Lock up your ancestors, Mozart has gone Platinum!
Yes, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the 18th Century classical composer, has the highest-selling CD release of 2016, with Mozart 225: The New Complete Edition shifting 1.25 million CDs within the first six weeks of release.
Obviously, there’s a catch. As hinted at in the title, the ‘Complete’ Edition is just that, with 200 CDs included in a lavish boxset; a total of 240 hours of unadulterated Mozart jams.
The way CD sales accreditation works in the U.S. (and here in Australia, for what it’s worth) is that each disc counts as a separate sale, which is why you often see double-albums hitting Platinum status despite being out-charted by single-disc records that are yet to do so. It’s also why you get so many dodgy bonus discs containing remixes and dubious live versions.
So, in the end, ol’ Mozart has only shifted a total of 6,250 boxsets, which isn’t too bad at all considering the hefty $600AUD pricetag.
It’s also the largest CD boxset ever released, which is another record for Mozart.
Move over Drake, 2016 is the year of Wolfgang!
