Music recording certification

Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has sold a certain number of copies. Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories, which are named after the precious materials gold, platinum and diamond (silver is also used in some countries). The number of sales required for these awards vary depending on the population of the territory in which the album is released. Normally they are awarded only to albums released at least nationally, and are awarded individually for each country in which the album is sold. Additionally, different sales levels may exist for different music media, such as albums, singles or videos.

Originally applied to LP records, certification is now most commonly awarded for compact disc sales.

Certification is usually awarded cumulatively, so for example: an album sells 1,000,000 copies in a country where 1,000,000 sales means platinum status. If that album went on to sell 3,000,000 copies, it would be awarded "triple platinum" certification.

History

The original "gold record" awards were presented to artists by their own record companies to publicize the achievement of 1,000,000 sales. The first of these was awarded by RCA to Glenn Miller in February 1942, celebrating 1,200,000 sales of "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Another example of a company award is the gold record awarded to Elvis Presley in 1956 for 1,000,000 sales of the single "Hound Dog". This has led to controversy over how to determine the placings for the biggest selling artists of all time, and claims that some gold albums should be disregarded or even retrospectively withdrawn although they were legitimately awarded at the time.

RIAA certification

Main article: RIAA certification

Several different thresholds have been in use at different times and places for both album and single awards. Some of these were based on units sold and others on the value of retail sales. The first official designation of a "gold record" by the RIAA was established for singles in 1958, and the RIAA also trademarked the term "gold record" in the United States. On March 14 1958 the RIAA certified Perry Como's hit single "Catch a Falling Star" as its first ever "gold record". Later that year, the Elvis Presley hit "Hard Headed Woman" became the first rock and roll single to earn the RIAA designation.

Like many record industry awards and rankings, the measurement is usually based on wholesale shipments to all types of retail outlets, not actual retail sales or financial transactions. This means that an early award or ranking for a new release reflects a distributor's expectations for the album and their market power.

List of international sales certification thresholds

Most countries have only one threshold series, but some have different categories with different quantities to achieve a mark. Popular categorizations include:

• By release type (album/single/music videos); generally singles sell better and thus have higher scores to achieve than albums; music videos sell much less and thus have a lower score.
• By artist's country (native/foreign or international); native artists who have songs in their native language usually sell better than foreign.

Country	Certifier	Classification	Thresholds				Info as of	Source reference
			Silver	Gold	Platinum	Diamond
Argentina	CAPIF	All	-	20,000	40,000	-	2005
Austria	IFPI	All	-	15,000	30,000	-	2005
Australia	ARIA	Music videos	-	7,500	15,000	-	2006	[1]
		Everything else	-	35,000	70,000	-
Brazil	ABPD	All	-	50,000	125,000	500,000	-
Canada	CRIA	Music videos	-	5,000	10,000	100,000	2006	[2]
		Everything else	-	50,000	100,000	1,000,000
Denmark	IFPI	Albums	-	20,000	40,000	-	2005
		Singles/Musicvideo DVD	-	4,000	8,000	-
		Entertainment DVD	-	20,000	40,000
Finland	IFPI	Albums	-	15,000	30,000	-	2006	[3]
		Singles	-	5,000	10,000	-
		DVD	-	5,000	10,000
France	SNEP	Albums	50,000	100,000	300,000	1,000,000	2006
		Singles	100,000	200,000	300,000	500,000
Germany	IFPI	Albums	-	100,000	200,000	-	2005
		Singles	-	150,000	300,000	-
Greece	IFPI	Albums	-	20,000	40,000	-	2006
		Singles	-	10,000	20,000	-
		DVD	-	5,000	10,000	-
Hungary	Mahasz	Native artists	-	15,000	30,000	300,000	2005
		Foreign artists	-	10,000	20,000	-
		Jazz/world music/classic/single releases	-	5,000	10,000	-
India	IMI	International	-	10,000	20,000	-	2006	[4]
		Classical/non-classical	-	10,000	40,000	-
		Regional Basic	-	60,000	120,000	-
		National Basic	-	100,000	200,000	-
Indonesia	??	Albums	-	75,000	150,000	1,500,000	2005
Ireland	IRMA	Albums	-	7,500	10,000	-	-
		Singles	-	7,500	10,000	15,000
Italy	FIMI	Albums	-	40,000	80,000	-	2006
		Singles	-	10,000	20,000	-
Japan	RIAJ	All	-	100,000	250,000	-	2004
Malaysia	RIM	All	-	15,000	25,000	150,000	2003
Mexico	AMPROFON	Albums	-	50,000	100,000	500,000	2006	[5]
		Music DVDs	-	10,000	20,000	100,000
The Netherlands	NVPI	Albums (popular)	-	35,000	70,000	-	2006	[6]
		Albums (classical/jazz)	-	15,000	25,000	-
		Singles	-	40,000	60,000	-
New Zealand	RIANZ	Albums	-	7,500	15,000	-	2006	[7]
		Singles	-	5,000	10,000	-
		Music videos	-	2,500	5,000	-
Norway	IFPI	Albums	-	20,000	40,000	-	2002
		Singles/Musicvideo DVD	-	5,000	10,000	-
Philippines	PRIMA	All	25,000	50,000	100,000	1,000,000	2004
Poland	ZPAV	Singles	-	10,000	20,000	100,000	2006	[8]
		Album (domestic pop artists)	-	35,000	70,000	350,000
		Album (foreign pop artists)	-	20,000	40,000	200,000
		Album (jazz/classical)	-	5,000	10,000	50,000
		Album (soundtrack)	-	10,000	20,000	100,000
		Music video	-	5,000	10,000	50,000
		Music video (classical/jazz)	-	2,500	5,000	25,000
		DVD	-	5,000	10,000	-
Singapore	RIAS	All	-	10,000	15,000	-	2006
Portugal	AFP	All	-	10,000	20,000	-	2006	[]
Spain	PROMUSICAE	All	-	40,000	80,000	-			2005
Sweden	IFPI	Albums	-	30,000	60,000	-	2005
Switzerland	IFPI	All	-	20,000	40,000	-	2001
Ukraine	UMA	Native artists	50,000	100,000	500,000	-	2003	[9]
		Foreign artists	25,000	50,000	200,000	-
United Kingdom	BPI	Albums	60,000	100,000	300,000	-	2006	[10]
		Singles	200,000	400,000	600,000	-
USA	RIAA	All	-	500,000 (Albums) 100,000 (Singles)	1,000,000 (Albums) 200,000 (Singles)	10,000,000	2006	[11]

See also

• RIAA certification
• List of best-selling albums
• List of best-selling singles
• Recording Industry Association of America

External links

• List of national recording industry associations