AnMTV Video Music statuetteconveys hipness.
AnAmerican Music Awardindicates widespread fan appeal.
But people in the music businesswith the emphasis onbusinesscovet gold and platinum records.
Because a gold, or platinumor, better still,multiplatinumrecord means financial success.
Singles have the same criteria with sales and streaming (100 streams amount to one digital download).
But some people in the music industry believe these awards can have a tinny ring.
Ellis says a gold award toDebbie Gibson’s albumAnything Is Possible, which never charted higher than No.
41, is questionable.
(Gibson’s earlier albums went multiplatinum.)
Music executives hope that gold and platinum certifications will create a bandwagon effect, making sales grow ever larger.
“It’s a gift of thanks,” Kessler says.
And they’re almost never made from actual copies of the best-selling products they honor.
Usually, the records, cassettes, and CDs on the plaques don’t even contain music.
Anyone who tries to play them will hear only a hiss.
