CSPC: Whitney Houston Popularity Analysis
https://flic.kr/p/JvDEcn
UPDATE: Please note all figures have been updated as of May 4, 2017.
On February 11, 2012, big news saddened millions of people – the death of legendary diva Whitney Houston. The woman that used to be recognized for her pure voice and image faced bad timesuntil her ultimate passing.
Memories of her stand-out performances and songs were still very much alive in the minds of many, yet her catalog still received, quite naturally, a sizable boost after her untimely passing.
How much is her catalog worth though? Everybody remembers the iconic The Bodyguard. Everything is iconic about it – the movie, the album, the single, and, of course, its main actress and singer, Whitney Houston. Such a juggernaut would shadow the remaining albums of most acts. So how do other studio albums from her stand in comparison?
Starting way back in 1985 with an eponymous album, she then returned with Whitney in 1987 and kept recording until her last effort, the 2009 release I Look To You. If her career had ups, it definitely had downs too. Thanks to the Commensurate Sales to Popularity Concept, we will be able to perfectly visualize this evolution and compare her albums with those of her peers like Madonna or Celine Dion.
The concept will not only bring you sales information for all of Whitney Houston’s albums, physical and download singles, as well as audio and video streaming, but it will also determine her true popularity. If you are not yet familiar with the CSPC method, the next page explains it with a short video. I fully recommend watching the video before getting into the sales figures. Of course, if you are a regular visitor feel free skip the video and get into the figures. Let’s go!
I do trust all of the concepts you’ve offered to your post. They’re really convincing and will definitely work. Still, the posts are very brief for newbies. May you please lengthen them a little from next time? Thanks for the post.
http://www.educationguide.eu
Hi NicoleJen!
Lately I have been reading various messages on boards showing a strong misunderstanding of presented figures. It now appears quite clear to me that explanations are not good enough and no doubt I’ll try to improve it within’ the next CSPC article which is almost ready 🙂
Impressive sales for Whitney especially considering how few studio albums she has.
Very impressive numbers for the legendary Whitney Houston.
Excellent!!! Your info. has always been very reliable.
Thank you.
Thanks but excluding Waiting to Exhale from her tally is ridiculous. 1) She had multiple songs on it and the promos mostly used her name for the soundrack. She’s even on the cover and wrote the thank you’s inside 2) It was her movie 3) it was her long awaited comeback after The Bodyguard and the main reason why it sold so much. 4) At the grammys she got nominated for album of the year under her name “Whitney Houston – Various Artists” – All the ladies were so thankful and greatful publically that they were invited by Whitney for… Read more »
Hi Sam, No official organization ever considered Waiting to Exhale as a Whitney Houston album. The album sold so much because it had various successful singles from various artists – Brandy, Mary J Blige and Toni Braxton all had Top 2 hits from it. Arguying WTE was all about Whitney is pure nonsense. Grammy’s just used her name for their own publicity – check the Billboard, the RIAA, the BPI none they all put the album under Various Artists category. I don’t think even Whitney Houston fans would rate it as her album. Claiming it should be counted for her… Read more »
Arista records credits it to Whitney’s sales totals cause they know that her name sold the soundtrack. Without Whitney not only there would be no soundtrack made but if there were it would top max at 2-3 million and not 10+ million. It was her star power and comeback after the Bodyguard that made Waiting to Exhale (both the movie & soundtrack) become blockbusters. It can’t be erased from her career.
That’s utterly incorrect. First, when speaking about “records sold”, all majors quote sales of all products on which artists got involved, this doesn’t mean a thing. Second, as previously mentioned, no official organization ever considered it as a Whitney Houston album. Third, your comments about sales coming from her only is not only powerless as this is irrevelant in a credits discussion, it is plain wrong. The album is fully written and produced by Babyface who was turning everything into gold – most notably the Boyz II Men. Not only that, most artists in that soundtrack releasded 3+ million selling… Read more »
No official organisation counts sales like you do either (for example by not counting Greatest hits and accrediting the songs for their albums, etc.). So what’s your point by using this argument? Look, Whitney started her career by releasing 3 studio albums (WH, W, IYBT) and following them with 3 movies/soundtracks (TBG, WTE, TPW). To completely erase WTE from her career is ridiculous. Every Whitney fan went out and bought it because it’s her movie, multiple songs, on the cover, follow up to TBG, etc. but a Mary J Blige or Brandy fan needed to only buy their 1 single… Read more »
Which human with a brain would consider Waiting To Exhale a Whitney album though? The logic adopted by the RIAA has pretty much the same basics as mine. Within’ a few years it will be the industry standard as we won’t be talking about studio albums or compilations anymore but playlists only. Billboard Top Artist ranking is quite on par with CSPC system too. The comparison is pointless anyway since objectives are different for the formula, while assigning credits now that’s something all organizations do. And when they did, they never gave WTE credit to Whitney, a fact you can’t… Read more »
I think you guys have dubbed down sales for Whitney’s first two albums.just dont know how you have come up with these sales figures.no doubt mariah carey’s sales will proberly be inflated because she is suppose to be the best selling female artist of all time according to sources which i doubt.
Hi Mike,
Sales of Whitney Houston are just like figures of all other artists figures – as realistic as possible. Absurd inflations / deflations are good for fans boards, they are not welcome here. Mariah Carey will be treated just like every other act.
Strangely low ESTIMATIONS for “Whitney Houston”, “Whitney”, “I’m Your Baby Tonight”, “My Love Is Your Love” and “Greatest Hits”
Hi Xyz!
The success of Bodyguard in Latin America / Asia was often extrapolated into her earlier albums creating inflated sales figures as those records sold nowhere near *that* well in those markets as explained in previous comments. Considering the amount of figures I have and how consistent all valid sources are I’m very safe on sales displayed in this article.
Thank you so much for this! I’ve been waiting on a Whitney article! Could you please consider analyzing Mariah Carey’s career next?
Hi again Bri!
Mariah Carey won’t be the very next artist to be posted but she will be treated reasonably soon 😉
MJD, i know i said this a thousand times, but again, absolutely fantastic work! Especially with this analysis! You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to see an analysis on Queen Nippy! If I could provide some comments, I’m quite surprised by her debut album “only” at 21,9m considering it was widely reported as a 25m seller, as well as the biggest selling debut album ever. I’m Your Baby Tonight being under 10m, as well as selling less than My Love Is Your Love surprised me as well. Still, what surprised me the most is how freaking massive… Read more »
Hi Raffi! Well, as you know we can find easily a lot of fanciful figures over the internet. No serious source ever claimed 25m units for Whitney debut album – such a tally is completely out of question giving its results. It was indeed the higher selling debut album ever when first released – but it wasn’t meaning that much since 7m was enough to occupy that position at the time, as it was the figure of previous record holder by Boston. This is the first time the record was awarded to the album by the Guiness Book: “The best-selling… Read more »
So amazing! Whitney!