CSPC: Mariah Carey Popularity Analysis

Mariah Carey Career CSPC Results

So, after checking all the figures, how many overall equivalent album sales has each Mariah Carey album achieved? Well, at this point we don’t need to add up all the figures found in this article.

In the following results table, all categories display figures in equivalent album sales. If different, pure sales are listed between parentheses.

artist_spotify_id	#	Cover	Album	Studio Album*	sales_update_date	Other LPs*	Physical Singles*	Digital Singles*	Streams	Daily Increase	Total CSPC	valid_as_of	streams_updated_value
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	1		Mariah Carey	14,050,000	28.04.17	4,512,000	1,025,000 (3,417,000)	173,000 (1,150,000)	149,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 60 LD: 70	19,909,000	20,221,202	149,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	2		Emotions	8,100,000	28.04.17	4,338,000	591,000 (1,970,000)	105,000 (700,000)	142,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 60 LD: 60	13,276,000	20,221,202	142,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	3		Music Box	26,100,000	28.04.17	5,550,000	1,941,000 (6,470,000)	450,000 (3,000,000)	572,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 230 LD: 320	34,613,000	20,221,202	572,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	4		Merry Christmas	13,400,000	28.04.17	1,733,000	651,000 (2,170,000)	1,800,000 (12,000,000)	2,174,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 910 LD: 9,030	19,758,000	20,221,202	2,174,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	5		Daydream	19,900,000	28.04.17	8,311,000	2,321,000 (7,737,000)	705,000 (4,700,000)	890,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 360 LD: 560	32,127,000	20,221,202	890,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	6		ButterFly	9,650,000	28.04.17	2,207,000	1,191,000 (3,970,000)	218,000 (1,450,000)	279,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 110 LD: 190	13,545,000	20,221,202	279,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	7		Rainbow	7,250,000	28.04.17	514,000	1,176,000 (3,920,000)	210,000 (1,400,000)	230,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 80 LD: 120	9,380,000	20,221,202	230,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	8		Glitter	1,900,000	28.04.17	1,000	327,000 (1,090,000)	3,000 (20,000)	17,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 10 LD: 20	2,248,000	20,221,202	17,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	9		Charmbracelet	2,800,000	28.04.17	5,000	99,000 (330,000)	45,000 (300,000)	60,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 20 LD: 30	3,009,000	20,221,202	60,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	10		The Emancipation of Mimi	8,600,000	28.04.17	139,000	219,000 (730,000)	1,110,000 (7,400,000)	815,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 340 LD: 440	10,883,000	20,221,202	815,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	11		E=MC²	2,150,000	28.04.17	15,000	18,000 (60,000)	765,000 (5,100,000)	289,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 120 LD: 170	3,237,000	20,221,202	289,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	12		Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel	1,050,000	28.04.17	0	9,000 (30,000)	690,000 (4,600,000)	372,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 150 LD: 210	2,121,000	20,221,202	372,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	13		Merry Christmas II You	850,000	28.04.17	0	0 (0)	315,000 (2,100,000)	177,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 80 LD: 650	1,342,000	20,221,202	177,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	14		Me. I Am Mariah? The Elusive Chanteuse	300,000	28.04.17	0	0 (0)	390,000 (2,600,000)	192,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 40 LD: 40	882,000	20,221,202	192,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	15		Caution	0		0	0 (0)	0 (0)	180,000 (12/02/22)	Av.: 0 LD: 0	180,000	20,221,202	180,000
4iHNK0tOyZPYnBU7nGAgpQ	16		Orphan	0	28.04.17	3,903,000	1,499,000 (4,997,000)	540,000 (3,600,000)	134,000 (04/28/17)	N/A	6,076,000	20,221,202	134,000

As a reminder:

• Studio Album: sales of the original album
• Other Releases: sales of compilations generated thanks to the album
• Physical Singles: sales of physical singles from the album (ratio 3/10)
• Download Singles: sales of digital singles from the album (ratio 1,5/10)
• Streaming: equivalent album sales of all the album tracks (ratio 1/1500 for Audio stream and 1/6750 for Video stream)

See where the artist ranks among remaining singers

Big albums by themselves in their original form, Mariah Carey’s studio albums do not enjoy a massive boost from compilation sales generated. This is even more true since those compilations sold on the back of many hits with no original album having a truly dominant contribution. Both Music Box and Daydream still get the needed extra push to jump over 30 million equivalent album sales from all formats combined. The former still has the lead but a lead likely not as big as expected.

Each of Mariah’s first six albums are on 13 million or more perfectly summarizing the immense popularity of the artist during the 90s. At 9 million plus each, Rainbow and The Emancipation of Mimi results will create their share of frustration. However, those numbers are still very good by anyone’s standards.

A real gap separates those albums from the rest as no other record passes even 3 million overall equivalent album sales. The fall is brutal for each release since in the last decade. Will one new record ever be able to reverse this trajectory?

Anyway, Mariah Carey sold a total of 167,15 million equivalent albums. More than 140 million have been generated by her 90s outputs alone, more than 10 million short of the value created by Celine Dion’s records in that same time frame. Nevertheless, both totals are utterly gigantic. The following page lists Mariah’s most successful songs.

Do not forget to check our amazing lists posted inside the CSPC: Data Collector which includes the full listing of all CSPC results compiled so far to better gauge her position in the history of the music industry.

As usual, feel free to comment and / or ask a question!

Sources: IFPI, Spotify, Chartmasters.org.