CSPC: Shakira Popularity Analysis
The football World Cup is currently flooding media from everywhere. No artist is more linked to this competition than Shakira. During each of the last 4 World Cups, she got a huge hit. Whenever, Wherever in 2002, Hips Don’t Lie in 2006, Waka Waka in 2010 and Dare (La La La) in 2014, we are left wondering if her new song Clandestino will take over the same one as these previous summer anthems.
It wasn’t always easy for the Colombia superstar. She started with two anonymous albums, Magia and Peligro, when she was only a teenager. These two records will be ignored in this study as they hardly sold a thing and got removed from the market for decades on the demand of the artist herself. With her 1995’s third album Pies Descalzos Shakira hasn’t only got successful, she became massive, huge enough to cross over boundaries of Latin America. The fourth effort was so strong too that breaking the global audience was inevitable. This unstoppable rise to the top reached its peak with 2001’s set Laundry Service and it’s monster single Whenever, Wherever. Her first worldwide smash, not her last.
Her special nature makes harder to compare her success with the one of remaining pop stars. Shakira continues to release most of her material in Spanish along with English versions. Of course, as popular as she may be in Latin countries, those are still fairly weaker markets than English-speaking ones. So, when taking into account everything, how does she perform against the US / UK icons?
As usual, I’ll be using the Commensurate Sales to Popularity Concept in order to relevantly gauge her results. This concept will not only bring you sales information for all Shakira‘s albums, physical and download singles, as well as audio and video streaming. In fact, it will also determine their 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 to skip the video and get into the figures.
Are you able to update her sales? I want to see her super bowl’s performance impact on her sales!
But in 2012 Shakira said that Laundry Service has sold 20 millions https://www.facebook.com/5027904559/posts/10150830049184560/
Well, she should come visit us more often! 🙂
Accordinf to you, “Try Everything” had 1.08 million digital sales until 2018 but in 2019 the RIAA updated it to 2x Platinum and BPI gave it Silver (Total – 2,2 Million) taking into account that it was launched around the world the number grows even more, could you explain this to me MJD?
This is all fake because: •Billboard stated that Shakira had sold 10 million album units in Latin America *before 2001*, that Donde Estan Los Ladrones was close to 900k in the US in 2005, and that Laundry Service has sold 13 million copies worldwide until 2005. So the sales of Pies Descalzos and Donde Estan Los Ladrones are not real. https://books.google.it/books?id=4RQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=billboard+shakira+13+million+laundry+service&source=bl&ots=IDKTkEOoY3&sig=ACfU3U1MvvoDV_p6DL95ZxNa3XRDnt8OSg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3s8yuyMzqAhXIfZoKHeYRDooQ6AEwCXoECAQQAQ •Shakira herself in 2012 reported that Laundry Service has sold 20 million copies worldwide, so even the laundry service data is fake. https://m.facebook.com/5027904559/posts/10150830049184560/ •in 2007 BMI reported that Pies Descalzos had sold 5 million copies, and Oral Fixation 8… Read more »
The “10 million copies in Latin America only” is completely nonsense, in most Latin countries an artist get a platinum certification for sales between 3,000 and 150,000 and Laundry Service was not selling at millions in the biggest Latin markets as Brazil (it sold 150,000 there less than Pies Descalzos and Donde están…) and Mexico (it sold less than 500,000 there) where those millions came from?. Billboard can’t say nothing about sales, except those that came from United Stated, thanks to Nielsen Soundscan. The thing is for years there’s no way to know about artists sales, fans and record companies… Read more »
This data is the fakest thing I’ve ever read. She has sold more than that, as official sources have confirmed throughout the years. Do it again with more research, thanks.
Hi MJD, I really like your review, but are you sure the singles released before “Whenever” have no sales? Here are some examples.
Estoy Aqui (France CD Single).
Estoy Aqui (Colombia, The Remixes)
Estoy Aqui (Japan CD)
Un Poco De Amor (Vinyl)
Un Poco De Amor (CD, Japan)
Ciega, Sordomuda (Spain, Vinyl)
Ciega, Sordomuda (Spain, CD Remix)
No Creo (Spain, CD Remix)
Que Me Quedes Tu (Spain, CD Remix)
Te Dejo Madrid (Spain, CD Remix)
Las De La Intuición (Vynil, Pacha All Stars) [1] [2] [3] [4]
Give It Up To Me (CD Single)
Empire (Europe, CD Single)
Hi Debers! There are 3 distincts cases in the links you list. Firstly, the most recent singles, these ones do have a few sales. Back when we compiled Shakira’s article we weren’t using Discogs quite as much (and Discogs itself wasn’t quite as comprehensive) so for recent singles we often ignored them from physical singles’ sheets since more often than not they had no physical release. As for older singles, the ones showing ‘Remix’ on titles are most likely or promo or unofficial releases, there are thousands on Discogs that aren’t tagged as such so far. The ones that would… Read more »
MJD, I’ve heard several times over the years that Shakira has been a consistent seller in Near Eastern and Middle Eastern countries. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was popular in India because I know they’re fond of Latin music. What do we know of her actual sales in those areas ? I’m sorry if you already answered that question, I haven’t found any answer in the comments.
You can check the studies of the MENA and India by Al to check her streaming numbers there, but I don’t know if there’s any information on the site about her actual sales.
Her sales in India are very strong with Laundry Service at 160k and a career total likely past 300k. This makes her one of the very best selling international acts there. I’ve read some huge download claims for her as well
“Ciega Sordomuda” entered the Top 10 of Spain, remained on the chart for 2 weeks. Are you sure I can’t sell anything there?
https://books.google.cl/books?id=KwoEAAAAMBAJ&q=Shakira&redir_esc=y&hl=es-419#v=snippet&q=hits%20of%20the%20world&f=false
See this is problamatic. Example: In Colombia Pies Descalzos was certified Diamond Prism for 1M copies by ANSINCOL and that was in 1996. Source: https://books.google.co.za/books?id=sQkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA64&dq=shakira+billboard+million&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=shakira%20billboard%20million&f=false
Hi Peter!
This award keeps getting shared day in and day out for many, many years, but sadly most people don’t understand what it stands for. ANSINCOL certify sales of Colombian albums, which is something very different from sales in Colombia. They are closer to GAON than the RIAA. Pies Descalzos got this award for 1 million sales globally, not locally.
Not many people, but billboard wouldn’t report on it if they didn’t know what it stood for, right?
Well, if you read back the Colombian section of the page you link, they clearly give indicators of performance of the Colombian industry in Latin America, and they point out how some of their artists are “viable exporters”, and that it’s what ASINCOL is tracking. They aren’t looking at the local market.
Hey, Tere are some things wrong, for example, Shakira. was certified diamond in Colombia for selling 200k