# Are gold records still LP-sized? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 23, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gold-records-still-lp-sized/281329 "2004-12-23T15:05:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gold-records-still-lp-sized/281329/1 "2004-12-23T15:05:21Z")
Got to thinking about this after reading [this story](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/ae/2960063) in the paper this morning. In this age of CDs, do they still award LP-sized gold and platinum records? Or have they suffered the same fate as album art? Somehow, a gold or platinum CD-sized disc just doesn’t seem like it would be as impressive hanging on the wall. ---
**Author:** ![hawthorne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@hawthorne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawthorne)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gold-records-still-lp-sized/281329/2 "2004-12-23T15:31:43Z")
I have some that are cds and one that isn’t. The record companies make them - or made them, these are a decade old - any way they fancy. The gold record I have was only ever available on cd. I don’t know what if anything is on the record. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gold-records-still-lp-sized/281329/3 "2004-12-23T15:49:22Z")
Your official guide to Gold and Platinum awards from the [Recording Industry Association of America](http://www.riaa.com/gp/awards/default.asp). You can see from these [photographs](http://www.riaa.com/gp/photos/default.asp) that the 12-inch LP style still dominates the awards. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gold-records-still-lp-sized/281329/4 "2004-12-23T16:58:37Z")
Something else that occurred to me. Are these things actually playable? (Whatever the format.) Or are they strictly decorative? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gold-records-still-lp-sized/281329/5 "2004-12-23T17:11:49Z")
I recall that Bob Shane, the leader singer for the Kingston Trio, once played his gold record for _Tom Dooley_ after it fell off the presentation board. What came out was a Dean Martin song. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gold-records-still-lp-sized/281329/6 "2004-12-23T17:16:40Z")
I’m right. [Here](http://users2.ev1.net/~smyth/linernotes/trio_4/recrdngs/Aspen.htm) is a reference - it was _Volare_. ---
**Author:** ![JerH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bb73d2/32.png) [@JerH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerH)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-gold-records-still-lp-sized/281329/7 "2004-12-23T18:18:42Z")
I had a co-worker with a gold record from a since-abandoned musical career (it was for the soundtrack to “Dumb and Dumber” - his band had performed one of the songs). His was a frame, about 18" square, with a copy of the cover art, a gold-colored CD, and a gold cassette.