Having my own record label, and not being affiliated with the RIAA, means that I have to award my own albums when they meet shipping benchmarks. The RIAA in the United States recognizes three award levels: Gold at 500,000 records shipped, Platinum at 1,000,000, and Diamond at 10,000,000. So far, at my current sales rate, I’ll be able to give myself a Gold award 228 years from now. I’m not sure I’ll last that long, so I’ve decided to give myself another award.

Assuming that the award sequence follows the platinum/gold benchmarks pattern, each level would be either an order of magnitude or half of the next higher award level.  For example, platinum is 1,000,000, gold is 500,000, the next level would be 100,000, the one after that would be 50,000, and so on.  The series is: 1,000,000, 500,000, 100,000, 50,000, 10,000, 5,000, 1,000, 500, 100, 50, 10, 5, 1.  I would assert that the last two levels are not award-worthy.  I shouldn’t be awarded for simply selling one cd, and if I can’t get five people to buy it, then it’s not worth the plastic it’s burned on.  But ten… now there’s a benchmark.  For a little guy like me, selling 10 CDs is can be a trick.  That deserves an award.

But what should I call these awards?  Platinum and Gold were chosen for their rarity, and so the series should be named after increasingly abundant metals.  So I’m establishing the Tim’s Sounds recording sales recognition benchmarks at the following levels:

Having established this award schedule, I’m pleased to announce that “Anticipating Spring” has officially gone Silicon! It met this significant benchmark on release day, selling a total of twelve copies. If it weren’t so self-congratulatory, I’d heap congratulations upon myself… nonetheless, it’s a satisfying benchmark to have met, and definitely worthy of this Silicon award.  Now for that Aluminum certification…