# Gold/silver/platinum presentation discs - can they play and what's on them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464 "2010-09-29T13:39:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/1 "2010-09-29T13:39:54Z")
The gold discs that are presented in frames to celebrate an atrists sales achievments@ I get that they are vinyl records sprayed with gold or silver or plaitnum coloured paint. But are they always the same record thet it says on the label? i.e. did Radiohead get given a gold record which was actually their record sprayed gold or do the people who make them grab any old bit of vinyl? Supplementary question: would one of these sound any good? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/2 "2010-09-29T14:24:21Z")
There was a previous thread about this, and the answer ended up being – no. They are pretty much never the record of the artist being celebrated. Kind of cheapens the whole thing, if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/3 "2010-09-29T14:33:07Z")
I’ve never understood this either. Why not use the actual artifact being celebrated? Why go to so much trouble to find some other record and affix a new label to it? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/4 "2010-09-29T14:35:16Z")
The old thread: [Are gold/platinum records real records?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=564596&highlight=gold+records) ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/5 "2010-09-29T15:36:20Z")
Thanks Squink, I did a search but obviously my searching abilities are much lessened of late. ---
**Author:** ![Terry\_Kennedy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c57346/32.png) [@Terry\_Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terry_Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/6 "2010-09-29T15:37:35Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > i.e. did Radiohead get given a gold record which was actually their record sprayed gold or do the people who make them grab any old bit of vinyl? Unlikely it is the actual record - I just looked at my platinum DSoTM award (hey, it’s on the wall 6 feet away from me :D) and the catalog number on the (correct) label does not match the catalog number pressed on the disc. Further, I think the disc was chosen for having 5 nicely spaced tracks. If anyone wants to compare notes, the markings on my disc are “PD-5 re” and “L 4306 X”. According to a quick web search, those same markings appear on the platinum awards for Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA and Depeche Mode - Violator. I wonder if PD-5 means “Platinum Disc - 5 tracks”? I’ll have to go up to the attic and see if the others have the same markings. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/7 "2010-09-29T16:46:13Z")
I’m wondering if this is one of those things which is different in different countries. I just asked Tom Robinson (a British singer most famous for the song 2-4-6-8 Motorway) and when he got a gold record he immediately compared the grooves to the ones on his real copy and they appeared identical. Also looking at records placed around the room I’m in (I work at a radio station) the grooves in them are all seem quite distinctive from each other. Not sure if I’m going to get permission to try a few out though on a record player… I wonder if it would ruin the paint job? ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/8 "2010-09-29T18:12:36Z")
I have a gold record from the Squirrel Nut Zippers _Perennial Favorites_ and all I can make out from the markings is “TVT 2121 B” (which is written next to some similar markings that have been crossed out!) According to [this page](http://recordcollectorsoftheworldunite.com/artists/saints/saints.html) that’s the catalog number for an album by The Saints - an Australian band I’ve never heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/9 "2010-09-29T20:51:00Z")
They are intended to be displayed on the wall in a fancy frame, not played. So any old CD will work, for spraying with gold/silver/platinum colored paint. And it’s pretty likely the production plant would use whatever old, surplus CD’s they happen to have laying around. Thus highly likely to be some obscure music that didn’t sell very much. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/10 "2010-09-29T23:42:54Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > They are intended to be displayed on the wall in a fancy frame, not played. So any old CD will work, for spraying with gold/silver/platinum colored paint. And it’s pretty likely the production plant would use whatever old, surplus CD’s they happen to have laying around. Thus highly likely to be some obscure music that didn’t sell very much. Oh! A new use for all those old AOL free trial CDs! ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/11 "2010-09-30T12:10:59Z")
The OP talks about vinyl records then **[t-bonham@scc.net](mailto:t-bonham@scc.net)** start talking about CDs which made me think of this question: If an album is only released on CD and sells a million copies, is the award a gold/plastic CD or a gold/vinyl record? If it’s the latter then there’s no way it could be the award winning album since it would never have been pressed. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gold-silver-platinum-presentation-discs-can-they-play-and-whats-on-them/555464/12 "2010-09-30T15:27:11Z")
FWIW, my gold record is presented as a big gold record with a CD (not gold, but not the real CD) and a gold _cassette tape_. This is from 1998.