The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June 1988. Prior to this, from mid-1983, ARIA had licensed the 'Kent Music Report' (which was later renamed as the 'Australian Music Report', until it stopped being published in 1999).
The ARIA charts include:
The top 5 singles and albums are firstly published in News Limited newspapers each Sunday. All charts, in full, are then published on the ARIA Chart website each Sunday night at 6:30pm, in order for printed release the next day. Each chart is dated according to the Monday of the given week. The website and printed lists are shortened versions of the full chart, with only the top 50 singles and albums shown as well as only the top 40 digital tracks. The ARIA Report lists the charts listed above in full and is available via paid e-mail subscription each week. These reports are uploaded to the Pandora Archive periodically.
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The ARIA charts are based on data collected from a number of traditional "bricks and mortar" retailers around Australia. Both the Top 40 Digital Track Chart and the Top 100 Singles Chart include data from online retailers including iTunes and BigPond music. Starting from 8 October 2006, due to low physical single sales at the time, the official ARIA singles chart included online data as well as physical sales. In 2006, it was announced that the Brazin retailing group, comprising major retailers HMV, Sanity and Virgin music/DVD stores would no longer contribute sales data to the ARIA charts.[2][3] However, after a five month absence, Brazin reportedly re-commenced contributing sales figures to the ARIA Charts on 26 November 2006.[4]
There are numerous awards and events for Australian chart topping artist and groups that include:
The ARIA No.1 Chart Awards have been an event on the Australian music industry's calendar for the past 3 years. The Awards were established in 2002 as a means of acknowledging Australian recording artists, and their record labels, who attained the coveted No.1 position on the ARIA album and singles chart
The ARIA Music Awards recognise excellence and innovation in all genres of Australian music. The very first ARIA Awards took place at Sydney's Sheraton Wentworth Hotel in front of 500 industry guests, on the 2 March 1987. Nineteen years later, the ARIAs are held in front of 2,500 industry guests and 5,000 members of the general public. Up until 2008, the ARIA Awards were screened on Network Ten for many years. As of 2009, they air on the Nine Network, although the ratings of the 2009 ARIA Awards were well down on previous years.
"The ARIAs have always been, first and foremost, a showcase for local artists across a broad range of genres, produced by ARIA record company members. They are the highlight of the Australian music industry's calendar, covering a diverse range of talent over 28 categories". Denis Handlin, Chairman of ARIA.
The ARIA Hall of Fame has been an important part of the ARIA Awards since 1988. Traditionally taking place during the ARIA Awards ceremony, a diverse range of artists have been inducted into the Hall of Fame including AC/DC, Dame Joan Sutherland, Olivia Newton-John, Johnny O'Keefe, Paul Kelly, John Farnham, INXS, Slim Dusty, Jimmy Little, Nick Cave, Midnight Oil and more.
In July 2005, ARIA staged the inaugural ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame event, which was introduced to honour the growing number of legendary performers, producers, songwriters and others who have had an impact on music culture in Australia. In the past, time constraints had prevented any more than one or two artists from being inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame at each ARIA Awards, resulting in a lengthy waiting list of worthy recipients.
While ARIA intends to maintain a Hall of Fame segment within the ARIA Awards presentation, the ARIA Icons: Hall of Fame will become an annual stand-alone event that continues to honour those whose musical achievements have had A significant impact in Australia and around the world.
A music single or album qualifies for a platinum certification if it exceeds 70,000 copies shipped to retailers and a gold certification for 35,000 copies shipped. The amount of trade sales to earn a Gold or Platinum accreditation was reduced to these amounts in 1989 after previously being 100,000 copies for platinum and 50,000 copies for gold. Originally applied to LP records, this ARIA certification is now most commonly awarded for compact disc sales and legal digital downloads.
For music DVDs (formerly videos), a Gold accreditation originally represented 7,500 copies shipped, with a Platinum accreditation representing 15,000 units shipped.
Albums and Singles | Music DVDs | ||
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Gold | Platinum | Gold | Platinum |
35,000 | 70,000 | 7,500 | 15,000 |
Pre-2000:
2000s:
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