Talk:RIAA certification/Archive 1

This is an archive of past discussions about RIAA certification. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Archive 1

Madonna's Riaa Single Certifications

I don't understand why do you erase the Madonna updated certifications. You are wrong. Madonna has:

26x Gold singles

6x Platinum singles

2x Multi-Platinum singles

The RIAA database show those certifications:

http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Madonna&format=SINGLE&go=Search&perPage=50

Madonna's RIAA Certified Singles (According with the Riaa database): — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.172.76.40 (talk) 19:11, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Incomplete

Isn't the 'Artists with most gold, platinum and muleti-platinum' singles incomplete? I know many artists who have more certifications than some artists listed here but they are not listed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by KingdomHearts25 (talk • contribs) 10:05, 28 February 2010 (UTC)

GOLD: 26

1. Borderline

2. Like A Virgin

3. Crazy For You

4. Angel/Into The Groove

5. Papa Don't Preach

6. True Blue

7. Like A Prayer

8. Express Yourself

9. Keep It Together

10. Vogue

11. Hanky Panky

12. Justify My Love

13. Rescue Me

14. This Used To Be My Playground

15. Erotica

16. I'll Remember

17. Secret

18. Take A Bow

19. You'll See

20. You Must Love Me

21. Frozen

22. Ray of Light

23. Music

24. Don't Tell Me

25. Hung Up

26. 4 Minutes

PLATINUM: 6

1. Like A Prayer

2. Vogue

3. Justify My Love

4. Music

5. Hung Up

6. 4 Minutes

MULTI-PLATINUM: 2

1. Vogue

2. 4 Minutes

give me all your love was certified GOLD — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2.247.240.127 (talk) 20:15, 6 July 2017 (UTC)

Guns N' Roses

GNR's Appetite For Destruction has been certified to have sold 18 million copies, according to the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America).

Artist: GUNS 'N ROSES

Title: APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

Certification Date: 09/23/2008

Label: GEFFEN

Award Description: 18.00x MULTI PLATINUM

Format: ALBUM

Category: GROUP

Type: ST

RIAA Link: http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=tblDiamond — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.39.235.68 (talk) 05:34, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

Wrong List

The Following list is wrong and incomplete:

1 - Where's is Michael Jackson?

2 - Until 1988, Gold single was 1 Million sold/Shipped. With this rule the table change. The beatles outsold Mariah...

Please Change.

Michael Jackson should be in the list, that's true. However, the list is of the recording artists and bands that have the greatest total RIAA certifications for singles, not sales. Some of those listed are also the ones with the most actual singles sales, but there are others that aren't on the list because they don't have as many certifications.Odin's Beard (talk) 00:45, 10 July 2008 (UTC)

It says here: "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."

I may be missing something, but where does the "four or five times greater" come in? Should it not be TWICE as many? Even if a lot of sales go by unnoticed, that same percentage should be unnoticed no matter whether they're being counted for a gold or a platinum album. Also, by the time it got to four times greater sales, it would be going DOUBLE platinum ... right?

MXVN (talk) 12:21, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Why it is said in the records section that 2Pac only sold 36.5m units when it is written in the 1st paragraph of "2Pac" article that he sold over 75m worldwide including over 50m in the US? Yornitsuj 15:40, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

This is User:NamelessNote, I just editted the Tupac's album sales, seems that they did not count all of the numbers in the album and just did a random math. —Preceding comment was added at 18:16, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

just out of curiosity, has there ever been a diamond album?

nevermind, wasnt using brain. or google.

I don't think this is a stub any more, but it's still short. It would be good to have current details of the thresholds for various countries, and the names of awarding bodies for other countries where one exists. Andrewa 00:11, 31 Aug 2003 (UTC)

I should say, my comment above was made when this page was called Gold album, as possibly was the comment below from Wshun (I don't know how to tell exactly when a page was renamed, or is it just I don't know or is there noplace to look?). Anyway, we now have two pages, this one has become (obviously) a page about gold albums etc in the USA, the original page has reverted to being a more general article. Andrewa 21:05, 31 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Found where to look! You go to the redirect page (go back to the redirect page from the new article via the 'redirect ed from' is one way to get there), go to its 'talk' page, again go back via the 'redirected from' link, and look at the page history. This is no longer necessary for this page as the original has been recreated. But the info is there. Andrewa 21:11, 31 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Too US-centric! Information for other countries? Wshun

Well the third A in RIAA stands for America. Maybe there should be another page for international record rankings? As far as I know, the RIAA doesn't rank internationally. Lypheklub 06:46, Aug 31, 2003 (UTC)

Third A in RIAA? Is there a hidden A in it? It's the second A, the fourth letter, and the third vowel. Maybe that's what you meant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.225.227.71 (talk) 07:40, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Music recording sales certification discusses certification in general (worldwide). Will remove the proposed merge tag to Gold album (which now redirects to Music recording sales certification). --Lph 18:31, 30 March 2006 (UTC)

Merge

Should this article be merged with Single certification or vice versa? --Mel Etitis (Μελ Ετητης) 08:03, 3 August 2005 (UTC)

This article really needs to be checked for accuracy. I know for a fact that Mariah Carey has 17 platinum singles, not 8. Just suggesting. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.27.212.21 (talk) 12:25, 23 December 2005 (UTC)

Try Merging this data

Totals are derived from cumulative album sales totals (U.S. only) Source RIAA

Artist	*Units()**
BEATLES, THE	168.5
PRESLEY, ELVIS	116.5
LED ZEPPELIN	107.5
BROOKS, GARTH	105.0
EAGLES	89.0
JOEL, BILLY	78.5
PINK FLOYD	73.5
STREISAND, BARBRA	70.5
JOHN, ELTON	69.0
AC/DC	66.0
AEROSMITH	65.5
ROLLING STONES, THE	64.5
SPRINGSTEEN, BRUCE	61.5
MADONNA	60.0
STRAIT, GEORGE	60.0
JACKSON, MICHAEL	59.5
CAREY, MARIAH	57.5
METALLICA	57.0
VAN HALEN	56.5
HOUSTON, WHITNEY	54.0
U2	50.5

(*)Certified Units in Millions Edited article to correct numbers for Pink Floyd's gold, platinum, and multiplatinum albums.

Album Figures

Am I reading this correct, or does it state that Elvis had 97 Gold albums? Hackajar 09:16, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

On another note, shouldn't Rush be on this list somewhere? They have at least 19 gold/platinum/multiplatnum records certified by the RIAA. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.68.204.246 (talk) 19:53, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

Platinum to Diamond

It says that The Eagles' Greatest hits had 29X platinum. Why isn't it 2X diamond or something? —Akrabbim^talk 14:43, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Because Diamond is not a precise certificaiton, like if the album would have sold 20 000 000 copies it would have the same certification than another that sold 29 000 000 copies, even if this one has sale 9 million times more. That's why they use the platinum system for high selling album, like they could use the gold one, thats even more precise but numbers would be too high. yornitsuj 10:35, 24 october 2007 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.217.75.180 (talk)

I agree that there should be a diamond column. Piyush90 14:05, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Singles

Under "Artists with most Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum singles" #10 Billy Joel is said to have 1 gold and yet is ahead of #11 Aretha Franklin who has 15 gold albums. I'm guessing this is some kind of typo however I was unable to find a comprehensive source for anything under the singles section. Hopefully someone whit more knowledge and skills in this domain can fix this. ASA-IRULE 22:07, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Total BS?

This page claims that Insane Clown Posse's The Tempest is the best selling album in the United States, with a ridiculous number of albums sold. Obviously a malicious edit; any way to revert to what it was before? 71.108.124.162 01:59, 6 February 2007 (UTC)A skeptic

For future issues about ICP see RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for Insane Clown Posse unless provided a different source. The Tempest does not even appear in this database.R00m c 05:34, 28 July 2007 (UTC)

While that was obviously a malicious edit... Why aren't they even mentioned? They do have 2 Platinum and 4 Gold RIAA certified albums. Does this page only cater to mainstream artists? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.243.29.81 (talk) 19:21, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

vandalism of the best-selling albums table

The Eagles are mentioned as selling 29 million copies of Hell Freezes Over (which sounds right to me, btw; last I checked it was 28 million); but they're not even in the best selling album table. That table really needs to be checked over for vandalism. 67.170.212.250 02:01, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Eminem as of this day does not have a Diamond certified album, but there are several pages on wiki which state so, none with any source. Marshall Mathers LP and Eminem Show both sold many albums, but is only certified 9x platinum in the US as of June 2007.

According to RIAA's own site, they list all the Diamond awards. Eminem is DEFINITELY not on the list of Diamond awards, and the Eagles are not only listed under RIAA's top selling artists (at #5, I believe with 91 million units), but listed #1 in top selling albums (EAGLES/THEIR GREATEST HITS 1971 - 1975 at 29 million copies), and have three Diamond awards: EAGLES/THEIR GREATEST HITS 1971 - 1975, HOTEL CALIFORNIA, & EAGLES GREATEST HITS VOLUME II. Further, Def Leppard isn't listed, even though they appear twice in the RIAA's Top 100 Albums for PYROMANIA and HYSTERIA, both of which are also Diamond certified, and have sold 35 million certified units; Eminem only 27 million. So maybe he belongs on the list, but it's clear "Eminem" has been stuck in there alphabetically between "Chicago" and "Clapton, Eric".

This page is already locked from edits by unregistered users, so what else can we do? Obviously even locked pages aren't immune to vandalism. I'm going to change it later today and try to watch it closely. Besides, the page needs to be updated monthly as the RIAA release their current data. --Chÿna 21:14, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Diamond Awards

Just because an artist sells over 10 million copies doesn't mean they are issued a Diamond certification. There is criteria that has to be met, and it is up to the Artist's people to submit the Artist, pay a fee, prove sales criteria, etc. to the RIAA to receive the certification. So saying that an Artist is an RIAA Certified Award winner is FAR different than how many copies an album, single, video, or even total units, have sold!! Please don't assume the Artist is a Diamond award winner based on copies sold or post accordingly. If you'd like to know how many Diamond Awards were handed out, go to the RIAA's website and look. There aren't that many, and Eminem is NOT one of them. --Chÿna 21:14, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

As of just the other day it has been reported that Lady Gaga - The Fame , has went Diamond. I can not change this on the RIAA page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lggg1 (talk • contribs) 17:25, 1 March 2010 (UTC)

Top selling artists

Are these numbers correct? (in millions, US only?)

Beatles, The 351

Presley, Elvis 326.5

Brooks, Garth 312

Led Zeppelin 301

Eagles 245.5

Joel, Billy 206

Pink Floyd 167.5

The source mentioned other data.... Christo jones 15:39, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Why some bestselling albums are not in the list?

I'm sorry, but where is Thriller (album) by Michael Jackson in Diamond sales part? AFAIK it is one of best selling album of all time both all over the world and in USA, isn't it? And where is noted above Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) by The Eagles?

It is unclear for me what is this whole Diamond sales part about if there is no such (and maybe some others) best selling albums there? 77.120.129.111 00:02, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Why include the top-selling artist list?

There is no need for this list here. The information is at List of best-selling music artists. This article should be about the subject of RIAA certifications (what the levels are, how they're given, etc.) Lists of artist and their records abound on WP. Hult041956 (talk) 22:01, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

thriller 25

As you probably already know Thriller 25 has been released and billboard are saying that its sales in america will be added to those of the original album.[1] This means that the platinum X27 will increase soon. Realist2 (talk) 23:29, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Limp Bizkit - Chocolate Starfish

The RIAA website has this album selling 6 million copies, this article lists it as selling 19. The band total of 54 million looks a bit fishy as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.240.42.138 (talk) 06:07, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Multi-disc albums

Counting each disc as a separate unit if the set is over 100 minutes in length may be the current rule, but it wasn't in the nineties when they first started counting double albums twice. Pink Floyd's The Wall, for example, is about 81 minutes, but it's double counted. It went from 11x platinum to 22x platinum in 1997. 74.77.222.188 (talk) 00:37, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Inaccurate RIAA data

I've gone to the site that is copied on this post, and it is copied correctly, but the data is simply incorrect. How can Mariah Carey not be listed in the list of Gold and Platinum albums when she is listed on the bottom of the page as having the second most Gold and Platinum albums out of any artist in history? She also received the Chopard award for selling more tha 100 million albums, but is listed over here as having sold 61.5... what gives? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.57.238.48 (talk) 23:12, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

She is listed though the information you have on her having the second most number of RIAA certified albums is certainly faulty. When it comes to an artists RIAA certification, the most reliable source is the gold and platinum database on RIAA.com itself. The RIAA was created for just that kind of thing, to keep track of album sales in the United States. Any publication or website that lists a different number of RIAA certifications than the database itself should be viewed as highly suspect in terms of accuracy.Odin's Beard (talk) 22:35, 3 May 2008 (UTC)

OK just an FYI, Mariah is the 3rd best-selling female in the U.S., behind Barbra and Madonna for selling 61.5M albums to date. Likewise, per IFPI which certifies worldwide sales, Mariah is also the 3rd biggest-selling female worldwide with 160M albums behind Madonna and Celine Dion, who both have sold more than 200M albums. Hope that cleared it up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.225.92.93 (talk) 13:25, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

I have done much research on exactly how many albums Jay-z has sold, the total is 32,056,000....not including singles. With singles he's said to be over 60 million but it doesn't look like these totals include singles. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.149.157.174 (talk) 22:35, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

I don't know where you're getting your information from, but it's not accurate in the least. The RIAA gold and platinum database lists that Jay-Z has only 5 gold singles. That's a couple of dozen million units short of what would be required for his album and singles to total up to 60 million units.Odin's Beard (talk) 22:56, 24 June 2008 (UTC)

Gold and Platinum albums: bad sort on the Multi-Platinum column

On the "Records" section, there's a sort problem on the rightmost column of the right table.
Click on Multi-Platinum and you get the numbers as follows: 10,11,12,13,14,15,1
Click again and you get: 9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,27,24,1.
Can anyone fix this? Thanks 89.1.68.129 (talk) 16:47, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

I'm also finding this problem. It doesn't seem to be resolved, and I have no idea how to fix it. Anyone know how? Wrelwser43 (talk) 03:45, 12 November 2008 (UTC)

The Beatles' best selling album

In the "Diamond sales" section, "The beatles" album is the top one. However, the Beatles article states something else on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beatles_(album)#Sales : "The Beatles has outsold all other Beatles album releases except Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band and Abbey Road, according to United World Chart".
Can anyone correct the wrong info? Thanks 89.1.3.77 (talk) 16:40, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

The RIAA is an organization that tracks sales/shippments of albums, singles, and various videos association with music in the United States alone, not on a worldwide scale. There are other organizations in a number of other countries like Canada, the U.K., Australia, and many others that track the various sales/shipments of other albums for those countries. There are differences, however, because an album that sells 50,000 copies in Canada is certified Gold and I think that it's 60,000 in the U.K. Anyhow, my point is that "The Beatles" is the group's highest certified album in the United States with 19x Multi-Platinum while Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road have been certified 11 and 12x Multi-Platinum respectively. So, the article is correct as is.Odin's Beard (talk) 22:36, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the excellent answer. Wouldn't you think it can help if different articles used the same measurements regarding record sales? It confused me,it might confuse others as well. It's a bit inconsistent. Thanks 77.125.158.37 (talk) 15:55, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

We can't use the same measurment because the music industry of other countries has different standards than the United States. I can only assume that the reason for that, such as 50,000 units qualifying as a Gold album in Canada for instance, may have something to do with population? After all, a lot more people live in the states than in Canada and the U.K. combined which might explain why U.S. certifications require much higher sales/shipments. The Canadian Recording Industry Association and the British Phonographic Industry, or the CRIA and BPI for short, are basically their versions of the RIAA and so we have to use their certs for albums that've been certified in their countries rather than just assigning our own to them in the articles. Both organizations have websites with searchable databases like the RIAA does. I think that the CRIA's website is www.cria.ca and I'm not entirely sure about the BPI but just type in British Phonographic Industry in a Yahoo or Goggle search engine and it'll be brought up. There are also other organizations from other countries listed in the style guide section of the WP:WikiProject Discographies page. I haven't looked up most of those because, if I'm not mistaken, the sites of those organizations are, of course, written in their respective languages.Odin's Beard (talk) 23:14, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

~~$£Construtive Critisism and General Edit Tips For This Page

This page is a load of bollocks, fair play, what's with the list of best-selling artists? Its all wrong, and the same with the albums. Unless the best-selling albums is in no particular order, which it must be. Because the Dark Side of the Moon has sold tonnes more units than the Wall. And the same with the units of sales with the Beatles, 170 million, I don't think so! Its over a billion and as if Gareth Brooks is gonna be the second best-selling artist of all-time, and the people adding to this page are taking most of their sources from in wikipedia! The think the list of best-selling artists is the US, or an example, but I think the public would prefer accurate infomation, agreed? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.165.237.53 (talk) 16:49, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

The Recording Industry Association of America is an organization that tracks the sales/shipments of albums within the confines of the United States, not on a worldwide level. There is no organization that keeps track of album sales on a worldwide scale, but the music industry of some other countries have similar organizations. For instance, Canada has the Canadian Recording Industry Association and the United Kingdom has the British Phonographic Industry. In the future, I advise you to know what you're talking about first before offering criticism on the subject of any Wikipedia article.Odin's Beard (talk) 22:37, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Removal of artists certification levels

Note that I intend to remove the detail on artists award levels for the following reasons:

That this article is about RIAA cerifications and their levels, so not appropriate to the articles context.
That all of this detail exists in more appropriate pages. List of best-selling albums in the United States and List_of_best-selling_music_artists_in_the_United_States.

The diamond awards detail can be moved across to the best selling albums page. Any objections to this should be noted here on the discussion page. Eight88 (talk) 19:52, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

I wasn't aware that there were articles already listing the best selling albums and the best selling artists in the United States. In that case, then yes they should be taken out of this article. It's redundant to have multiple articles saying the same thing. As far as the other list in the article, the ones listing the total album certifications, shouldn't that remain? It doesn't deal with album sales, just album certs in and of themselves. I was looking over the section dealing with the singles certification and I got to thinking. Since there's not a list of them on the RIAA website, unlike the other lists on the page, it could possibly constitute original research.Odin's Beard (talk) 01:09, 21 December 2008 (UTC)

The Marshall Mathers LP

The Marshall Mathers LP by Eminem released May 23, 2000 was certified Diamond by the RIAA and has sold 19 million copies,but is absent from the list of diamond records. I dont know how to edit the page but this should be added. It also sold 1.76 million in its first week. It is the fastest selling album ever,so I think it should be on the list. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.176.63.140 (talk) 00:32, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, but I'm afraid you're wrong. The Marshall Mathers LP isn't listed in the RIAA's list of certified Diamond albums, a list which is used and cited as a source in the RIAA certification article. Also, according to the RIAA gold and platinum searchable database, the album has been certified 9x Platinum, which isn't Diamond. Album certification and sales aren't the same things. While the album may have sold more copies than it's been certified, the RIAA doesn't update their certifications of albums or singles unless they're requested to do so by the artist or the record label they're signed with. So, as of right now, the album isn't certified Diamond, so it doesn't belong as part of the list.Odin's Beard (talk) 23:13, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Latin Gold/Platinum certification

The RIAA certification search page mentions Latin Gold and Platinum certification, but no information about it anywhere. I assume this has replaced the Spanish-language certification mentioned in this article – the reference for that section is now a dead link. Does anyone know about this award, and whether the criteria are the same? snigbrook (talk) 14:16, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

multi platinum

There's a section for multi platinum but what about singles that did better than just 2 times platinum. Lady Gaga has two 4 times platinum singles. Shouldnt there be columns for 2,3, 4 times platinum?--Love.Game (talk) 12:26, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

The singles section of the article lists the total number of RIAA certifications an artist or band has recieved for singles. The numbers don't represent how many singles have been sold. For instance, Elvis Presley has had 54 singles certified Gold. Of those 54 certified singles, another 27 of them have been certified platinum while another 8 of those singles have recieved some degree of multi-platinum certification for a grand total of 89 RIAA single certifications. The way the section is set up, each additional multi-platinum certification isn't counted as an addition cert. as part of an artist or band's overall tally.Odin's Beard (talk) 21:32, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

Bon Jovi

There is proof that bon jovi has singles and won them but not all are in the bon jovi search. I am the user RIAAcertification and i work for the RIAA i am sorry of this offended any of the moderators.--Bonjovi332 (talk) 18:36, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

bon Jovi has 150 singles rewarded(total fro platinum gold and multiplatinum) Bon Jov the album has a reward fro 20 illion sales. All of theyre albums are gold platinum adn multie platinum(i work with the RIAA this is my sons account long story) and welost the reliable source info about alot of things so for the editors read this and see if you want to put it on teh page. It is 18 gold 18 platinum and 18 multie platinum albums 50 gold 50platinum and 50 multie platinum singles--Bonjovi332 (talk) 13:45, 4 June 2010 (UTC)

The problem is that there's no proof to back up what you're saying. I'm currently looking at the RIAA database and, according to the information listed on the site, Bon Jovi only has three singles that have been certified gold. Those singles are "Always", "Have A Nice Day" and "You Want To Make A Memory". "Always" has also been ceritifed platinum according to the database and it's the only platinum cert listed for the band. Jon Bon Jovi himself, as a solo artist, has one gold single certification for "Blaze Of Glory" and the song has also been certified platinum. Whether you work for the RIAA or not is irrelevant, what matters is verifiable proof.Odin's Beard (talk) 21:46, 5 June 2010 (UTC)

Tables should not include "total" column

Skoch3 (talk) 21:25, 2 April 2011 (UTC): The tables currently have a column "total" = sum of gold, platinum, multi-platinum. This total doesn't make sense, because a multi-platinum album also counts as gold and platinum. I think the column should be removed.

It should at least be reworded to make clear it is the total number of awards, not albums. Piriczki (talk) 14:18, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

Yes, even though it does state so, it's a rather strange number. Nobody really thinks in those terms, even though there is a basis in reality for it. Huw Powell (talk) 21:37, 24 December 2011 (UTC)