Artists Ranking – Raw sales – All Albums
Please notice that music videos, EPs and singles are not considered here. Records included are studio albums, compilations, live albums and box sets. The figures given here are units sold.
Please keep in mind that some artists are missing, because their analysis has not been done yet. The complete list is available here. All figures reflect the value as collected at the time of the artist’s respective articles.
1. The Beatles – 333,145,000 (as of Mar 2017)
2. Elvis Presley – 244,475,000 (as of Sep 2018)
3. Michael Jackson – 235,440,000 (as of Sep 2017)
4. Pink Floyd – 203,010,000 (as of Jun 2017)
5. Madonna – 201,900,000 (as of Aug 2017)
6. The Rolling Stones – 201,100,000 (as of Dec 2016)
7. Queen – 192,564,000 (as of Jan 2020)
8. Led Zeppelin – 182,500,000 (as of Aug 2016)
9. Céline Dion – 171,625,000 (as of Sep 2016)
10. AC/DC – 169,670,000 (as of Feb 2018)
11. U2 – 169,000,000 (as of Aug 2016)
12. Elton John – 167,640,000 (as of Feb 2018)
13. Eagles – 153,885,000 (as of Dec 2017)
14. Rod Stewart – 153,339,000 (as of Nov 2019)
15. Mariah Carey – 144,375,000 (as of Apr 2017)
16. Barbra Streisand – 138,610,000 (as of Mar 2018)
17. Bruce Springsteen – 138,400,000 (as of Jul 2017)
18. Metallica – 133,775,000 (as of Feb 2019)
19. ABBA – 130,250,000 (as of Nov 2016)
20. Fleetwood Mac – 129,650,000 (as of Oct 2016)
21. Billy Joel – 129,075,000 (as of Oct 2016)
22. Whitney Houston – 128,600,000 (as of May 2017)
23. Bob Dylan – 128,375,000 (as of Oct 2016)
24. Santana – 128,086,000 (as of Aug 2020)
25. Phil Collins – 127,350,000 (as of Apr 2018)
26. Bee Gees – 125,795,000 (as of Apr 2017)
27. Eminem – 125,735,000 (as of Jun 2021)
28. Garth Brooks – 120,190,000 (as of Jan 2019)
29. Bob Marley – 120,150,000 (as of Nov 2017)
30. Aerosmith – 116,080,000 (as of Jun 2018)
31. Bon Jovi – 115,650,000 (as of Nov 2016)
32. Prince – 106,840,000 (as of Oct 2018)
33. Simon & Garfunkel – 106,565,000 (as of May 2018)
34. David Bowie – 103,910,000 (as of Jan 2017)
35. Guns N’ Roses – 102,770,000 (as of Mar 2018)
36. The Doors – 100,941,000 (as of Mar 2019)
37. Dire Straits – 100,350,000 (as of Mar 2018)
38. Stevie Wonder – 92,138,000 (as of Mar 2021)
39. Van Halen – 92,006,000 (as of Dec 2020)
40. Paul McCartney – 86,510,000 (as of Dec 2018)
41. Neil Young – 85,786,000 (as of May 2021)
42. George Michael & Wham! – 83,200,000 (as of May 2017)
43. Enya – 82,500,000 (as of Feb 2018)
44. R.E.M. – 81,207,000 (as of Sep 2021)
45. Deep Purple – 80,375,000 (as of Aug 2021)
46. Backstreet Boys – 79,850,000 (as of Feb 2017)
47. Nirvana – 79,800,000 (as of Jul 2017)
48. Britney Spears – 77,565,000 (as of Apr 2019)
49. The Police – 77,460,000 (as of Jun 2020)
50. Red Hot Chili Peppers – 76,435,000 (as of Mar 2018)
51. Creedence Clearwater Revival – 76,420,000 (as of Jan 2019)
52. Shania Twain – 71,750,000 (as of Dec 2016)
53. Sting – 71,682,000 (as of Jun 2020)
54. Bryan Adams – 71,510,000 (as of Mar 2019)
55. Green Day – 70,295,000 (as of Mar 2017)
56. Journey – 69,267,000 (as of Sep 2019)
57. Sade – 67,815,000 (as of Jul 2020)
58. Supertramp – 66,040,000 (as of Aug 2019)
59. Coldplay – 64,275,000 (as of Jun 2021)
60. Robbie Williams – 62,448,000 (as of Dec 2019)
61. Linkin Park – 62,100,000 (as of Jun 2017)
62. Black Sabbath – 61,252,000 (as of Mar 2020)
63. John Lennon – 60,800,000 (as of Oct 2018)
64. Adele – 60,155,000 (as of Oct 2021)
65. Janet Jackson – 59,650,000 (as of Apr 2017)
66. Meat Loaf – 58,350,000 (as of Jun 2018)
67. Ozzy Osbourne – 56,902,000 (as of Mar 2020)
68. Johnny Hallyday – 55,740,000 (as of Jan 2018)
69. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – 55,600,000 (as of May 2021)
70. Alanis Morissette – 53,380,000 (as of Jun 2018)
71. Cher – 53,350,000 (as of Aug 2017)
72. Michael Bublé – 52,995,000 (as of Dec 2016)
73. Taylor Swift – 51,200,000 (as of May 2021)
74. Oasis – 48,720,000 (as of Dec 2017)
75. Tracy Chapman – 47,230,000 (as of Jun 2019)
76. Boston – 45,760,000 (as of Jun 2019)
77. Norah Jones – 45,280,000 (as of Nov 2016)
78. Paul Simon – 44,880,000 (as of May 2018)
79. P!nk – 42,100,000 (as of Oct 2017)
80. Mannheim Steamroller – 41,735,000 (as of Dec 2020)
81. Nickelback – 41,300,000 (as of Jun 2017)
82. The Cranberries – 41,050,000 (as of Jan 2018)
83. Shakira – 39,420,000 (as of Jun 2018)
84. Enrique Iglesias – 39,200,000 (as of Sep 2016)
85. Jackson 5 & The Jacksons – 39,100,000 (as of Sep 2017)
86. NSYNC – 38,690,000 (as of Feb 2018)
87. Spice Girls – 38,400,000 (as of Mar 2017)
88. Destiny’s Child – 38,350,000 (as of Aug 2018)
89. Ayumi Hamasaki – 37,800,000 (as of Sep 2019)
90. Usher – 37,160,000 (as of Sep 2017)
91. Lady Gaga – 36,000,000 (as of Dec 2020)
92. Alicia Keys – 35,060,000 (as of Nov 2016)
93. TLC – 33,850,000 (as of Apr 2019)
94. Rihanna – 33,778,000 (as of Jun 2021)
95. Beyoncé – 33,700,000 (as of May 2018)
96. Christina Aguilera – 33,525,000 (as of Mar 2017)
97. Black Eyed Peas – 33,450,000 (as of Aug 2017)
98. Avril Lavigne – 33,140,000 (as of Feb 2018)
99. BTS – 31,775,000 (as of May 2021)
100. Foo Fighters – 31,700,000 (as of Oct 2017)
101. No Doubt – 31,546,000 (as of Mar 2020)
102. Take That – 30,590,000 (as of Dec 2019)
103. Jennifer Lopez – 29,800,000 (as of Jun 2018)
104. Maroon 5 – 27,975,000 (as of Dec 2019)
105. Dido – 27,050,000 (as of Feb 2019)
106. Miley Cyrus – 25,375,000 (as of Dec 2020)
107. Kylie Minogue – 25,330,000 (as of Apr 2018)
108. Evanescence – 25,155,000 (as of Jun 2019)
109. Amy Winehouse – 24,570,000 (as of Jul 2019)
110. One Direction – 24,050,000 (as of May 2017)
111. Justin Bieber – 24,030,000 (as of Nov 2020)
112. Justin Timberlake – 23,370,000 (as of Feb 2018)
113. Kelly Clarkson – 22,920,000 (as of May 2018)
114. Björk – 22,765,000 (as of Dec 2018)
115. James Blunt – 21,396,000 (as of Feb 2019)
116. Ed Sheeran – 21,320,000 (as of Oct 2019)
117. Renaud – 19,200,000 (as of Nov 2017)
118. Carrie Underwood – 18,800,000 (as of Sep 2018)
119. Fugees – 18,570,000 (as of Feb 2021)
120. Bruno Mars – 17,375,000 (as of Oct 2017)
121. Lauryn Hill – 17,335,000 (as of Feb 2021)
122. Katy Perry – 15,960,000 (as of Mar 2018)
123. Gorillaz – 15,770,000 (as of May 2017)
124. Drake – 15,565,000 (as of Jul 2021)
125. Aaliyah – 15,375,000 (as of Feb 2017)
126. Gwen Stefani – 12,060,000 (as of Apr 2020)
127. Arctic Monkeys – 10,140,000 (as of May 2018)
128. Lana Del Rey – 8,500,000 (as of Aug 2017)
129. Imagine Dragons – 8,190,000 (as of Sep 2018)
130. Buffalo Springfield – 7,018,000 (as of May 2021)
131. Sam Smith – 6,525,000 (as of Oct 2017)
132. Fergie – 6,450,000 (as of Jul 2017)
133. Ariana Grande – 6,343,000 (as of Sep 2021)
134. The Weeknd – 6,240,000 (as of Sep 2020)
135. Selena Gomez – 6,020,000 (as of Mar 2021)
136. Kendrick Lamar – 5,725,000 (as of Jan 2018)
137. Demi Lovato – 4,500,000 (as of Oct 2018)
138. Little Mix – 3,670,000 (as of Feb 2020)
139. Lorde – 3,300,000 (as of Jun 2017)
140. Macklemore (& Ryan Lewis) – 3,260,000 (as of Nov 2017)
141. Blackpink – 3,195,000 (as of Sep 2021)
142. Shawn Mendes – 2,820,000 (as of Oct 2019)
142. Harry Styles – 2,820,000 (as of Jul 2021)
144. Billie Eilish – 2,271,000 (as of Jul 2020)
145. Avicii – 2,260,000 (as of Apr 2018)
146. Post Malone – 1,130,000 (as of Nov 2020)
why are taylors number not updating
I want to ask if you are considering an annual update of the biggest performers in the net sales of studio albums in the near future. Thank you in advance for your answer.
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I have a question about the streams tracking?….How come sometimes, (easily visible at times when I check in on the list daily and look at a couple of specific artists) the streams stop updating for a while (a few days to a week) and when they are updated again the number goes DOWN? How is that possible? Isn’t it an automatic tracker? How on earth does the number go DOWN, and a popular artist LOSE sales?
Hi Eliza! Discographies of artists are often re-structured. Songs can be removed, or move from the artist page to the ‘appears on’ section, which will push them into the ‘Features’ category in our statistics. Obviously, glitches can happen as well. On top of this, every day, when Spotify update their database, there are numerous versions of the same song with playcounts from the previous and the new day, so if these get saved, it creates the illusion the number went down the following day. As the total is lower, our system doesn’t save the value. That’s why when a duplicated… Read more »
Are these updates?
Ah, that makes sense! Thank you for your reply.
Numbers of R.E.M. fail to be updated after a search . Cheers!
Drake is at 104.6m eas
Hey, I wanted to check where Chris Brown would be on the list/ how much has he sold?
would there be any updates showing his numbers soon?
Thanks
I think he won’t be done for a while because he’s not got the highest total compared to his discography size, plus that he mostly sold through downoads and he’s not really the fast growing artist right now.
Whilst I am not personally a fan I do want to find out his sales, specifically in UK because I feel like he’s never been an a-list artist despite many hits