![]() | |
Formation | 1992 |
---|---|
Headquarters | Milan |
Location |
|
Chairman | Enzo Mazza |
Website | fimi.it |
Music of Italy | |
---|---|
General topics | |
Genres | |
Media and performance | |
Music awards |
|
Music charts |
|
Music festivals | |
Music media | Music media in Italy |
Nationalistic and patriotic songs | |
National anthem | "Il Canto degli Italiani" |
Regional music | |
The Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana (FIMI) is an umbrella organization that keeps track of virtually all aspects of the music recording industry in Italy. It was established in 1992, when major corporate labels left the previously existing Associazione dei Fonografici Italiani (AFI). [1] [2] During the following years, most of the remaining Italian record labels left AFI to join the new organization. [2] As of 2011, FIMI represents 2,500 companies operating in the music business. [3]
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Europe. Located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates San Marino and Vatican City. Italy covers an area of 301,340 km2 (116,350 sq mi) and has a largely temperate seasonal and Mediterranean climate. With around 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth-most populous EU member state and the most populous country in Southern Europe.
FIMI is a member of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and of the Italian employers' federation, Confindustria. [3] Its main purpose is to protect the interests of the Italian record industry. [3]
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1933. It operates a Secretariat based in London, with regional offices in Brussels, Hong Kong and Miami.
Starting in March 1995, the Italian Music Industry Federation began providing the Italian official albums chart. In January 1997, FIMI also became the provider of the Italian official singles chart. Due to the decrease of CD singles sales in Italy, FIMI replaced its physical singles chart with a digital downloads chart—based on legal internet and mobile downloads—on January 1, 2008. [4]
A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term CD single is an 8cm CD. It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any size, particularly the CD5, or 5-inch CD single. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s. With the rise in digital downloads in the early 2010s, sales of CD singles have decreased.
A music download is the digital transfer of music via the Internet into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a home computer, MP3 player or smartphone. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyrighted material without permission or legal payment. According to a Nielsen report, downloadable music accounted for 55.9% of all music sales in the US in 2012. By the beginning of 2011, Apple's iTunes Store alone made US$1.1 billion of revenue in the first quarter of its fiscal year.
In July 2011, Enzo Mazza was confirmed as FIMI chairman. [5]
In September 1994, the chairman of FIMI, Caccia Dominioni, announced the Federation's intention to establish an album chart to replace the previously existing charts, which were considered unreliable due to their compiling methods. [6]
The Italian Music Industry Federation compiled its first album chart in March 1995. Issued on 7 March 1995, it was based on sales between 23 February 1995 and 1 March 1995. [7] This period coincided with the first week of sales for the albums released by the 45th Sanremo Music Festival contestants, the most important music event in Italy. The first number-one album was Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits . [7]
The Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo is the most popular Italian song contest and awards, held annually in the town of Sanremo, Liguria, and consisting of a competition amongst previously unreleased songs. Usually referred to as Festival di Sanremo, or outside Italy as Sanremo Music Festival or Sanremo Music Festival Award, it was the inspiration for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen is an American singer-songwriter and leader of the E Street Band. Nicknamed "The Boss," he is recognized for his poetic lyrics, his Jersey Shore roots, his distinctive voice, and lengthy, energetic stage performances.
Greatest Hits is Bruce Springsteen's first compilation album, released February 27, 1995, on Columbia Records. It is a collection of some of Springsteen's hit singles and popular album tracks through the years along with four new songs at the end, mostly recorded with the E Street Band in 1995. The latter constituted Springsteen's first release with his backing band since the late 1980s. Some of the songs are shorter versions of the original album releases.
Between 1995 and 2009, the FIMI Album Chart was based on data provided by Nielsen. From January 2010, the FIMI Album Chart's positions have been derived from GfK Retail and Technology Italia sales data. The chairman of the Italian Music Industry Federation, Enzo Mazza, explained this decision declaring that "the long-time partnership with Nielsen, started in 1995, was satisfying, but in a moment marked by a deep transformation and innovation of the market, we thought that the service offered by Nielsen was no more adequate". [8]
In 1995, the chart was based on data digitally gathered by 130 sellers. [9] The number of sellers was later increased and, as of 2011, the chart is based on the number of copies sold between Monday to Sunday by a subset of 3,400 retailers. [10] Starting from 14 October 2011, the FIMI Albums Chart also includes digital sales. [11]
In March 1995, alongside the FIMI Album Chart, the Italian Music Industry Federation also began the FIMI Compilations Chart, listing the best-selling albums by various artists. These albums are not included in the FIMI Album Chart. [9] The first number-one was Sanremo '95, released by RTI Music and featuring some of the songs performed during the 45th Sanremo Music Festival. [7]
In January 1997, the Italian Music Industry Federation also started an official singles chart. [2] [12] [13] The first number-one single was Depeche Mode's "Barrel of a Gun". [13] Compiled by Nielsen, [2] the chart listed the best-selling physical singles in Italy, but on 1 January 2008 it was replaced by the Top Digital Download, listing the best-selling digital singles. [4] The last number one on the physical FIMI Singles Chart was "The Singles Collection" by Vasco Rossi. [14]
The Italian DVD Chart was established by the Italian Music Industry Federation in October 2003. The first Italian DVD Chart listed only the first ten positions, and was headed by Sting's Inside the Songs of Sacred. [15] As of July 2011, it lists the 20 best-selling music DVDs in Italy, and is compiled by ACNielsen. [16]
On 10 April 2006, FIMI published the first chart listing the best-selling digital singles in Italy. [17] Compiled by Nielsen SoundScan, the chart was based on data provided by 10 digital stores. [17] The first number-one single was "Sei nell'anima" by Gianna Nannini. [18]
Due to the decrease of CD singles sales in Italy, on 1 January 2008 the Top Digital Download became the Italian official singles chart, replacing the chart based on physical sales. [4] [14]
A certification system has existed in Italy since the mid 1970s. During that period, albums had to sell 500,000 units to qualify for a Silver status, while for Gold, the requirement was 1,000,000 units. [19] Singles, similarly, were required to sell 1,000,000 units to reach the Gold level in the mid 1970s. [19] Sales requirements for music recordings in Italy for domestic and international repertoire are the same levels.
Note that in the table below are the certification-levels, when the program of Gold and Platinum is operated under FIMI.
Period | Gold certification | Platinum certification | Diamond certification |
---|---|---|---|
Until 31 December 2004 [20] [21] [22] | 50,000 | 100,000 | 500,000 |
From 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2007 [21] [22] | 40,000 | 80,000 | 400,000 |
From 1 January 2008 to late 2009 [22] [23] | 35,000 | 70,000 | 350,000 |
From late 2009 [24] to 31 December 2011 [25] [26] | 30,000 | 60,000 | 300,000 |
From 1 January 2012 [27] | 30,000 | 60,000 | 600,000 |
From 1 January 2014 [28] | 25,000 | 50,000 | 500,000 |
Italy has had a Gold certification program for singles during the mid 1970s, with the level for Gold set at 1,000,000 units. [19] Even though, the requirement of 1,000,000 units for Gold was quite high for the Italian market, this program was carried on to the 1980s. [29] The singles certification program was abandoned when FIMI took over the operations, and it wasn't until 1999 that Italy re-launched its Gold and Platinum program for singles. [30]
Note that in the table below are the certification-levels, when the program of Gold and Platinum is operated under FIMI.
Period | Gold certification | Platinum certification | Diamond certification |
---|---|---|---|
From March 1999 to 31 December 2004 [30] [31] | 25,000 | 50,000 | N/A |
From 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2009 [21] [22] [32] | 10,000 | 20,000 | N/A |
From 1 January 2010 [33] | 15,000 | 30,000 | N/A |
From 1 January 2014 [28] | 15,000 | 30,000 | 300,000 |
From 1 February 2015 [34] | 25,000 | 50,000 | 500,000 |
Note that in the table below are the certification-levels, when the program of Gold and Platinum is operated under FIMI.
Period | Gold certification | Platinum certification |
---|---|---|
From 1 January 2005 to 31 December 2008 [21] | 15,000 | 30,000 |
The following is a list of Platinum and multi-platinum albums that have been certified by the Italian Music Industry Federation. [35] For certification-levels refer to the tables above.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note that the albums released from 2005 until the end of 2011, were qualified for Diamond-award upon reaching five-times Platinum. FIMI, however, changed this rule in January 2012, and began to base the Diamond-award on ten-times Platinum for all titles released on/after January 1, 2012.
|
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards. Certification is not automatic; for an award to be made, the record label must request certification. The audit is conducted against net shipments after returns, which includes albums sold directly to retailers and one-stops, direct-to-consumer sales and other outlets.
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory.
Aquarium is the debut studio album by Danish-Norwegian band Aqua. The album was released in Scandinavia on March 26, 1997 and in the United States on September 9, 1997. Although the group had been together for three years under their original name Joyspeed, their only release under that name was a single called "Itzy Bitsy Spider". The album is best known for including the successful singles "Barbie Girl", "Doctor Jones" and "Turn Back Time", the first of those being a huge hit across the globe.
Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne has released 5 studio albums, 8 extended plays, 23 singles, and 27 music videos, and she has appeared on several movie soundtracks and charity albums.
Below is the complete Electric Light Orchestra discography including imports, videos, and hit singles. ELO's back catalogue is unusual since their compilation albums far outweigh their studio output in number, owing to the large number of hit singles primarily written by Jeff Lynne. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated more combined UK and US Top 40 hits than any other band in the world, and also generated the third most UK and US separate Top 40 hits.
The discography of Laura Pausini, an Italian pop singer, consists of thirteen studio albums, two compilation albums, respectively released for the Hispanic and Anglophone markets only, two international greatest hits album, three live albums and five video albums, including the live DVD Amiche per l'Abruzzo, released as part of the all-female Italian ensemble of the same name.
Productores de Música de España is the organisation responsible for the Spanish Albums Chart and other music charts. It is a trade association that represents more than 90 percent of the Spanish recorded music industry. It is the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) group for Spain.
This is the discography of Eros Ramazzotti, one of the most successful Italian singers and songwriters of all time.
Marco Carta is an Italian singer. To date, he has sold more than 245,000 albums and 60,000 singles.
The discography of Ligabue, the Italian rock-singer Luciano Ligabue, consists of eleven studio albums, two compilation albums, one soundtrack albums, five live albums, sixty-six singles as a lead artist and four singles as a featured artist.
The discography of Zucchero, an Italian rock blues singer-songwriter, consists of twelve studio albums, one soundtrack album, seven compilation albums, two live albums and more than sixty singles. In 1993, Zucchero has also released a studio album with the band Adelmo e i suoi Sorapis, also including Equipe 84's Maurizio Vandelli and Pooh's Dodi Battaglia.
American singer Selena Gomez has released two studio albums, one compilation album, one extended play, twenty singles and three promotional singles. In 2008, Gomez first signed to Hollywood Records. Gomez's first EP, Another Cinderella Story, was released on June 16, 2009, by Razor & Tie. She released her first solo album, Stars Dance (2013), which debuted atop the US Billboard 200 chart, and also reached number one in Canada. It was preceded by the release of its lead single, "Come & Get It", which reached the top ten in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.
Noemi is an Italian singer-songwriter. In 2013 she became a coach in The Voice of Italy. She has sold over 735,000 records in Italy.
The Belgian Entertainment Association (BEA) is the organization that represents the interests of the music, video and video game industries in Belgium. It was founded in February 2008, when three organizations merged, namely IFPI Belgium, the local chapter of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represented the music industry, the Belgian Video Federation, which represented the video industry, and the Belgian Luxembourg Interactive Software Association, which represented the video game industry. BEA is listed as the local record industry association in Belgium by the IFPI.
The discography of Nek, an Italian pop rock singer, contains thirteen Italian-language studio album, nine Spanish-language studio albums, three Italian and Spanish compilation albums, and forty-eight singles.
#prontoacorrere is the second studio album by Italian singer Marco Mengoni, released by Sony Music Italy on 19 March 2013 and produced by Michele Canova.
The discography of Italian singer Giusy Ferreri consists of five studio albums, two compilation albums, one extended play, twenty-seven singles—including six as a featured artist—and nineteen music videos.
Lorenzo 2015 CC. is the thirteenth studio album by Italian singer-songwriter Jovanotti, released by Universal Music on 24 February 2015.