US-sales of Rattle and Hum

[fitz]

The Rattle and Hum album is a double album and is certified with 5xplatin in the USA. Normally each "CD" of a double album get a certification. What does this mean - has the album only sold 2.5 million copies in the USA?
Thanks for an answer and please apologize my bad english.

 

[Popmartijn]

Hello Fitz and welcome to the board!

While the R&H album was a double album in the vinyl area, it isn't a double CD album. This means that sales weren't counted double. So the number of 5 million records shipped to retailers indicates that 5 million CD's were shipped, not 2.5 million.
For a double (or rather, multi-disc) album to be counted more than once, it must consist of at least 2 CD's and have a combined running time of more than 100 minutes. Since R&H does not pass either criteria (1 CD, 72 minutes) it is counted as a single album.

C ya!

Marty

Oh, and your English is not bad at all!

 

[fitz]

Thanks a lot for the prompt reply.
What's with the special editions of the best of albums (Best of 80 -90 and b-sides / best of 90 - 00 and b-sides)? They are consist both of 2 CD's but I'm not sure how long are the running times.

 

[Popmartijn]

In the USA, those special editions were classified seperately. Thus, The Best Of 1980-1990 is counted different from The Best Of 1980-1990 & B-Sides (where 1 package shipped indeed counts for 2 CD's). They both have their own certifications.

C ya!

Marty