RIAA certification

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In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles shipped. (Some other countries have similar schemes. See Gold album.) 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 artists' royalty statement is used), which includes albums sold directly to retailers & one-stops, direct to consumer sales (music clubs & mail order) and other outlets. Shipments that could potentially be returned to the Label can not be counted. Contrary to popular belief SoundScan figures are not used in RIAA certification.

  • RIAA Certification of 100,000 units: Oro album.
  • RIAA Certification of 200,000 units: Platino album.
  • RIAA Certification of 400,000 units: Multi-Platino album.
  • RIAA Certification of 500,000 units: Gold album.
  • RIAA Certification of 1,000,000 units: Platinum album.
  • RIAA Certification of 10,000,000 units: Diamond album.

The Oro, Platino, and Multi-Platino certifications are given only to recordings of which over 50% of the content is in the Spanish language. [1]

Multi-disc albums get counted once for each disc within the album [2].

The best-selling album in the United States is The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits 1971-75 with 29 million copies sold. However, outside America that title belongs to Michael Jackson's Thriller which sold 45 million worldwide sales powered by seven Top 10 US singles and eight Grammy Awards.

Contents

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List of artists with most gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums

These artists have the most gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums (each album is counted only once even if the album was certified gold, platinum, and multi-platinum):

  1. Elvis Presley (97 Gold, 55 of which Platinum, 25 of which multi-platinum, tops in every category )
  2. Pink Floyd (74, 71, 69, -most for any group in every category-)
  3. Barbra Streisand (50, 31, 13) (female with the most gold, multi-platinum albums and #1 Albums)
  4. The Beatles (43, 38, 24)
  5. The Rolling Stones (42, 27,11)
  6. Neil Diamond (39, 21, 11)
  7. Elton John (37, 25, 12)
  8. Frank Sinatra(33, 10, 3)
  9. Bob Dylan (33, 15, 5) (two with The Band)
  10. George Strait (32, 28, 13)
  11. Kenny Rogers/First Edition (29, 19, 8)
  12. Aerosmith (25, 18, 12)
  13. Willie Nelson (22, 16, 7)
  14. Kiss (24, 10, 2)
  15. Rod Stewart (25, 18, 10)
  16. Reba McEntire (24, 18, 8)
  17. Rush (23, 14, 3)
  18. Alabama (22)
  19. Chicago (22)
  20. Eric Clapton (22)
  21. Prince(22)
  22. Hank Williams, Jr. (22)
  23. Barry Manilow (21)
  24. The Beach Boys (20)
  25. John Denver (20)
  26. Jefferson Airplane (20)

source: [3]

Top 20 artists

Totals are derived from cumulative album sales totals AS OF 6/05

  1. The Beatles 168.5
  2. Elvis Presley 116.5
  3. Led Zeppelin 107.5
  4. Garth Brooks 105.0
  5. The Eagles 89.0
  6. Billy Joel 78.5
  7. Pink Floyd 73.5
  8. Barbara Streisand 71.5
  9. Elton John 69.0
  10. AC/DC 66.0
  11. Aerosmith 65.5
  12. Madonna 65.5
  13. Mariah Carey 64.5
  14. The Rolling Stones 64.5
  15. Bruce Springsteen 61.5
  16. George Strait 60.0
  17. Michael Jackson 59.5
  18. Metallica 57.0
  19. Van Halen 56.5
  20. Whitney Houston 54.0
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Artists with most Gold, Platinum and Multi-platinum singles

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

  1. Elvis Presley (24G+ 28P, tops for both Gold and Platinum, for a total of 52 Gold awards. Presley went Multi-platinum with 7 of them, the most for any artist, or group.
  2. Janet Jackson (26 Gold single awards, this is the most for any female +4P)
  3. Mariah Carey (25G, plus 12 of which are platinum, the most platinum for any female artist)
  4. Madonna(24G-+4P)
  5. The Beatles (18G-most for any group+6P)
  6. Whitney Houston (14G+6P)
  7. Elton John (13G+6P)
  8. The Temptations (10G+6P)
  9. Billy Joel (1G)
  10. Michael Jackson (7G+9P)
  11. Aretha Franklin (15G)
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See also

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External links

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