The global music industry typically awards recordings with certification awards based on the total units sold. These awards and their sales requirements are defined by the various certifying bodies representing the music industry in various countries and territories worldwide. The standard certification awards given consist of various combinations of Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond awards, in ascending order of sales requirements.  In most cases, a "Multi-Platinum" or "Multi-Diamond" award is given for sales in multiples of the Platinum or Diamond sales requirements.

Albums

"—" denotes that an award is not given by the certifying body.
 I Egyptian, Lebanese, and Gulf State domestic figures refer to sales of domestic releases throughout the greater Arab world.
 II Hungarian sales figures provided refer to "Pop" albums. A separate scale is used for jazz, spoken word, classical, and world music albums: sales exceeding 1,500 and 3,000 for Gold and Platinum awards respectively.
 III Indian figures provided refer to "National Basic" and "International" scales.  However, there are six separate release scales in all.  Each scale is provided here with Gold and Platinum sales thresholds in parenthesis: "Hindi Films" (100,000, 200,000); "Regional Films" (50,000, 100,000); "Regional Basic" (25,000, 50,000); "National Basic" (50,000, 100,000); "Classical/Non-Classical" (15,000, 30,000); and "International" (5,000, 7,500).
 IV Mexican sales figures provided refer to physical album sales.  A separate scale is used for digital album sales via digital download: sales exceeding 5,000, 10,000, and 250,000 for Gold, Platinum, and Diamond awards respectively. Gold and platinum album certifications for productions before 2007 differ; 50,000 and 100,000, respectively.
 V Dutch sales figures provided refer to "Popular" albums.  A separate scale is used for jazz, classical, and world music albums: sales exceeding 10,000 and 20,000 for Gold and Platinum awards respectively.
 VI Polish sales figures provided refer to "Pop" albums.  Separate scales are used for jazz/classical albums, and soundtracks.  Each scale is provided here with Gold, Platinum, and Diamond sales thresholds in parenthesis: "Jazz/Classical" (5,000, 10,000, 50,000); and "Soundtracks" (10,000, 20,000, 100,000).
 VII Swedish sales figures provided refer to "Pop" albums.  A separate scale is used for jazz, classical, and folk music albums: sales exceeding 10,000 and 20,000 for Gold and Platinum awards respectively.
 VIII South African sales figures provided refer to albums released after August 1, 2006.  For albums released before August 1, 2006, a Gold award is given for sales exceeding 25,000, a Platinum award for sales exceeding 50,000.

Singles

"—" denotes that an award is not given by the certifying body.
 IX German, Norwegian, Swedish, and British figures can include sales from legal digital downloads.

Digital download singles

"—" denotes that an award is not given by the certifying body.
 X Japanese awards refer to online singles and mobile singles.
 XI Japanese digital download sales exceeding 1 million are given the "1 million" award, not "Diamond".

Music videos

"—" denotes that an award is not given by the certifying body.
 XII Polish sales figures provided refer to "Pop" music videos.  A separate scale is used for jazz/classical music videos: sales exceeding 2,500, 5,000, and 25,000 for Gold, Platinum, and Diamond awards respectively.
 XIII American sales figures provided refer to "Video singles".  A separate scale is used for "Long form videos" and "Multi-Box Music Video Sets": sales exceeding 50,000 and 100,000 for Gold and Platinum awards respectively.

Video/DVD

"—" denotes that an award is not given by the certifying body.
 XIV Danish DVD sales figures provided refer to Music/Single DVDs.  Other "Entertainment DVDs" are on a differing scale: sales exceeding 20,000 and 40,000 for Gold and Platinum awards respectively.
 XV Hungarian DVD sales figures provided refer to "Pop" DVDs.  A separate scale is used for jazz, spoken word, classical, and world music DVDs: sales exceeding 1,000 and 2,000 for Gold and Platinum awards respectively.

Master ring tones

"—" denotes that an award is not given by the certifying body.
 XVI Japanese master ring tone sales exceeding 500,000, 750,000, and 1 million are given the "Double Platinum", "Triple Platinum", and "1 million" awards respectively, not "Gold", "Platinum", or "Diamond".

Related pages
 RIAA certification

References

General
 
  (Current as of 2008)
  (Current as of October 2007)
Specific

Other websites 
 IFPI Official website

List of music recording sales certifications
Music-related lists