<P> The number of sales or shipments required for these awards depends upon the population of the territory where the recording is released . Typically, they are awarded only to international releases and are awarded individually for each country where the album is sold . Different sales levels, some perhaps 10 times lower than others, may exist for different music media (for example: videos versus albums, singles, or downloads). </P> <P> The original gold and silver record awards were presented to artists by their own record companies to publicize their sales achievements . The first silver disc was awarded by Regal Zonophone to George Formby in December 1937 for sales of 100,000 copies of "The Window Cleaner". The first gold disc was awarded by RCA Victor (under division imprint Bluebird Records) to Glenn Miller and His Orchestra in February 1942, celebrating the sale of 1.2 million copies of single "Chattanooga Choo Choo". Another example of a company award is the gold record awarded to Elvis Presley in 1956 for one million units sold of his single "Don't Be Cruel". The first gold record for an LP was awarded by RCA Victor to Harry Belafonte in 1957 for the album Calypso (1956), the first album to sell over 1,000,000 copies in RCA's reckoning . </P> <P> At the industry level, in 1958 the Recording Industry Association of America introduced its gold record award program for records of any kind, albums or singles, which achieved one million dollars in retail sales . These sales were restricted to U.S. - based record companies and did not include exports to other countries . For albums in 1968, this would mean shipping approximately 250,000 units; for singles the number would be higher due to their lower retail price . The platinum certification was introduced in 1976 for the sale of one million units, album or single, with the gold certification redefined to mean sales of 500,000 units, album or single . No album was certified platinum prior to this year . For instance, the recording by Van Cliburn of the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto from 1958 would eventually be awarded a platinum citation, but this would not happen until two decades after its release . In 1999, the diamond certification was introduced for sales of ten million units . </P> <P> The first official designation of a "gold record" by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) was established for singles in 1958, and the RIAA also trademarked the term "gold record" in the United States . On 14 March 1958, the RIAA certified its first gold record, Perry Como's hit single "Catch a Falling Star". The Oklahoma! soundtrack was certified as the first gold album four months later . In 1976, RIAA introduced the platinum certification, first awarded to the Eagles compilation album Their Greatest Hits (1971--1975) on 24 February 1976, and to Johnnie Taylor's single "Disco Lady" on 22 April 1976 . As music sales increased with the introduction of compact discs, the RIAA created the Multi-Platinum award in 1984 . Diamond awards, honoring those artists whose sales of singles or albums reached 10,000,000 copies, were introduced in 1999 . </P>

What does it mean for an album to go diamond