86 Under-Certified Albums: They need an updated RIAA Cert

by **nibblet** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:37 am

Dane wrote:Def Leppard "Vault" - 5,020,000 (4xP)
Bon Jovi "Crossroad" - 4,951,000 (4xP)

http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watc ... -hits.html

"Crossroad" should actually be 6xP (club sales). It scanned about 1.8M since feb 2003 - last certified 1998!!!
And "Slippery When Wet" need an update too. That one scanned about 1.2M since feb 2003 - last certified in 1995!!!

On the subject of Def Leppard compilation albums, there is also the 2005 compilation 'Rock Of Ages'. This double album has been certified Platinum but within a year of release it had already scanned nearly 700,000 and, as a double album, it should now be double platinum, I'd assume.

Also, I suspect Leppard's Hysteria (last certiifed 12x Platinum in the 90s) should have reached 13x platinum (it's back catalogue sales helped a bit by a re-issue too)

by **nibblet** » Sat Feb 11, 2012 11:38 am

...and not sure if already mentioned, but there must be quite a few Maiden album from the 80s and early 90s all undercertified due to the constant label changes the band went through.

by **thebigham** » Sun Feb 12, 2012 7:43 pm

More:

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, The Lost Xmas Eve, 2,141,000 (1xp)
Il Divo, Wicked Game 1,057,000 (not certified)
Carpenters, Christmas Portrait 1,834,000 (1xp)
ABBA, 20th Century Masters 1,246,000 (Gold)
Frank Sinatra, Christmas Collection 442k (not certified)
Kenny G, Greatest Holiday Classics 584k (not certified)
Elvis Presley, Christmas Duets 463k (not certified)
Buddy Holly, Millennium 465k (not certified)
Chipmunks, Christmas With The Chipmunks, 661k (not certified)
Beyonce, I Am Sasha Fierce 2,988,375 (2xp)
Janis Joplin, Super Hits 803k (not certified)
Santana, Between Good & Evil 485k (not certified)
Hall & Oates, Very Best Of 733k (not certified)
Toby Keith, Millennium 914k (Gold)
Michael Buble, Christmas 2,400,000 (not certified)

by **WolfSpear** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 5:36 am

Why is it taking so long for Thriller to hit 30xp. It's been nearly 3 years since the last update ... Holy cow, that long since we lost him.

by **thebigham** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 3:56 pm

^I doubt it has shipped enough to hit 30xp.

Sony hasn't certified any catalog MJ albums since right after his death.

Numbers Ones, Essential and a few others need to be re-certified.

by **marcsgirl85** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:13 pm

@BigHam I partiallly agree with you but doesn't it sell like 150k a year so it's had to have shipped enough but maybe epic are being slow with the application to recertify

by **thebigham** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 4:24 pm

^Thriller went 29xp in August 2009.

It has not shipped 1 million units since then.

by **Lewis17** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:23 pm

thebigham wrote:^Thriller went 20xp in August 2009.

It has not shipped 1 million units since then.

I think you mean 29xP :wink:

by **thebigham** » Tue Feb 21, 2012 8:09 pm

^Typo!! LOL. Thanks.

by **thebigham** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:13 pm

Not certified:

NOTORIOUS B.I.G. GREATEST HITS 603,310
38 SPECIAL MILLENNIUM COLLECTION 627,391

Under-certified:

HOUSTON*WHITNEY GREATEST HITS 2,336,013 3xp, but eligible for 5xp
KEITH*TOBY TOBY KEITH 35 BIGGEST HITS 931,113 1xp, but eligible for 2xp
JAMES*ETTA BEST OF ETTA JAMES 953,633 Gold, but eligible for 1xp
MARLEY*BOB & THE WAILERS LEGEND 10,997,896 10xp, but eligible for 11xp
YOUNG JEEZY LET'S GET IT 2,068,074 1xp, but eligible for 2xp
NOTORIOUS B.I.G. LIFE AFTER DEATH 5,086,655 4xp, but eligible for 5xp

by **GUS** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 7:21 pm

This should probably be eligible for 15 or 16 platinum!

MARLEY*BOB & THE WAILERS LEGEND 10,997,896 10xp, but eligible for 11xp

by **Edu** » Thu Mar 15, 2012 9:44 pm

argentino78

This should probably be eligible for 15 or 16 platinum!

MARLEY*BOB & THE WAILERS LEGEND 10,997,896 10xp, but eligible for 11xp

we can try to estimate how many platinums "legend" could have at the present time:

It was certified 10xPlatinum in april of 1999.

Its soundscan combined sales for 2000+2001+2002 is equal to 1.595m (rounded figure)

Its soundscan sales from february 2003 to this march 2012 are 3.785 (rounded figure)

so

10.000m (warning=shipments not retail)
+
1.595m
+
3.785
=
15.380m

I would say that it is indeed a 15xP or a 16xP seller.
The 15xP is the most probable of the two.

by **WolfSpear** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:50 am

Edu wrote:argentino78
This should probably be eligible for 15 or 16 platinum!

MARLEY*BOB & THE WAILERS LEGEND 10,997,896 10xp, but eligible for 11xp
we can try to estimate how many platinums "legend" could have at the present time:

It was certified 10xPlatinum in april of 1999.

Its soundscan combined sales for 2000+2001+2002 is equal to 1.595k (rounded figure)

Its soundscan sales from february 2003 to this march 2012 are 3.785 (rounded figure)

so

10.000k (warning=shipments not retail)
+
1.595k
+
3.785
=
15.380k

I would say that it is indeed a 15xP or a 16xP seller.
The 15xP is the most probable of the two.

Wait, are you talking about millions or thousands here? If it added 5,000 then there's really nothing to update.

by **Edu** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 9:55 am

WolfSpear

Wait, are you talking about millions or thousands here? If it added 5,000 then there's really nothing to update.

I'm talking about millions of course. I corrected the "k" by "m" (of million). Anyway it would have to be always million, being "Legend" the best selling catalog album ever in the US. I forget that for some people the point "." in number means decimal after the point, and so in this case it needs the "m" on the right in order to be multiplied by millions...

With the data we have it is meaningless to try estimate shipments in the hundreds, so I always use the digits at the left of the point "." as millions.

"Legend", along with "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Grease" are the albums whose RIAA certification is more distant from the real shipments. These three need at least 4 or 5 more platinuns each.

by **GUS** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 12:56 pm

About "LEGEND":

* What we have as a fact is that since 1991 (soundscan era) it has sold 11 million real copies but we have to keep in mind that back in the day SS didn't cover 100% of the market... so the NUMBER IS EVEN HIGHER.

* I understand it wasn't sold through Music Clubs like BMG and Columbia, so we don't have any extra sales from the 90s.

* The key info is how much it sold from 1984 to 1991. 4 million? 5 million?

I guess 15 or 16 platinum would be accurate.

by **thebigham** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 2:55 pm

Labels recently have been certifying albums when they cross a "threshold." 11 million scanned will hopefully cause the label to re-certify the album.

by **GetBack** » Fri Mar 16, 2012 3:49 pm

Janet Jackson's labels are so lazy to have her albums certified! My god! :roll:

by **imbuemyblue** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 8:27 am

The Grease soundtrack is the one that really boggles my mind. The conservative estimate puts it at 16x platinum (8 mil higher than its present cert), but it could be as high as 18-19x, really.

Add the 6 mil on Soundscan, and 900K for BMG sales (which are 1987-2002) to the 8x platinum cert and you're at 15. The album probably sold at least 1-2 million copies from 1984 (the 8x platinum cert date) to 1991, and though Columbia House numbers are anyone's guess, I wouldn't be surprised if it did 1-2 mil there too.

Too bad we can't tweet anyone about getting this album updated.

by **thebigham** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 3:20 pm

^Billboard had a Chart Beat Chat column about it a few years ago and nothing happened, as we know.

I think the 8xp cert is mostly for the 2cd album which equals 16xp plus the 5.8 million in SoundScan sales = 22xp plus other sales.

Maybe it will happen?

by **imbuemyblue** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 5:07 pm

Bigham- So are you saying it was certified at a time before double cds equaled double the certification? I wasn't aware of this. If so, that's even more of a headache!

by **thebigham** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:00 pm

^Yup. The 2cd nonsense began circa 1995(?).

The Grease Sdtk. was certified in 8xp in Nov. 1984, just after multi-platinum certifications began.

by **WolfSpear** » Sat Mar 17, 2012 9:02 pm

thebigham wrote:^Billboard had a Chart Beat Chat column about it a few years ago and nothing happened, as we know.

I think the 8xp cert is mostly for the 2cd album which equals 16xp plus the 5.8 million in SoundScan sales = 22xp plus other sales.

Maybe it will happen?

Woah, wait now. The RIAA treated every album as one unit, unlike today where double and triple albums count twice and thrice. That all changed back in 1998 where they retroactively boosted everyone's totals regardless of the time period and the total time per disc.

But, if an album has been reduced to a single disc, it is still treated as a single album ... Chances are, "Grease" will be up to 15xP or 16xP. Whoever owns RSO now needs to jump on the bandwagon here ... If I'm not mistaken, that would mean Sony.

by **thebigham** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 3:24 am

^Yes, the Grease Sdtk. was a 1cd release.

If an audit was done today, those 8 million 2 LP albums could be 16xp plus all the sales after Nov. 1984...

by **AndiIversen** » Sun Mar 18, 2012 5:52 am

Hello everyone! this is my first post, i hope everyone is fine today!

About the Grease Sdtk, i was under the impression that the doubling of a 2LP album certification rule was valid only if the 2LP or 2CD was over 100 minutes of running time..but (that's a big but

)if it's from the "vinyl era" it would still be counted double, much like PinkFloyd's The Wall (under 82min) and others?

how many has it sold on soundscan alone? was it available on music clubs? i wonder how many more it sold pre-soundscan in the 80s 8-)

It's so very undercertified!!

cheers everyone!

by **thebigham** » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:28 pm

Alanis Morissette, So-Called Chaos 474k (not certified)