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Spanning over 40 years, the Gold®, Platinum®, Multi-Platinum™ and now Diamond® award programs are the longest-running objective measure of achievement for sound recordings in the United States, and provide an unmatched historical perspective on the success of countless recording artists. The RIAA® has charted the entire careers of such veteran artists as Johnny Mathis, Frank Sinatra, Glenn Miller, The Beach Boys, Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and the Backstreet Boys, as well as documented the popularity of soundtracks, live albums, multi-disc sets and music videos.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) administers a silver, gold, platinum and diamond award category for a number of countries, excluding the United States. (IFPI has members in 70 countries and five continents.) While these other countries have a program similar to ours, the RIAA® Gold & Platinum® program continues to have the highest standards for sales achievements.
On March 14, 1958, the year the awards were launched, the RIAA® awarded the very first Gold plaque to Perry Como for his hit single, "Catch A Falling Star" (RCA Records). Four months later, the cast album to Oklahoma! sung by Gordon Macrae (Capitol Records) became the first official Gold® album. These events transformed the euphemism "Gold Record" into a formalized process honoring recording artists who achieve extraordinary success.
Fueled in part by the disco craze, the volume of music sales and Gold awards skyrocketed by the mid-1970s, prompting the RIAA® to introduce the Platinum® award category in 1976, for sales of one million albums. By the mid-1980s, the recording industry was enjoying another boom, this time from the introduction of the CD, and the RIAA® instituted Multi-Platinum™ awards for sales of 2 million or more.
Johnny Taylor's "Disco Lady" is the first Platinum® single. The first Platinum™ album certified by the RIAA® was The Eagles' Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975. And now, that album has reached over 26 million copies, becoming the best-selling album of the 20th century. Michael Jackson's Thriller, which was one of the first Multi-Platinum™ albums ever certified, held the top album slot from 1984 until his record was tied and then eventually broken in 1999.
The advent of MTV, VH-1 and other music networks brought more artists into the Multi-Platinum™ winners circle, prompting the RIAA® to establish music video awards in 1981. In 1998, the RIAA® celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Gold® album award and the more than 7,000 titles that have been certified Gold® by the RIAA® since 1958.
On March 16, 1999, the RIAA® launched the Diamond® Awards, honoring sales of 10 million copies or more of an album or single. Of all the artists in attendance, Sir Elton John best described the significance of the award when he said "I think this is the biggest accolade you can be given because it means your fans have gone out and bought your records. And that's why we make records - for our public."
The list of Diamond® titles represents some of the best and most influential recordings in history. From The Beatles to The Backstreet Boys, it is truly an audio timeline of the last 50 years. Representing all genres of music, these titles total more than 900 million in U.S. sales, and counting.
In 2004, the RIAA announced the formal launch of the Digital Sales award. Developed to recognize the significant sales of the burgeoning digital music market, 45 titles were included in the initial group of certifications, encompassing tracks from each major recording company and representing nearly every genre in music.
In 2006, the RIAA announced the formal launch of a Master Ringtone Sales Award, updating its 47-year old Gold and Platinum program to recognize the growing popularity of enjoying music through cellular phones.
Some 84 titles were included in the inaugural group of certifications, encompassing tracks from artists on all the major record companies and representing a variety of musical genres. Specifically, the RIAA awarded 84 Gold, 40 Platinum and four Multi-Platinum Master Ringtone certifications. Ringtones are the original recording, rather than a synthesized instrumental version, of a hit song.
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