Go For the Gold

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) Gold and Platinum Awards program was launched in 1958 in an effort to create a standard by which to measure sales of a sound recording. In the beginning, there was only a Gold album award for the sale of 500,000 copies. As the industry grew, other awards were developed. The Platinum award (1,000,000 sold) was created in 1976 and with the advent of the compact disc and the subsequent increase in sales, the Multi-Platinum award was created in 1984. On March 16, 1999, the RIAA launched the Diamond Awards, honoring sales of 10 million copies or more of an album or single.