In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, singles are certified Platinum by the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI) when they pass 600,000 units as measured by the

Official Charts Company The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...

. Since July 2013, this has been automatically applied by the BPI as a single reaches the threshold of any multiple of 600,000 rather than relying on the record companies to apply for the awards or limiting awards to releases after 1973 (when the awards system was first set up). Since 1 January 1989, the number of sales required to qualify for Silver, Gold and Platinum discs has been 200,000, 400,000 and 600,000, respectively. Prior to this, the thresholds were 250,000 (Silver), 500,000 (Gold) and 1,000,000 (Platinum). For singles released before the current thresholds, only digital sales since 2005 are used to calculate the certification: so, for example, "

Eye of the Tiger "Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', which was released a day before the single. The song ...

" by Survivor was a

Gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile meta ...

from 1982 (500,000 copies) and passed 1 million sales before 2010, but was certified Platinum only in 2014 for 600,000 digital sales (streams and downloads), while its total sales exceeded 1.46 million. From February 2005, downloads became eligible and for awards made in or after July 2014, audio streaming has been included at a rate of 100 streams equivalent to one unit (with any streams from the start of 2014 being counted). In the tables below the certifications are all multiples of 600,000 units unless otherwise stated and separated according to whether streaming is included. On 22 July 2013, a large number of certifications were made for singles whose sales passed awards thresholds once digital sales since 2005 were added, and again in July 2014 once audio streams from the start of 2014 were added.

Artists with the most Multi-Platinum singles

The artist with the most Multi-Platinum singles in the UK is

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

, with 23.

Multi-Platinum awards

5 Million Units

9× Platinum

"Shape of You" is the only song to go 9× Platinum in the 21st century (5,400,000 units). When it passed 5× Platinum, its total was made up of 764,737 downloads and 2,241,667 sales-equivalent streams.

4 Million Units

8× Platinum

" Perfect" was the second song to go 8× Platinum in the 21st century (4,800,000 units)

7× Platinum

" Perfect" was the second song to go 7× Platinum in the 21st century (4,200,000 units) " All I Want for Christmas Is You" is the first song ever by a female artist to reach 7× platinum.

3 Million Units

6× Platinum

"Uptown Funk" is the latest release to sell a million copies, having sales of 1.39 million by June 2015, implying that it had been streamed more than 41 million times by the time it reached 3× Platinum status and over 80 million times when it reached 4× Platinum.

5× Platinum

"Happy" was the first song certified 3× Platinum after streaming was included, having sold 1.55 million copies by July 2014 and been streamed over 25 million times from January to July 2014.

2 Million Sales

4× Platinum

1 Million Sales

3× Platinum

" Anything Is Possible" / "

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

" by ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

'' winner

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 Pop Idol (series 1), inaugural series of the ITV (TV network), ITV talent contest ''Pop Idol'', making him the f ...

is the only single since 2000 to achieve 3× Platinum based on shipments at its original release (sales estimates by the

put it just short of 1.8 million). "

Barbie Girl "Barbie Girl" is a song by Danish-Norwegian dance-pop group Aqua. It was released in April 1997 as the third single from the group's debut studio album, ''Aquarium'' (1997). The song was written by Søren Rasted, Claus Norreen, René Dif, and Le ...

" by

Aqua Aqua is the Latin word for water. It is used in many words which relate to water, such as aquatic life. In English, it may also refer to: Arts * Aqua (color), a greenish-blue color Business * Aqua (skyscraper), an 82-story residential skysc ...

and " Believe" by

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

were both released before 2000 and benefited from changes in eligibility rules which allowed downloads (and streaming in the case of "Believe") to be counted for any song regardless of release date. The first single to achieve 3× Platinum without selling a million copies was " Sorry" by

Justin Bieber Justin Drew Bieber ( ; born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian singer. Bieber is recognized for his genre-melding musicianship and has played an influential role in modern-day popular music. He was discovered by American record executive Scooter ...

, which had more than 100 million streams by August 2016.

has ten singles certified triple platinum or above,

has five, whilst both

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta ( ; born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. She is known for her image reinventions and musical versatility. Gaga began performing as a teenag ...

and

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

have three.

2× Platinum

The artists with the most double platinum awards is Ed Sheeran

Sales or shipments only

Previously awarded 2× Platinum in 1996

Including streaming (certified July 2014 onwards)

Artists with the most Platinum singles

The artist with the most Platinum singles in the UK is

, with 45.

Platinum awards

These lists exclude any song that appears above in the lists of multi-Platinum awards. Any certifications made since July 2014 include streaming regardless of the release date and are listed separately. The last song to be certified Platinum on sales or shipments only was "

Brimful of Asha "Brimful of Asha" is a song by British alternative rock band Cornershop (band), Cornershop from their third album, ''When I Was Born for the 7th Time'' (1997). The recording originally reached number 60 on the UK Singles Chart in 1997. After a re ...

" by

Cornershop Cornershop are a British indie rock band best known for their single "Brimful of Asha", originally released in 1997 and, in a remixed version, topping the UK chart in 1998. The band was formed in 1991 by Wolverhampton-born Tjinder Singh (singe ...

, which was remixed by

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist f ...

and reached number one in February 1998. It was certified Platinum on 13 June 2014.

Released before 2000 (sales or shipments only)

Released before 2000 (including streaming)

Pre-1989 release certified Platinum for digital sales since 2005.

Released between 2000 and 2009 (sales or shipments only)

Released between 2000 and 2009 (including streaming)

Released between 2010 and 2014 (sales or shipments only)

Released between 2010 and 2014 (including streaming)

All certifications since July 2014 include streaming.

Released since 2015

All of these include streaming.

References

External links

BPI Certified Awards
{{DEFAULTSORT:Platinum singles in the United Kingdom awarded since 2000 British music-related lists Lists of best-selling singles in the United Kingdom 2000s in British music 2010s in British music Music recording certifications