| David |
05-13-2012 12:55 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacMan
(Post 1050631)
Artists pay for albums to be certified... In other words, artists at their own expense pay an accounting firm to go over the record companies books etc. to confirm the sales. Record labels don't just pay for it to be done out of the goodness of their heart... That's why for veteran artists you usually see a bunch of their albums re-certified at once... They likely do a one for all accounting on all their albums/singles etc.
|
That's interesting, Peter—I didn't know that. But how does a third-party accounting firm gain access to record company sales figures? Are they public?
I know so little about it, but based on what I've heard (largely from you guys over the years), the album certification game is neither very transparent nor very honest. Certifications are bandied about as if they were perfectly indicative of actual at-the-counter sales, when in fact they are often equal parts sales, marketing gimmicks, snow jobs, and wishful thinking.
(The idea, for example, that a double album would actually be certified as having sold twice as many as it did just because there are two pieces of vinyl is grossly dishonest and misleading, and shouldn't be taken seriously by anyone outside the record company.)
I'm Pauline Kael, and I approved this message. |
