Burns Boxed Set Goes Platinum

The five-CD companion collection to Ken Burns’ Jazz is the first jazz boxed set to achieve the Recording Industry Association of America’s platinum certification for 1 million units shipped. Since its November release, over 200,000 copies of the PBS series tie-in set have been shipped to retailers. The set sold about 110,000 units in its first three months on the shelves.

The Burns’ Jazz CD series, which includes the boxed set and 23 single-disc releases, are chiefly responsible for jazz’s 2.5-4% of total sales in the music marketplace. The boxed set is an unprecedented collaborative release by Verve and Columbia/Legacy who are co-promoting the releases.

Originally Published March 17, 2001