The History of SNEP

When I research album certifications, RIAA (American) and BPI (British) are always listed.  In fact, multiple countries are listed with any given album.  One of those many is France.  

As you can tell, I am curious to learn and share more about international album certification backgrounds.

So why France?  This country is consistently listed...

Welcome to SNEP.

Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique (English translation - National Syndicate of Phonographic Publishing) - SNEP

SNEP was established in 1922 and has 48 member companies.  

Purposes include -

- Collecting and distributing royalty payments for broadcast and performance

- Protecting copyright infringement 

- Sales certification of records and videos 

- Weekly official charts of French top-selling music

(Source - Wikipedia)

Album Certification -

Gold - 50,000

Platinum - 100,000

Diamond - 500,000

Single Certification -

Gold - 75,000

Platinum - 150,000

Diamond - 250,000

Music Video Certification -

Gold - 7,500

Platinum - 15,000

Diamond - 60,000

(Source - Wikipedia)

Although RIAA sets an exceptional standard toward Gold, Platinum, Multi-Platinum, and Diamond, France's certification requisites are equally impressive.