All week long Music Junkee is celebrating the greatest compilation series of all time: So Fresh. You’re welcome.

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For anyone who entered high school around the turn of the century, So Fresh only exists as one of our most cherished memories. We remember it as that stack of CDs next to our discman, or that clutch of dusty discs in the glovebox of our parent’s car.

We may have relegated it to our ‘Only ’90s Kids Will Remember This’ mental folder, but it turns out that So Fresh still sells a lot of CDs. We’re talking seriously huge numbers.

Since the start of 2007 — which is how we’re defining the ‘modern era’ — every major So Fresh release (that’s their ‘Hits of Spring’, ‘Hits of Summer’, ‘Hits of Winter’ and ‘Hits of Autumn’ compilations) has hit #1 on the ARIA Compilation charts.

“Pfft…big deal,” I hear you say. “There probably aren’t that many compilations albums on the charts anyway, so I doubt so So Fresh is actually selling that much.”

Well, that’s where you’re wrong. Here’s just how big So Fresh still is:

So Fresh By Numbers:

— Out of the 44 major So Fresh releases since 2007, 23 have achieved platinum status

— A further 10 of the 44 are certified double-platinum

— Four of the 44 are triple-platinum

— One is quadruple-platinum (Hits of Summer 2009)

— One (Hits of Summer 2007) shifted enough units to qualify as quintuple-platinum

Which Means:

— So Fresh has sold more CDs than Flume, Angus & Julia Stone, Sticky Fingers and Chet Faker combined

— If we judge their total sales just on these platinum-certified albums alone, that means since 2007 Australians have bought well over 3.71 million So Fresh albums

— Which means around 15.37 percent of the general population have a So Fresh CD stashed somewhere in their house/glovebox (or one dude just has a hell of a lot of them)

— That means we have more So Fresh CDs in this country than we do Anglicans

— Or koalas

— Or camels (and we have a fucktonne of camels)

— Or domesticated cats

— Or people that use Tinder

So Yup, Australia Really Loves So Fresh

…And this is all well after the heyday of the 2001 Spring Compilation.

Overall So Fresh sales have taken a dip over the last 18 months — at the time of writing, none of the 2017 releases have received a platinum certification. But then again, no Australian albums this year have achieved that feat either.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any information about just who the hell is buying all of these CDs. When I was a kid we used to get our So Fresh CDs from petrol stations — so perhaps they’re all being snapped up by long-haul truck drivers.

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Figures provided to Music Junkee by ARIA 

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Jules LeFevre is Staff Writer for Music Junkee and inthemix. Her favourite So Fresh compilation is the one with Alcazar’s ‘Crying At The Discoteque‘ song on it. She is on Twitter.