record companies gave their artists platinum records as awards for sales beyond the gold level. These were unofficial, in-house awards.
Exactly how the RIAA counts multiple-record sets has varied over the years. A single album is always one “unit”; a double album has been one or two units. At one time, whether or not a double album counted as two units or one was based on the length of the music! This is completely contrary to the original intention of the Gold Record standards for...
Consider this: how does anyone have a sane conversation about record sales in the ’60s based on RIAA Awards when not a single Motown record received a Gold Record Award in the ’60s? Using the RIAA Awards as a deciding factor, one could easily and reasonably conclude that Motown was not a particularly successful record company—just about the stupide...
Mar 21, 2018 · Elvis Presley (USA, 1935–77) had earned 171 gold, 94 platinum and 34 multi-platinum discs – 299 awards in total – for his albums and singles as of 21 March 2018, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
People also ask
What is a gold record?
How many platinum albums can be certified?
How many RIAA platinum records were sold in 1977?
How many gold records were sold before 1975?
RIAA certifications for Prince, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Madonna and Lynyrd Skynyrd on display at Julien's Auctions. A Gold record is a song or album that sells 500,000 units (records, tapes, and compact discs).
