Physical Singles Sales – Part 1
As a reminder, the weighting is done with a 10 to 3 ratio between one album and one physical single.
Behind the Front (1998) – 9,000 equivalent albums
All Singles – 30,000
Bridging the Gap (2000) – 84,000 equivalent albums
Weekends – 20,000
Request + Line – 260,000
Elephunk (2003) – 1,161,000 equivalent albums
Let’s Get It Started – 370,000
Hey Mama – 400,000
Shut Up – 1,610,000
Where Is the Love? – 1,490,000
Just like singers such as Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake, the American quartet got its first hits on a transitional physical singles market. By 2003, this format was mostly dead in the US with very few songs getting a CD release. In Japan, international acts weren’t issuing singles either. Australia and some European countries were the only ones maintaining relevant sales figures. This didn’t last long however, as by the end of the 00s sales had disappeared worldwide.
With this background in mind, hitting half a million units with a unique single is already a great achievement, as is selling several million CD singles in total. The Black Eyed Peas achieved just that. Their top sellers are 2003 smashes Where Is The Love? and Shut Up, two songs combining for 3 million sales.
I have guessed right that Black Eyes Peas were next. Love the band and their songs. I hope they release an album again. I really love their songs.
And wow, My Heart Will Go On is the biggest song. Celibe Dion rules! 🙂
Lady Gaga sold 45 million albums now, but, with your new method, will she bigger than Black eyed peas??
Hey MJD, waiting for Ariana Grande 🙂
Fantastic analysis. Thanks for providing the list of songs and albums, besides CPS all time artists.
One comment: there’s a mistake in the “achievements” page where it says the streak of 26 consecutive weeks at #1 in Billboard Hot 100. It’s only because of 2 songs (Boom Boom Pow and I Gotta Feeling). “Meet Me Halfway” never reached the top position.
Hi Gus!
Definitely, I someway mixed weeks in the US and songs #1 in the UK! Now fixed, thanks 😉
Your data is amazing and impressively precise. I would like to know if you could post the Popularity Concept of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Radiohead.
Thank You. This is one that I’ve been looking forward to the most. The had so much success with Elephunk, Monkey Business, and The End.
Also Kinda OT, but I Gotta Feeling’s massive numbers have me wondering, were there any other songs that outside it in digital single sales?
From what I know, it is the best-selling digital song of all time!
Hi Leon! I Gotta Feeling tops Uptown Funk, Poker Face, Love The Way You Lie, Someone Like You, Just Dance etc. It is tied with Rolling In The Deep and outperformed by Moves Like Jagger which stands at nearly 20 million. Obviously, all figures were estimated at distinct moments and the accuracy of formulas (most notably Asian sales and ringtones) have been increased over the last months, so possibly one or two of those songs would be just ahead if updated now. Let’s just say it belongs to an elite of about 10 songs that are the very top selling… Read more »
Thank You for this. This is one of the ones I have been looking forward to the most and as I expected, their numbers are very impressive. Especially for the Elephunk/Monkey Business/END eras.
This is kinda OT, but after seeing those massive numbers for I Gotta Feeling I started wondering, were there any other songs bigger than it in digital single sales?