Jump to content

RIAA certification

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 165.21.155.75 (talk) at 02:04, 20 March 2008 (→‎Records). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets.[1] (Some other countries have similar schemes. See Music recording sales certification.) Certification is not automatic; for an award to be made, the record label must pay a fee to have the sales of the recording audited. The audit is conducted against unit shipments (most often an artist's royalty statement is used), which includes albums sold directly to retailers and one-stops, direct to consumer sales (music clubs and mail order) and other outlets. Shipments that could potentially be returned to the label can not be counted.

Traditionally, an American RIAA-certified gold record was a single or album that sold 500,000 units (records, tapes, and/or CDs). A platinum record was one that sold 1,000,000 units, representing typically four or five times greater sales than a gold record. However, the RIAA has changed these terms several times over the last five decades, so the criteria for certification depends on different factors, particularly in recent years.

Nielsen SoundScan figures are not used in RIAA certification; the RIAA system predates Nielsen SoundScan and includes sales outlets Nielsen misses. Prior to Nielsen SoundScan, RIAA certification was the only audited and verifiable system for tracking music sales in the U.S.; it is still the only system capable of tracking 100% of sales (albeit as shipments less potential returns, not actual sales like Nielsen SoundScan).

List of certifications

Currently, the normal RIAA certifications for albums are:

  • 500,000 units: Gold album.
  • 1,000,000 units: Platinum album.
  • 2,000,000 units: Multi-Platinum album.
  • 10,000,000 units: Diamond album.

The following certifications are given only to recordings of which over 50% of the content is in the Spanish language [1]:

  • 100,000 units: Oro album.
  • 200,000 units: Platino album.
  • of 400,000 units: Multi-Platino album.

Multi-disc albums are counted once for each disc within the album if it is over 100 minutes in length. For example, each copy of OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (running time of 134:56), Tupac Shakur's All Eyez On Me (132:18), and Shania Twain's Up! (145:44), all three double albums, were counted twice, meaning each album was certified diamond after only 5 million copies were shipped.

Records

Diamond sales

Diamond (10+ Million) Certified[4]

Artists with most Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum singles

Main article: RIAA single certification

Each Platinum or Multi-platinum single has already been certified Gold.

  1. Elvis Presley (28P+24G, tops for Platinum, for a total of 52 Gold awards. Presley went Multi-platinum with 7 of them, the most for any artist or group.)
  2. Madonna (26G+4P)
  3. Mariah Carey (24G+12P)
  4. Tommy James & The Shondells (23 Gold singles)
  5. Janet Jackson (23 Gold single awards + 5P)
  6. The Beatles (18G - most for any group+6P)
  7. Whitney Houston (14G+6P)
  8. Elton John (13G+6P)
  9. The Temptations (10G+6P)
  10. George Michael (7G+2P)
  11. Barbra Streisand (4G+5P)
  12. Billy Joel (4G+2P)[2]
  13. Aretha Franklin (15G)

Julio Iglesias has more platinum, gold, and the Guinness Diamond album for selling more records in more languages than any other musical artist in history: Spanish, German, Japanese, English, Italian, Portuguese, French, Tagalog.[citation needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ RIAA certification criteria. Retrieved on September 19, 2006
  2. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for singles by Billy Joel
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=RIAA_certification&oldid=199499123"