RIAA certification
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 (1971-1975) with 29 million copies sold.
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):
#
Elvis Presley (97 Gold, 55 of which Platinum, 25 of which multi-platinum, tops in every category )#
Barbra Streisand (50, 31, 13) (female with the most gold, multi-platinum albums and #1 Albums)#
The Beatles (43, 38, 24 - most for any group in every category)#
The Rolling Stones (42, 27,11)#
Neil Diamond (39, 21, 11)#
Elton John (37, 25, 12)#
Frank Sinatra(33, 10, 3)#
Bob Dylan (33, 15, 5) (two with
The Band)#
George Strait (32, 28, 13)#
Kenny Rogers/First Edition (29, 19, 8)#
Aerosmith (25, 18, 12)#
Willie Nelson (22, 16, 7)#
Kiss (24, 10, 2)#
Rod Stewart (25, 18, 10)#
Reba McEntire (24, 18, 8)#
Rush (23, 14, 3)#
Alabama (22)#
Chicago (22)#
Eric Clapton (22)#
Prince(22)#
Hank Williams, Jr. (22)#
Barry Manilow (21)#
The Beach Boys (20)#
John Denver (20)#
Jefferson Airplane (20)#
Pink Floyd (18, 15, 12)source: [
3]
Top 20 artists
Totals are derived from cumulative album sales totals AS OF March 8, 2006.Figures are in the millions
#
The Beatles 168.5#
Elvis Presley 118.5#
Garth Brooks 116.0#
Led Zeppelin 109.5#
The Eagles 91.0#
Billy Joel 79.5#
Pink Floyd 73.5#
Barbra Streisand 71.0#
Elton John 69.0#
AC/DC 66.0#
Aerosmith 65.5#
The Rolling Stones 65.5#
Mariah Carey 64.5#
Madonna 63.0#
George Strait 62.5#
Bruce Springsteen 62.0#
Michael Jackson 60.5#
Metallica 57.0#
Van Halen 56.5#
Whitney Houston 54.0
Each Platinum or Multi-platinum single has already been certified Gold.
#
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.#
Mariah Carey (25G, plus 12 of which are platinum, the most platinum for any female artist)#
Janet Jackson (26 Gold single awards, this is the most for any female +4P)#
Madonna(24G-+4P)#
The Beatles (18G-most for any group+6P)#
Whitney Houston (14G+6P)#
Elton John (13G+6P)#
The Temptations (10G+6P)#
Billy Joel (1G)
#
Aretha Franklin (15G)#
Celine Dion*
List of best-selling music artists*
List of best-selling albums*
List of best-selling singles*
List of best-selling albums (UK)*
List of best-selling singles (UK)*
List of best-selling albums worldwide*
Music recording sales certification*
Recording Industry Association of America*
RIAA Website*
Billboard Magazine - a magazine that publishes weekly music rankings
*
Diamond Award Playlist - a playlist of songs / albums that have won an RIAA Diamond award
*[
4] Argentina
