# What is the origin of the phrase "Going Gold"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 11, 2001, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610 "2001-04-11T16:19:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![El\_Marko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@El\_Marko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Marko)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/1 "2001-04-11T16:19:07Z")
In the software industry, when a master copy of a new piece of software is sent to the manufacturer it is said that the product has “Gone Gold”. Does anyone know where this came from? I suspect it might have something to do with the color/material of the master copy. This might be confirmed if I knew when the phrase first became common. If it has only been in use since CDs became the common storage medium for software, the above explanation makes some sense. Otherwise it’s probably bogus, since I’ve never seen a gold floppy disk. Any thoughts on this? ---
**Author:** ![isopropyl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@isopropyl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isopropyl)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/2 "2001-04-11T16:53:28Z")
I’m sure it’s related to the 45 record convention of creating a gold single to honor a million copies sold. However, I believe that tradition as well may be due to the color of the masters. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/3 "2001-04-11T17:03:29Z")
**Isopropyl** has it right. One million dollars of sales gives you a Gold Record. One million **units** sold gives you a Platinum Record. I’m trying to trace the software connection, but my Uncle ( not Cecil ) isn’t home. He’d know, he wrote the book on Software Testing Techniques. Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/4 "2001-04-11T17:03:30Z")
Interesting question. It may be one of those things that no one really knows the origin for. According to the [Gone Gold](http://www.gonegold.com/hot/102000.shtml) web site, the color of the CD doesn’t work for the origin since the phrase was in use in the computer world before CDs were common. He offers two possible explanations: 1) the original source floppy for software was the “gold master” from which copies could be made; and 2) the final version of the program was “golden code.” He dates both these back to the 1980s. Another possibility is that it was taken from the recording industry. The Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA) has levels for an album being Gold (500,000 copies, $1 million in sales) and Platinum (1 million copies, $2 million in sales). The “Gold” designation goes back to 1958, and the “Platinum” goes back to 1976 (though definitions have changed over time). An album “going gold” was a big deal and indicated a level of success. Software going to the manufacturer for production and distribution would also be a success. Perhaps related is that once the distribution has started, the software can start earning money for the company. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/5 "2001-04-11T17:05:12Z")
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**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2001, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/6 "2001-04-11T17:23:34Z")
It’s not the simulposts that I mind; it’s that I took so long to compose mine that **isopropyl** got there first with the recording industry theory. ---
**Author:** ![exchicagoan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/0ea827/32.png) [@exchicagoan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/exchicagoan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2001, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/7 "2001-04-12T07:21:24Z")
No doubt in my mind that it stems from the music recording industry for the reasons already explained. ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2001, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/8 "2001-04-12T13:06:27Z")
It doesn’t seem very likely that “gold master” was taken directly from the recording industry. After all, “gold master” means “ready to be sold,” while “gold record” means “has _actually sold_ a lot of units.” As anyone in the software industry can tell you, there is often a painful gap between the two concepts. (It’s like the difference between the statements, “I’m quitting my day job to become an actor” and “I earned a million dollars for my last movie.”) THE NEW HACKER’S DICTIONARY (2nd Ed., 1993) doesn’t have an entry for “going gold,” but it does contain the following entry for “golden:” “GOLDEN adj. [probably from folklore’s ‘golden egg.’] When used to describe a magnetic medium (e.g. ‘golden disk’, ‘golden tape’), describes one containing a up-to-spec, ready-to-ship software version.” The fact that “gold master” started its life off as “golden” indicates that it probably wasn’t derived from “gold record,” but is a separate coinage. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2001, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/9 "2001-04-12T19:29:00Z")
There was already a thread on a topic similar to this one: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49321](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49321) ---
**Author:** ![AbePralle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d78d45/32.png) [@AbePralle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbePralle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/10 "2014-10-20T23:02:15Z")
Looking at this info: > **[Knowledge Base | Gold Archival CD Media - CDROM2GO](https://www.cdrom2go.com/gold-archival-cd-meida)** > > Learn all about gold archival discs at CDROM2GO, your online resource for optical media know-how and retail! CD and DVDs manufactured with a layer of gold resist corrosion and last for much longer than discs made with the typical aluminum layer, so I would guess that a “gold master” was originally the copy burned to a gold disc for archival storage within the organization. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2014, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-going-gold/61610/11 "2014-10-20T23:10:33Z")
> [@AbePralle](#): > > Looking at this info: > > [Knowledge Base | Gold Archival CD Media - CDROM2GO](http://www.cd-info.com/archiving/gold-discs/index.html) > > CD and DVDs manufactured with a layer of gold resist corrosion and last for much longer than discs made with the typical aluminum layer, so I would guess that a “gold master” was originally the copy burned to a gold disc for archival storage within the organization. The phrase ‘gone gold’ predates CDs and DVDs by at least as long as this thread was dead when you posted to it.