The popularity of an artist today is often measured by streams, i.e. the number of times a song has been played on digital platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music. Or with views of a video clip on YouTube. Followers on social media also have an impact. But the truth is that the most reliable certification of the success of a singer, or a group, has a very specific form that has stood for over 80 years. It is that of a gold, platinum or diamond record. With the different precious materials representing increasing thresholds of albums or singles sold. The larger the market, the higher these thresholds are. In America, for example, gold is worth 500 thousand albums sold, platinum 1 million and diamond 10 million. In Italy, however, to receive a gold record you need to sell more than 25 thousand copies, for a platinum record you need at least 50 thousand and to get a diamond record you need 500 thousand copies.
The first gold record in history was awarded in 1942 to the jazz icon Glenn Miller. His label, RCA Victor, invented this recognition to celebrate the hit Chattanooga Choo Choo of which 1.2 million copies had been sold. At the time, Miller received a framed copy of the song. The vinyl had been painted gold. The other record companies also liked the idea and the gold record soon became synonymous with success. A few years later, in 1958, the Riia – the organization representing the US recording industry – also began to certify the best-selling albums and singles with gold. The platinum record was introduced in 1976. The diamond one in 1999. Few artists can boast the most precious metal. THE Beatles, for example, were awarded six diamond discs. THE Led Zeppelin they won five.
But those were different times. The advent of digital has changed everything. Today, in addition to physical albums and singles, which continue to be sold in stores or via e-commerce, we must take into account songs downloaded from web stores and streaming. But it is clear that playing a song on Spotify, which allows you to listen to music endlessly by paying a monthly fee or even for free (if you tolerate advertising), has a different weight, for example, from downloading a single on your computer or smartphone, which becomes the property of the user. For this reason, new rules have been introduced all over the world that take into account such a segmented market.
Among the most transparent countries, from a regulatory point of view, is Italy. Fimi, which represents the interests of record companies on the national territory, has published on its website all the calculations that allow streaming – and from this year also views on YouTube – to be aligned with “traditional” sales. For example, it takes 180 subscription streaming listens, or 1,260 free (ad-supported) listens, to reach the value of a single digital download of a song. The company responsible for carrying out these operations is the Italian research institute Gfk. “We established the certifications in 2010 after a struggle with the labels – he explains Enzo Mazza, CEO of Fimi – because in the past record companies distributed gold records on the basis of real self-certifications. There were even those who announced platinum records when booking an album.”
The Fimi/Gfk data, however, do not lie. And they contributed to relaunching, in the age of digital music, an extremely physical prize that seemed to belong to the past. “Certifications have become a phenomenon thanks to the urban world,” says Mazza, referring to numerous Italian rap and hip-hop artists who boast in their lyrics about “the gold records they’ve gotten so far.” “Success glorifies the first / you who don’t enter the Fimi charts” he sings Emis Killa in Nice idea. “I’ll eat up the whole ranking” he replies Gué in EasyBoy, and adds “Name change to Cosimo Fimi”. It’s still Lazzain Party HH, he explains with a verse that he hated Mondays until he discovered that the certifications come out on that very day. It also comes from the urban world Sfera Ebbastawho last Monday became the first Italian artist to reach the threshold of 200 platinum records in the era of Fimi certifications.
The curious thing is that Fimi no longer gives artists gold or platinum records, but small plaques that symbolize these awards. Then the record companies frame the certifications together with a gold-painted vinyl.
