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I noticed that Jimmy has only 8 gold albums. Each time an album sells 500,000 copies it has gone gold again. So that would mean that Jimmy has...32 gold albums.

actually if you check the RIAA website the number of gold is more like 17

Yeah but if you do the math it would be higher. Right? I really don't know. But I have seen multi-platinum selling albums get awarded their 5th or 11th gold album....

There is no such thing as an RIAA "multigold" album. An album only goes gold once, for sales of 500,000 copies. There are, however, multiplatinum albums. An album with sales of 2,000,000+ is considered double platinum, 3,000,000+ = triple platinum, etc. The diamond award is given for sales of 10,000,000 units+.

I know there's no 'multi-gold' album but I have seen multi-platinum albums get certified gold more than once. The term 'went gold' strictly means it (back in the day) shipped 500,000 (not necessarily bought) and of course nowadays it strictly means that many bought.

The RIAA uses the same method they've always used to certify albums gold, platinum or diamond. It's not "strictly bought" now -- it's still album units shipped.

http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinum.php ... tification

"The Process

The certification process begins with an independent sales audit of each title by Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, a highly respected accounting firm that has been auditing title sales for the RIAA® for more than 20 years.

The audit calculates what product has been shipped for sale, net after returns, versus product used for promotional purposes, for the life of the release. When certifying audio and music video releases, the independent auditor is careful to survey the entire music marketplace. An artist's Gold® or Platinum® award represents sales through retail, record clubs, rackjobbers, and all other ancillary markets that legitimately distribute music. Once a title’s sales has been audited and verified as having reached requisite levels, a formal certification report is issued and sent to the title's record company.

We are often asked why we don’t just use sales figures from SoundScan. SoundScan measures over-the-counter sales at music retail locations, while the RIAA®'s certification levels are based on unit shipments (minus returns) from manufacturers to a wide range of accounts, including non-retail record clubs, mail order houses, specialty stores, units shipped for Internet fulfillment or direct marketing sales, such as TV-advertised albums. The other difference is that SoundScan's archive is only a few years old, while the RIAA® has tracked artists' sales levels for more than 40 years.

The RIAA® certification program is open to member and non-member companies. RIAA® certification entitles the authorized record company to purchase official RIAA® award plaques bearing the trademarked RIAA® hologram seal from licensed plaque manufacturers.

All certification audits are conducted for a fee. If multiple sales levels are simultaneously certified, only one audit certification fee is charged. Companies requesting their initial certification audit must incur any travel expenses by the RIAA®'s independent auditor. The charge for certifications is $350 for RIAA® member companies. Non-members are charged $450 per certification, which must be pre-paid. Companies will be charged the full audit certification fee for any requests that do not meet the Gold® and Platinum® Program requirements. A 30-day time limit is set for pending certifications. If a full audit cannot be completed within this time, a charge of $100 will be rendered to member companies and $200 to non-member companies."

"Non-members are charged $450 per certification, which must be pre-paid."

So that means that non-members have to PAY. You can't "pre-pay" when you have to PAY. "Pre-sale"? You mean buy the tickets when they go on sale? Or before they go on sale? Because if it's before they go on sale - they're still on sale if you can buy them. STOOPID AMERICAN ENGLISH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Like, you knowwwww? ATM machine!

The problem with the whole RIAA trip is that it has been influenced by payola over the years. It's not reliable. That's why Soundscan was invented - to get the truth. Just because 'Volcano' went Gold doesn't mean 500,000 people HAVE the album. That's total b u l l s h i t. It's industry sake for giving out a trophy for industry sake.

I have no doubt that "Volcano" has sold at least 500,000 units.

It did, back in 1979.

What I wonder is, if that many people bought it then - which might not be true - and it was issued on CD whenever that was, 1986, I would think that maybe 500,000 people at least have bought it since it came out on CD.

Which would make it a platinum record.

I think those earlier certified gold and platinum records have since gone up sales wise. There is no way not enough people bought Volcano on CD to not make it platinum. That's just crazy. I know his albums don't move like The Beatles or AC/DC or Garth Brooks but I would think they sell somewhat. I used to think there would be a spike when he went on tour but I think those days are over. It's mostly the same people going to the shows and they pretty much have everything already (SYKBH, BBB&B, MMIM and LTC ha ha ha).