>>All records sales through Soundscan are the sales of the initial order from the supplier to the retailer.
Not true. SoundScan is an information system that tracks actual sales of music and music video products by recording sales data from point-of-sale cash registers via over 16,000 retail, mass merchant and non-traditional outlets, such as on-line stores and other venues. In other words, when you purcshase a CD, it gets "scanned" and a sale gets recorded. You must be talking about the certification process by the RIAA, which takes into account the amount of records shipped to the retailers and not the actual number sold. Hence, you will see albums Soundscanning less than 500,000 copies yet being certified gold for sales of over 500,000--since there are more than half a million copies either sold or in the stores.
