RIAA Presentation at Graceland

 

During Conversations on Elvis, Session Two on Saturday, August 14 at 1:00 p.m., representatives from Sony will make a special RIAA Presentation.

 

Brian

 

Sounds exciting Brian! I shall be looking out for that

NEW RIAA CERTIFICATIONS:

 

DVDs:

Aloha From Hawaii (deluxe edition) - 2x Platinum

68' Comeback Special (special edition) - 2x Platinum

 

Albums:

50 Greatest Love Songs [2CD] - GOLD

Essential Elvis [2CD] - GOLD

Blue Christmas - Platinum

 

(here's the presentation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-8khMTbwng)

 

An extremely disappointing result from SONY. Only 1.5 million extra album sales. An insult to Elvis' memory. If this is the best they can do then I would prefer to wait for a major upgrade with at least 10 or 20 million extra sales.

 

The problem is getting SONY to see the BIG picture. This is where EPE and when it straightens itself out, CKX, should bring pressure to bear through the auspices of Ernst Jorgensen. The current tally for Elvis' album Certifications in the U.S.A. are 84 GOLD; 46 Platinum and 24 Multi-Platinum. It must be remembered that the RIAA Awards are based on the amount of albums 'shipped' and not 'sold'. What SONY need to do is take a look at those albums which are near first certification or multiple certification and re-release them (where possible). Obviously with some albums e.g. Reader's Digest etc. this cannot be done. However, with such albums as 'Elvis' Christmas Album' (1970 version - well over 9 million sold (Soundscan)) it could easily do this and be reasonably confident that further copies would sell every Christmas. A few hundred thousand extra copies 'shipped' would get Elvis his first 'Diamond Award' for sales of 10 million copies of an album. And this is just one example. There are many more. By doing this Elvis could easily overtake Garth Brooks tally - who being a shrewd businessman himself with a Degree in Business Studies - has helped market his own successsful product with only 15 albums.

 

Of course, the overlying problem for all artists and labels now is the diminishing market in the U.S.A. for records. This may be a major factor in preventing SONY from undertaking such an imaginative approach.

 

We live in hope,

 

 

Brian

Edited August 15, 201014 yr by Brian Quinn

NEW RIAA CERTIFICATIONS:

 

DVDs:

Aloha From Hawaii (deluxe edition) - 2x Platinum

68' Comeback Special (special edition) - 2x Platinum

 

Re. the above - I have just checked the RIAA Searchable Database and it shows:

 

Elvis 68' Comeback Special - De-luxe Edition was awarded 2X MP on 29th July, 2004 and 4X MP on 1st July, 2009.

 

Aloha From Hawaii Special De-Luxe Edition was awarded 3X MP on 1st July, 2009.

 

Something is seriously wrong here.

 

I have informed EPE.

 

Brian

 

I think I have finally solved the problem regarding the new RIAA DVD Certifications.

 

Having watched the Video of the actual presentation, the Sony Executive (or whoever he was) presented the award for 'Aloha from Hawaii' (De-Luxe Edition) simply as a 'Multiplatinum Award', not specifying what should have been announced as 4X Multi-Platinum.

 

Similarly, the award for the 68 Comeback Special (Special Edition) was again announced as Multi-Platinum without specifying what should have been 2X Multi-Platinum.

 

Brian

 

I think I have finally solved the problem regarding the new RIAA DVD Certifications.

 

Having watched the Video of the actual presentation, the Sony Executive (or whoever he was) presented the award for 'Aloha from Hawaii' (De-Luxe Edition) simply as a 'Multiplatinum Award', not specifying what should have been announced as 4X Multi-Platinum.

 

Similarly, the award for the 68 Comeback Special (Special Edition) was again announced as Multi-Platinum without specifying what should have been 2X Multi-Platinum.

 

Brian

Thanks for clearing that up, Brian. I was rather confused.