What Is the Difference Between a Gold and a Platinum Record and How Many Copies Is a Gold Album?

A gold record was one that sold a million copies and a platinum was a record that sold two million copies.

But standards were loosened in the record industry in 1989, ostensibly because compact disks cost more than vinyl records and so should count more.

A gold record used to take sales of a million copies, but the RIAA lowered it to a mere 500,000.

A platinum record used to mean two million copies sold, but it’s now a mere million.