How to a song certified platinum
EXPLAINED: Platinum Records!
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know those platinum records that
musicians like to put on their walls
could we actually
take those out of the case and play them
on a turntable today we're going to find
out because this is something that i've
wondered about for a while and i'm sure
you have
as well now we'll also be covering how
these records are made
and why they're so important in the
first place and last of all if you
haven't already be sure to subscribe and
hit that little bell because it really
helps me out
alright so before we dive in today's
song of the day
is the millionaire waltz by queen and if
you have a suggestion for a song of the
day as well
post in the comments down below and you
might see it in a future video
okay so before we play these platinum
records on a turntable
we first have to understand what exactly
they are
so officially these types of records are
what the recording
industry association of america or riaa
for short
would call music recording certification
awards what does that mean well
basically these are
trophies given to the artist that
commemorates
how many albums or singles they've sold
so it's a pretty big deal to receive one
of these
and that's why musicians like to display
them on the walls of their studios
similar to how a doctor would display
his medical degrees on the walls of his
office
it's the same concept so as far as these
awards go there are
four separate levels one can achieve
gold
which means you've sold 500 000 units
platinum
which means you've sold a million units
multi-platinum
which means you've sold 2 million units
or more and finally
diamond meaning you've sold 10 million
units or more
now naturally in this age of digital
downloads and streaming
my next question is what exactly
constitutes
a unit well according to this article on
retro retroonly.com
when it comes to certifying albums the
following three criteria
count as one unit each permanent digital
or physical sale of the album
10 permanent track downloads from the
album
and finally 1500 on-demand audio
and or video streams from the album so
all of those things count as
one unit now when it comes to certifying
singles there are only
two criteria each permanent digital
download
and 150 on-demand audio
and or video streams so the moral of the
story here
is that physical music like vinyl
records cassettes and cds
and digital downloads like through the
itunes store
are way more meaningful to an artist
than just
streaming their music alone so if you
really love a certain band
and you want to support them buying
their record is a great way to do that
it helps their numbers and you get some
really cool artwork that you can
you know put on your wall it's a win-win
now getting back to how these record
awards are made
in the early days they would use the
mother from the vinyl manufacturing
process
what exactly is a mother well besides
the obvious
definition it's also the name for the
metal plate
which is used to make the stampers which
are used to make the records
so this mother has grooves is made out
of nickel
and also has a shiny silver finish so
for the platinum awards they would just
keep it as
is since it already resembles platinum
to begin with and then they would go
ahead and frame it
and for the gold awards they would just
add a thin layer
of gold plating to the surface so to
state the obvious
these records were never actually real
gold
or real platinum they were mostly made
from nickel
now we fast forward to today and the
riaa
uses a much simpler approach instead of
the mothers
now they just use a normal vinyl record
and played it
in either gold for golden awards or
silver
for platinum awards so yet again not
real gold
or platinum now the funniest thing i
learned when i was researching all of
this stuff
is that most of the time the record
being plated
is not the same record receiving the
award so for example
taylor swift receives a platinum award
for her newest album
she takes it out of the case to play it
and discovers
it's really death metal
that'd be pretty funny right well that
exact scenario
has actually happened to several
musicians before
they realized the music they were being
awarded with
was not theirs also that's the reason
why sometimes the number of tracks on
the disc itself
do not match the number of tracks on the
album
being awarded because they're not the
same album so
as you can see the purpose of these
awards is not to actually play them
but more so to just admire them on the
wall
now with that being said and to answer
our
question of the day here since both
types of these records
do contain grooves yes you can play them
on your turntable however one thing to
keep in mind here is that
since they are metal and not plastic the
sound could be pretty rough
and it might also damage your stylus so
if you are going to play one
be sure to use a cheap cartridge that
you wouldn't mind replacing
definitely do not use your ordephone 2m
bronze
that would be a bad idea now speaking of
the significance of these awards
according to musicgoldmine.com the first
gold
single was issued on march 14th 1958
for the song catch a falling star by
perry como
the first gold album was on july 8th
1958 for the cast soundtrack of oklahoma
the first platinum single was in 1976
for johnny taylor's
disco lady and finally the first
platinum album was issued on february
24th
1976 to the eagles for their greatest
hits
1971-1975 and the site also goes on to
say that as far as the sheer
number of awards ever won by musicians
elvis presley has the most as a solo
artist
and the beatles have the most as a group
and both of these bands have a pretty
good chance of keeping those top spots
because their music is still selling
even today
which is really awesome now as far as
the companies that manufacture these
awards
the riaa lists three on their website
dj gold products in seattle washington
jewel box platinum in inglewood
california
and metro pro llc in pinebrook new
jersey
and as far as the cost the price for
each award
can range from 135 dollars to 275
dollars
depending on its size and how elaborate
the design
is also only the artist or record label
who actually own the rights to the music
can place an order for one of these
awards so you and i
can't really get one as civilians
now with that being said if you really
want to own one of these and you don't
care if it's not
official then you can actually hop on
ebay and pick one up
from this guy who will make a custom one
just for you
for about a hundred bucks so if you
believe
your album deserves platinum record
status
you can do it yourself and it'll look
cool on instagram
now speaking of cool stuff i wanted to
show y'all this record
from today's sponsor vinyl moon it
actually came out last year
but it's very special because it
commemorates their 50th record release
and since this company has only been
around since 2015
to have pressed 50 records in the span
of four years
is quite an accomplishment now as you
can see we get two
split vinyl records inside the gate fold
one that's blue and white
and one that's red and white and they
both look really cool
now the artwork on this volume also has
a red
white and blue theme to it because the
number 50
also coincides with the 50th anniversary
of the us moon landing so everywhere you
look on this thing you're gonna see
those same
three colors including on this little
patch that they've also included
inside the gatefold as well so that's
pretty cool now finally as far as the
music goes
my favorite tracks on these records are
whitney
by gavin turek say can you hear by men i
trust
losing my head by lizzie land and
finally
spindles the vinyl moon edit by slow
dancing society
so like i said if you want to check out
vino moon for yourself their link will
be in the video description
down below alright now getting back to
these special record awards as far as
the diamond ones are concerned
those don't actually feature any records
at all
and are instead just a little trophy
made out of crystal
so they do look pretty cool but
obviously you can't play them
on your turntable now overall i do think
that these gold
platinum and diamond awards serve an
important purpose
even though they're not meant to be
played they are kind of a big deal to
the artists that receive one
basically they're a visual reminder that
you know you've
done a good job and you've made your
mark on the world
so i think that's definitely something
to be proud of and if you want to put it
on your wall
i say go for it now what are your
thoughts about these kinds of records
have you ever seen one in person like
at a recording studio let me know down
in the comments below and like i said if
you love record collecting in general
feel free to subscribe and hit that bell
notification so you won't miss out on
the new videos
and most importantly of all friends have
an awesome day stay safe
and keep spinning that vinyl
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