For years, many of you have been waiting patiently for every new Commensure Sales to Popularity Concept (CSPC) article, pieces of work portraying in detail the success of an artist.
Today, with introduce the biggest revolution since the start of this concept.
In fact, the streaming component of CSPC totals will now be updated automatically as soon as you want it!
The best selling artists ever
If you are not familiar with this concept, it consists in retrieving sales figures from every format and weighting them on par with album sales.
In doing so, we grant that comparisons between artists from different periods make sense, unlike lists based on raw records totals.
The method also secures that the same formula is applied to all artists, avoiding issues related to the varying conversion rate used for streaming in different markets as well as by most labels on their communications.
All figures for sales have been detailed on each artist article, available through the link under their name.
The column ‘Other LPs’ includes long formats made of already released material like greatest hits compilations, box sets, live records, bootlegs, and music videos.
Digital singles include both downloads and ringtones.
The automatic update of streams
Data related to streams uses multiple audio and video platforms to convert into EAS (Equivalent Album Sales). The formula is defined as below.
Equivalent Albums Sales (EAS) = ( Spotify * 310/207 + Genie * 3.05*2 + AWA * 100/5.5 ) / 1500 + ( Xiami * 125/6.5 + YouTube ) / 11750
Platforms Genie, AWA, and Xiami reflect artists’ popularity in South Korea, Japan and China, respectively.
Once we apply the formula to the results of an artist, we are able to define a conversion rate between Spotify numbers to comprehensive streaming EAS.
We then apply this rate to last updated streams from Spotify as searched by our users with our tool.
For example, if an artist had 3 billion streams on Spotify and 5 million EAS from streams when last studied while he is up to 6 billion streams now, the process will add him 5 million EAS on top of his previous total.
If something happens to significantly change the ratio, like a local artist getting a big global smash, we will update it inside our database.
Regular users of our streaming search tool know it doesn’t retrieve features that do not appear inside an artist page.
In backend, we do have a version of the tool that does look for what we use to call orphan songs.
The script looks at the former streaming EAS from the article, the calculated EAs based on the last user search (without orphans) and the calculated EAS based on the last backend search (with orphans) and uses the highest figure on below table.
We will make sure to frequently look for the largest artists in terms of orphan songs like Rihanna, Drake and Justin Bieber.
A last specificity are artists with side discographies that are accounted for into their CSPC article because of their huge contribution on them.
Selena Gomez & The Scene, Beyoncé as part of The Carters, Rod Stewart & The Faces, the Jackson 5 with the Jacksons, etc.
We also accounted for these cases by looking at the relative strength of the side discography so that the calculation remains comprehensive.
If you happen a number going down, it would be either because we revised the artist ratio downward or because Spotify made a song unavailable. In this later case, we will fix the situation manually as soon as we notice it.
For further details, feel free to use the comment section.
If you would like to support us and can afford it, you may reach our contribution page. If you have more time than money and are interested in participating in the content creation, please reach us through comments, Twitter or email, we will be reaching you back!
Top CSPC – the all-time artists chart
To allow you to see the tremendous impact of this mass update, which adds for over 300 million sales over all artists, we temporarily display head to head the former CSPC total along with the updated one.
The below table presents the best selling artists of all-time using the below ratios.
- Studio Album: sales of the original album
- Other LPs: sales of compilations generated thanks to the album
- Physical Singles: sales of physical singles from the album (added to CSPC total with a ratio 3/10 for 2-tracks, 5/10 for EPs and Maxis)
- Digital Singles: sales of digital singles from the album (ratio 1,5/10 for CSPC total)
- Streaming: equivalent album sales of all the album tracks (ratio 1/1500 for Audio stream and 1/11750 for Video stream)
The * mark after streaming numbers means the value contains orphan songs.
Naturally, older artists have very few features, so the absence of them can be irrelevant.
The Beatles for example have simply no orphan song at all on Spotify, meaning that all their songs are available on their artist page as they recording no featuring nor songs for various artists releases.
| # | PIC | Artist | Total CSPC | Studio Albums Sales | Other LPs Sales | Physical Singles Sales | Digital Singles Sales | Sales Update | Streams EAS (Update) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | The Beatles | 414,532,000 | 160,650,000 | 203,392,000 | 116,080,000 | 35,230,000 | 03/01/17 | 10,382,000* (02/24/21) |
| 2 |  | Michael Jackson | 329,573,000 | 182,600,000 | 101,997,000 | 79,350,000 | 79,930,000 | 09/27/17 | 9,181,000* (02/24/21) |
| 3 |  | Elvis Presley | 316,205,000 | 53,150,000 | 212,309,000 | 135,210,000 | 37,470,000 | 09/01/18 | 4,564,000* (02/19/21) |
| 4 |  | Queen | 267,924,000 | 90,230,000 | 139,348,000 | 49,960,000 | 59,650,000 | 01/25/20 | 14,407,000* (02/24/21) |
| 5 |  | Madonna | 243,589,000 | 146,450,000 | 64,420,000 | 75,210,000 | 42,100,000 | 08/13/17 | 3,841,000* (02/24/21) |
| 6 |  | The Rolling Stones | 240,167,000 | 113,800,000 | 92,495,000 | 72,770,000 | 46,200,000 | 12/03/16 | 5,110,000* (02/24/21) |
| 7 |  | Pink Floyd | 233,347,000 | 169,600,000 | 52,025,000 | 8,800,000 | 23,360,000 | 06/18/17 | 5,578,000* (02/22/21) |
| 8 |  | Led Zeppelin | 203,730,000 | 141,500,000 | 51,200,000 | 6,350,000 | 32,030,000 | 08/08/16 | 4,321,000* (02/23/21) |
| 9 |  | Elton John | 199,949,000 | 88,630,000 | 82,400,000 | 65,340,000 | 26,250,000 | 02/05/18 | 5,379,000* (02/22/21) |
| 10 |  | U2 | 197,659,000 | 127,100,000 | 53,051,000 | 22,550,000 | 40,500,000 | 08/31/16 | 4,668,000* (02/23/21) |
| 11 |  | Céline Dion | 195,794,000 | 136,200,000 | 40,424,000 | 39,290,000 | 26,660,000 | 09/23/16 | 3,384,000* (02/24/21) |
| 12 |  | AC/DC | 195,285,000 | 132,470,000 | 49,349,000 | 7,200,000 | 33,450,000 | 02/20/18 | 6,288,000* (02/24/21) |
| 13 |  | Rod Stewart & Faces | 188,703,000 | 100,150,000 | 66,819,000 | 55,220,000 | 17,420,000 | 11/23/19 | 2,546,000* (02/04/21) |
| 14 |  | Eminem | 186,167,000 | 97,920,000 | 25,487,000 | 14,380,000 | 197,610,000 | 07/31/19 | 28,806,000* (02/24/21) |
| 15 |  | Eagles | 173,203,000 | 65,425,000 | 96,732,000 | 16,630,000 | 20,440,000 | 12/20/17 | 2,992,000* (02/23/21) |
| 16 |  | Mariah Carey | 171,629,000 | 116,100,000 | 31,228,000 | 36,890,000 | 50,130,000 | 04/28/17 | 5,715,000* (02/24/21) |
| 17 |  | Metallica | 159,433,000 | 121,260,000 | 20,164,000 | 15,480,000 | 40,770,000 | 02/13/19 | 7,249,000* (02/22/21) |
| 18 |  | ABBA | 159,142,000 | 45,300,000 | 91,491,000 | 54,400,000 | 17,870,000 | 11/02/16 | 3,351,000* (02/21/21) |
| 19 |  | Bruce Springsteen | 159,117,000 | 103,400,000 | 42,176,000 | 21,010,000 | 25,420,000 | 07/07/17 | 3,426,000* (02/22/21) |
| 20 |  | Bee Gees | 158,928,000 | 75,525,000 | 56,477,000 | 72,790,000 | 17,230,000 | 04/09/17 | 2,504,000* (02/18/21) |
| 21 |  | Whitney Houston | 154,712,000 | 113,600,000 | 17,175,000 | 49,520,000 | 34,250,000 | 05/04/17 | 3,942,000* (02/23/21) |
| 22 |  | Barbra Streisand | 152,945,000 | 91,370,000 | 49,714,000 | 35,250,000 | 3,680,000 | 03/16/18 | 733,000* (02/20/21) |
| 23 |  | Phil Collins | 149,233,000 | 93,780,000 | 39,905,000 | 29,910,000 | 22,690,000 | 04/11/18 | 3,172,000* (02/17/21) |
| 24 |  | Billy Joel | 148,661,000 | 91,400,000 | 40,235,000 | 36,900,000 | 21,000,000 | 10/19/16 | 2,806,000* (02/15/21) |
| 25 |  | Fleetwood Mac | 148,214,000 | 84,550,000 | 46,392,000 | 26,060,000 | 32,030,000 | 10/08/16 | 4,650,000* (02/15/21) |
| 26 |  | Bon Jovi | 147,199,000 | 89,450,000 | 39,176,000 | 27,980,000 | 38,450,000 | 11/16/16 | 4,411,000* (02/24/21) |
| 27 |  | Santana | 144,512,000 | 89,465,000 | 46,265,000 | 15,380,000 | 16,560,000 | 08/04/20 | 1,762,000* (02/12/21) |
| 28 |  | Garth Brooks | 144,338,000 | 81,605,000 | 62,341,000 | 950,000 | 90,000 | 01/05/19 | 92,000* (02/21/21) |
| 29 |  | Bob Dylan | 143,819,000 | 83,350,000 | 47,870,000 | 17,680,000 | 30,410,000 | 10/23/16 | 2,734,000* (02/21/21) |
| 30 |  | Bob Marley | 138,731,000 | 43,075,000 | 81,593,000 | 9,980,000 | 33,690,000 | 11/21/17 | 6,015,000* (02/14/21) |
| 31 |  | Prince | 132,886,000 | 86,580,000 | 27,141,000 | 42,910,000 | 29,590,000 | 10/04/18 | 1,854,000* (02/19/21) |
| 32 |  | Aerosmith | 131,653,000 | 71,710,000 | 48,158,000 | 15,500,000 | 25,550,000 | 06/01/18 | 3,302,000* (02/10/21) |
| 33 |  | David Bowie | 128,484,000 | 71,500,000 | 36,023,000 | 44,200,000 | 19,830,000 | 01/11/17 | 4,725,000* (02/23/21) |
| 34 |  | Simon & Garfunkel | 125,049,000 | 37,820,000 | 75,732,000 | 23,830,000 | 14,350,000 | 05/11/18 | 2,196,000* (02/10/21) |
| 35 |  | Guns N' Roses | 121,121,000 | 86,360,000 | 20,134,000 | 11,900,000 | 37,210,000 | 03/01/18 | 5,475,000* (02/21/21) |
| 36 |  | The Doors | 115,661,000 | 51,980,000 | 55,480,000 | 13,860,000 | 11,100,000 | 03/03/19 | 2,378,000* (02/17/21) |
| 37 |  | Paul McCartney | 110,871,000 | 61,670,000 | 27,441,000 | 57,970,000 | 11,250,000 | 12/13/18 | 2,681,000* (02/23/21) |
| 38 |  | Dire Straits | 110,028,000 | 71,730,000 | 31,635,000 | 8,380,000 | 10,900,000 | 03/23/18 | 2,514,000* (02/23/21) |
| 39 |  | George Michael & Wham! | 107,360,000 | 60,200,000 | 26,150,000 | 49,880,000 | 16,770,000 | 05/07/17 | 3,531,000* (02/24/21) |
| 40 |  | Britney Spears | 103,946,000 | 68,595,000 | 11,460,000 | 18,600,000 | 83,030,000 | 04/28/19 | 5,857,000* (02/24/21) |
| 41 |  | Van Halen | 102,494,000 | 79,620,000 | 14,065,000 | 10,450,000 | 16,810,000 | 12/14/20 | 3,148,000* (02/09/21) |
| 42 |  | Coldplay | 99,025,000 | 59,560,000 | 5,979,000 | 2,050,000 | 93,680,000 | 11/30/19 | 18,814,000* (02/23/21) |
| 43 |  | Rihanna | 98,447,000 | 33,100,000 | 500,000 | 3,560,000 | 251,150,000 | 07/03/19 | 26,108,000* (02/24/21) |
| 44 |  | The Police | 97,780,000 | 46,370,000 | 40,183,000 | 23,810,000 | 11,300,000 | 06/06/20 | 2,377,000* (02/20/21) |
| 45 |  | Taylor Swift | 97,028,000 | 48,220,000 | 3,768,000 | 260,000 | 158,560,000 | 10/23/20 | 21,174,000* (02/24/21) |
| 46 |  | Backstreet Boys | 96,743,000 | 58,900,000 | 25,685,000 | 18,010,000 | 22,550,000 | 02/09/17 | 3,372,000* (02/23/21) |
| 47 |  | Red Hot Chili Peppers | 95,530,000 | 61,870,000 | 16,881,000 | 4,800,000 | 44,400,000 | 03/29/18 | 8,680,000* (02/23/21) |
| 48 |  | Nirvana | 92,562,000 | 45,000,000 | 37,650,000 | 4,190,000 | 23,250,000 | 07/09/17 | 5,167,000* (02/23/21) |
| 49 |  | Creedence Clearwater Revival | 91,082,000 | 33,135,000 | 45,489,000 | 22,570,000 | 14,600,000 | 01/31/19 | 3,498,000* (02/19/21) |
| 50 |  | Adele | 89,811,000 | 59,110,000 | 3,855,000 | 530,000 | 100,240,000 | 06/02/19 | 11,651,000* (02/22/21) |
| 51 |  | Drake | 89,085,000 | 14,775,000 | 0 | 0 | 137,310,000 | 08/28/17 | 53,714,000* (02/24/21) |
| 52 |  | Enya | 87,578,000 | 65,480,000 | 17,069,000 | 5,250,000 | 9,610,000 | 02/25/18 | 2,011,000* (02/22/21) |
| 53 |  | Bryan Adams | 87,505,000 | 42,260,000 | 30,518,000 | 32,090,000 | 17,250,000 | 03/23/19 | 2,513,000* (02/23/21) |
| 54 |  | Green Day | 85,893,000 | 58,250,000 | 13,567,000 | 3,050,000 | 44,600,000 | 03/11/17 | 6,472,000* (02/21/21) |
| 55 |  | Linkin Park | 85,818,000 | 48,350,000 | 14,500,000 | 3,210,000 | 73,710,000 | 06/04/17 | 10,949,000* (02/23/21) |
| 56 |  | Beyonce | 82,145,000 | 33,430,000 | 4,431,000 | 4,070,000 | 166,890,000 | 05/02/18 | 18,030,000* (02/24/21) |
| 57 |  | Shania Twain | 81,532,000 | 63,200,000 | 11,259,000 | 13,130,000 | 10,700,000 | 12/05/16 | 1,529,000* (02/18/21) |
| 58 |  | Journey | 81,005,000 | 40,250,000 | 31,623,000 | 8,090,000 | 29,770,000 | 09/13/19 | 2,241,000* (02/17/21) |
| 59 |  | Sting | 79,590,000 | 52,360,000 | 17,720,000 | 16,010,000 | 14,160,000 | 06/14/20 | 2,321,000* (02/10/21) |
| 60 |  | Black Sabbath | 78,297,000 | 46,280,000 | 27,467,000 | 3,300,000 | 11,280,000 | 03/08/20 | 1,828,000* (02/10/21) |
| 61 |  | Janet Jackson | 77,806,000 | 50,500,000 | 12,175,000 | 40,640,000 | 13,350,000 | 04/17/17 | 938,000* (02/24/21) |
| 62 |  | Justin Bieber | 76,525,000 | 19,810,000 | 7,120,000 | 540,000 | 110,890,000 | 08/04/19 | 32,799,000* (02/24/21) |
| 63 |  | Robbie Williams | 76,111,000 | 46,500,000 | 21,770,000 | 11,960,000 | 13,860,000 | 12/15/19 | 2,157,000* (02/23/21) |
| 64 |  | Johnny Hallyday | 75,788,000 | 26,740,000 | 35,156,000 | 43,740,000 | 1,430,000 | 01/01/18 | 557,000* (01/30/21) |
| 65 |  | Sade | 75,027,000 | 51,560,000 | 18,565,000 | 6,270,000 | 11,140,000 | 07/01/20 | 1,349,000* (02/21/21) |
| 66 |  | John Lennon | 73,474,000 | 31,420,000 | 30,759,000 | 26,780,000 | 12,160,000 | 10/16/18 | 1,437,000* (02/23/21) |
| 67 |  | Cher | 73,213,000 | 34,825,000 | 21,889,000 | 46,220,000 | 9,630,000 | 08/30/17 | 1,189,000* (02/24/21) |
| 68 |  | Supertramp | 71,633,000 | 48,540,000 | 17,999,000 | 10,070,000 | 6,830,000 | 08/13/19 | 1,048,000* (02/18/21) |
| 69 |  | Maroon 5 | 70,493,000 | 26,050,000 | 2,138,000 | 1,600,000 | 149,190,000 | 12/02/19 | 19,407,000* (02/23/21) |
| 70 |  | Ed Sheeran | 69,452,000 | 21,970,000 | 466,000 | 130,000 | 79,640,000 | 10/27/19 | 35,027,000* (02/24/21) |
| 71 |  | Lady Gaga | 69,042,000 | 31,215,000 | 4,790,000 | 1,570,000 | 128,860,000 | 12/18/20 | 13,235,000* (02/24/21) |
| 72 |  | P!nk | 67,707,000 | 37,025,000 | 8,906,000 | 7,270,000 | 81,150,000 | 10/15/17 | 7,422,000* (02/24/21) |
| 73 |  | Michael Buble | 65,637,000 | 47,800,000 | 6,344,000 | 770,000 | 35,400,000 | 12/11/16 | 5,952,000* (02/19/21) |
| 74 |  | BTS | 64,187,000 | 21,850,000 | 7,960,000 | 3,220,000 | 30,880,000 | 09/04/20 | 28,776,000* (02/24/21) |
| 75 |  | Usher | 64,127,000 | 36,160,000 | 2,201,000 | 12,040,000 | 93,610,000 | 09/04/17 | 8,112,000* (02/23/21) |
| 76 |  | Shakira | 63,192,000 | 34,780,000 | 6,620,000 | 8,460,000 | 56,350,000 | 06/21/18 | 10,803,000* (02/24/21) |
| 77 |  | Meat Loaf | 62,223,000 | 48,300,000 | 9,565,000 | 10,850,000 | 3,900,000 | 06/16/18 | 519,000* (02/22/21) |
| 78 |  | Ayumi Hamasaki | 61,284,000 | 21,810,000 | 19,339,000 | 25,980,000 | 46,480,000 | 09/27/19 | 614,000* (02/24/21) |
| 79 |  | Oasis | 61,273,000 | 41,050,000 | 10,046,000 | 11,420,000 | 18,800,000 | 12/06/17 | 3,932,000* (02/24/21) |
| 80 |  | Bruno Mars | 59,571,000 | 17,375,000 | 40,000 | 250,000 | 149,580,000 | 06/27/19 | 19,645,000* (02/24/21) |
| 81 |  | Jackson 5 & The Jacksons | 58,762,000 | 26,400,000 | 19,027,000 | 31,160,000 | 13,720,000 | 09/26/17 | 1,929,000* (02/23/21) |
| 82 |  | Alanis Morissette | 57,531,000 | 47,065,000 | 6,951,000 | 3,340,000 | 9,080,000 | 06/05/18 | 1,151,000* (02/21/21) |
| 83 |  | Black Eyed Peas | 56,354,000 | 33,350,000 | 251,000 | 6,590,000 | 103,960,000 | 08/03/17 | 5,182,000* (02/24/21) |
| 84 |  | Enrique Iglesias | 55,571,000 | 33,900,000 | 5,300,000 | 8,900,000 | 50,110,000 | 09/27/16 | 6,184,000* (02/17/21) |
| 85 |  | Nickelback | 55,484,000 | 40,500,000 | 1,824,000 | 3,020,000 | 57,280,000 | 06/28/17 | 3,662,000* (02/23/21) |
| 86 |  | Christina Aguilera | 54,131,000 | 30,400,000 | 4,375,000 | 12,740,000 | 69,950,000 | 03/18/17 | 5,041,000* (02/24/21) |
| 87 |  | Ozzy Osbourne | 51,990,000 | 39,370,000 | 7,483,000 | 3,760,000 | 15,180,000 | 03/12/20 | 1,707,000* (02/13/21) |
| 88 |  | Paul Simon | 51,890,000 | 34,390,000 | 11,598,000 | 12,820,000 | 3,740,000 | 05/10/18 | 1,496,000* (02/17/21) |
| 89 |  | One Direction | 51,814,000 | 23,900,000 | 6,350,000 | 120,000 | 57,000,000 | 05/14/17 | 12,977,000* (02/24/21) |
| 90 |  | Norah Jones | 51,577,000 | 43,550,000 | 2,825,000 | 300,000 | 18,600,000 | 11/04/16 | 2,422,000* (02/24/21) |
| 91 |  | Tracy Chapman | 51,549,000 | 43,760,000 | 3,519,000 | 3,480,000 | 12,490,000 | 06/25/19 | 1,351,000* (02/21/21) |
| 92 |  | Justin Timberlake | 50,779,000 | 23,490,000 | 1,480,000 | 5,330,000 | 102,090,000 | 02/09/18 | 8,896,000* (02/23/21) |
| 93 |  | Katy Perry | 50,375,000 | 15,880,000 | 300,000 | 870,000 | 135,430,000 | 06/16/19 | 13,620,000* (02/17/21) |
| 94 |  | Boston | 50,128,000 | 41,330,000 | 4,803,000 | 5,640,000 | 9,540,000 | 06/01/19 | 873,000* (02/10/21) |
| 95 |  | Alicia Keys | 50,108,000 | 32,960,000 | 2,524,000 | 3,690,000 | 57,750,000 | 11/19/16 | 4,854,000* (02/24/21) |
| 96 |  | Spice Girls | 49,370,000 | 37,050,000 | 4,349,000 | 20,020,000 | 5,200,000 | 03/23/17 | 1,185,000* (02/23/21) |
| 97 |  | Destiny's Child | 47,716,000 | 33,010,000 | 5,800,000 | 11,120,000 | 22,320,000 | 05/02/18 | 2,223,000* (02/24/21) |
| 98 |  | Miley Cyrus | 47,089,000 | 23,050,000 | 2,365,000 | 250,000 | 70,530,000 | 12/06/20 | 11,019,000* (02/15/21) |
| 99 |  | Cranberries | 45,715,000 | 37,650,000 | 3,710,000 | 4,120,000 | 8,210,000 | 01/25/18 | 1,888,000* (02/22/21) |
| 100 |  | Avril Lavigne | 45,095,000 | 32,290,000 | 1,206,000 | 3,510,000 | 46,160,000 | 02/10/18 | 3,254,000* (02/24/21) |
| 101 |  | NSYNC | 44,855,000 | 37,930,000 | 2,669,000 | 6,980,000 | 5,110,000 | 02/09/18 | 1,396,000* (02/23/21) |
| 102 |  | Mannheim Steamroller | 44,145,000 | 33,305,000 | 10,344,000 | 40,000 | 2,410,000 | 12/24/20 | 114,000* (01/30/21) |
| 103 |  | Jennifer Lopez | 44,001,000 | 26,120,000 | 4,811,000 | 10,760,000 | 36,810,000 | 06/24/18 | 4,321,000* (02/24/21) |
| 104 |  | Ariana Grande | 43,918,000 | 5,225,000 | 499,000 | 50,000 | 50,360,000 | 10/16/19 | 30,622,000* (02/24/21) |
| 105 |  | Foo Fighters | 42,038,000 | 26,750,000 | 6,207,000 | 1,430,000 | 26,610,000 | 10/10/17 | 4,661,000* (02/23/21) |
| 106 |  | The Weeknd | 41,467,000 | 5,235,000 | 3,035,000 | 80,000 | 44,270,000 | 09/10/20 | 21,959,000* (02/24/21) |
| 107 |  | TLC | 40,759,000 | 32,195,000 | 1,920,000 | 13,120,000 | 8,350,000 | 04/07/19 | 1,455,000* (02/18/21) |
| 108 |  | Take That | 39,034,000 | 19,930,000 | 14,016,000 | 9,210,000 | 10,240,000 | 12/15/19 | 754,000* (02/17/21) |
| 109 |  | Kelly Clarkson | 36,664,000 | 21,600,000 | 1,460,000 | 2,200,000 | 62,010,000 | 05/23/18 | 3,641,000* (02/24/21) |
| 110 |  | Kylie Minogue | 36,581,000 | 20,320,000 | 7,103,000 | 19,720,000 | 12,150,000 | 04/16/18 | 1,418,000* (02/18/21) |
| 111 |  | No Doubt | 35,225,000 | 25,730,000 | 6,058,000 | 4,910,000 | 6,080,000 | 03/29/20 | 1,053,000* (02/18/21) |
| 112 |  | Imagine Dragons | 32,733,000 | 7,960,000 | 371,000 | 30,000 | 45,410,000 | 09/19/18 | 17,580,000* (02/23/21) |
| 113 |  | Amy Winehouse | 32,600,000 | 23,180,000 | 2,411,000 | 580,000 | 21,660,000 | 07/19/19 | 3,586,000* (02/20/21) |
| 114 |  | Kendrick Lamar | 31,492,000 | 5,725,000 | 50,000 | 0 | 32,650,000 | 04/12/19 | 20,819,000* (02/21/21) |
| 115 |  | Dido | 30,858,000 | 26,630,000 | 420,000 | 5,320,000 | 6,210,000 | 02/18/19 | 1,280,000* (02/23/21) |
| 116 |  | Evanescence | 30,666,000 | 22,440,000 | 2,755,000 | 2,170,000 | 18,390,000 | 06/30/19 | 2,062,000* (02/21/21) |
| 117 |  | Post Malone | 30,591,000 | 1,720,000 | 10,000 | 40,000 | 14,640,000 | 11/26/20 | 26,652,000* (02/24/21) |
| 118 |  | Carrie Underwood | 29,385,000 | 18,050,000 | 839,000 | 500,000 | 54,410,000 | 09/09/18 | 2,185,000* (02/22/21) |
| 119 |  | James Blunt | 28,431,000 | 20,440,000 | 1,020,000 | 2,130,000 | 23,090,000 | 02/05/19 | 2,867,000* (02/24/21) |
| 120 |  | Sam Smith | 27,050,000 | 6,525,000 | 25,000 | 100,000 | 32,700,000 | 10/11/17 | 15,565,000* (02/24/21) |
| 121 |  | Selena Gomez | 26,763,000 | 5,490,000 | 215,000 | 40,000 | 35,710,000 | 11/28/17 | 15,689,000* (02/24/21) |
| 122 |  | Björk | 25,938,000 | 19,730,000 | 4,372,000 | 2,620,000 | 3,460,000 | 12/23/18 | 531,000* (02/21/21) |
| 123 |  | Gorillaz | 24,168,000 | 14,830,000 | 1,240,000 | 2,110,000 | 19,000,000 | 05/08/17 | 4,615,000* (02/24/21) |
| 124 |  | Shawn Mendes | 22,389,000 | 2,630,000 | 120,000 | 40,000 | 20,330,000 | 10/08/19 | 16,578,000* (02/24/21) |
| 125 |  | Renaud | 22,184,000 | 13,230,000 | 7,667,000 | 2,660,000 | 690,000 | 11/01/17 | 385,000* (01/30/21) |
| 126 |  | Macklemore | 21,558,000 | 3,225,000 | 45,000 | 80,000 | 39,270,000 | 11/07/17 | 12,374,000* (02/16/21) |
| 127 |  | Lana Del Rey | 21,440,000 | 7,950,000 | 565,000 | 210,000 | 20,200,000 | 08/24/17 | 9,832,000* (02/24/21) |
| 128 |  | Arctic Monkeys | 20,570,000 | 10,340,000 | 302,000 | 560,000 | 12,870,000 | 05/14/18 | 7,830,000* (02/23/21) |
| 129 |  | Billie Eilish | 20,382,000 | 2,270,000 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 5,920,000 | 07/04/20 | 17,200,000* (02/24/21) |
| 130 |  | Demi Lovato | 20,378,000 | 4,480,000 | 35,000 | 50,000 | 35,890,000 | 10/09/18 | 10,464,000* (02/07/21) |
| 131 |  | Avicii | 20,017,000 | 2,200,000 | 170,000 | 250,000 | 36,700,000 | 04/25/18 | 12,067,000* (02/15/21) |
| 132 |  | Gwen Stefani | 19,803,000 | 12,060,000 | 154,000 | 3,130,000 | 29,040,000 | 04/12/20 | 2,294,000* (02/20/21) |
| 133 |  | Aaliyah | 18,112,000 | 12,200,000 | 3,174,000 | 6,350,000 | 3,050,000 | 02/14/17 | 374,000* (02/23/21) |
| 134 |  | Dua Lipa | 16,942,000 | 945,000 | 6,000 | 20,000 | 7,020,000 | 01/05/21 | 14,932,000* (02/24/21) |
| 135 |  | Fergie | 13,849,000 | 6,450,000 | 25,000 | 750,000 | 36,900,000 | 07/12/17 | 1,614,000* (02/19/21) |
| 136 |  | Will.i.am | 12,275,000 | 950,000 | 0 | 750,000 | 53,300,000 | 07/20/17 | 3,106,000* (02/17/21) |
| 137 |  | Little Mix | 12,062,000 | 3,670,000 | 0 | 130,000 | 12,020,000 | 02/02/20 | 6,550,000* (02/24/21) |
| 138 |  | Lorde | 11,288,000 | 3,300,000 | 100,000 | 0 | 19,250,000 | 06/22/17 | 5,000,000* (02/24/21) |
Hi,
Bob Dylan’s new album Rough Ways has 20 million streams. Is it true? Album has already sold 0,5 million copies or units. The oldest artist in the world holding number one (79 years). UK 1, US 2, De 1, Jp 11.
I think Dame Vera Lyn holds the record, with her 2009 UK #1 album, Well Meet Again, when she was 92.
Also, Tony Bennetts Duets II was a BB200 #1 in 2011, when he was 85 and his duet album with Lady Gaga, also went to #1 on the BB200 in 2014, when he was 88, also beat Dylan.
Vera Lyn old material, collection. Tony Bennett same thing, old songs. Dylan is the oldest, who has produced his own new material (Metacritic 95/100). Sure thing.
Streams give bad picture of sales. Eg More blood, Cutting edge, Basement tapes. Box prices is average more than 100 euros and sales about 200000 copies. Grossing is on a different level. For example, More blood was Sony’s second best selling record Q4, I.e Christmas season sales. Streams on this box is 15 million. And grossing corresponden to over a 2 million albums, right? Boxs rises to the top ten many countries. 14 top ten albums in Germany after year 2000. And new album 20 million streams but selling over 0,5 million copies. Spotify is more for young people. Nobel… Read more »
I know, but you said a #1, not a #1 studio album of newly recorded music.
this chart is inaccurate. streams doesn’t equate to pure sales.
ariana will reach 50m by mid of 2021, if she releases ag6 soon ofc.
Taylor is increasingly immensely due to the release of Folklore.
She can pass Rihanna as the best selling female artist of the 21st century, and that’s with 3 country albums. Amazing.
If she keeps on doing as well as shes doing now she might surpass barbra streisand and whitney
Country albums are known for selling extremely well in the USA so I’m not sure what you mean by that comment. It’s her combination of country music and pop music that has got her such high sales. Two markets are better than one.
They also flop everywhere else but Canada, compared to pop albums which sell globally.
Though not a very sizeable market, country music also does quite well in Ireland.
Hi Chartmasters team.
Just curious, how many records did the top 10 sell? And would it change their current order? I’m guessing Elvis would take the #2 spot.
Yess if u want to look from records’s perspective yes Elvis may sneak past MJ with siezble lead as Elvis had massive single sales and as u know singles sell in greater number than albums so more records(this is only my assumption coz im new to this game)
I wonder how much of an increase would Celine get if we get an update of encore un soir sales and add courage album. It’s been a while, when are we getting the Celine dion update?
I wouldn’t imagine she is in the pipeline, in the foreseeable future, as many contemporary and legacy artists, even without the aid of new product, will have increased by more and take priority.
still looking forward to it.
Can you do her compilation sales? And maybe abba too?
Is The Beatles jumping from 413 million to 416.8 million EAS over the space of a few days a glitch, a recalculation or a surge in popularity!?!
There’s no way michael jackson outsold Elvis. elvis has sold 600 million records according to wikipedia and michael jackson only 350 millions with the death boost. this is fake . Also Queen are behind madonna too…
Do you know what is a claim? 💖
Also, never trust Wikipedia.
“records” does not mean albums
No no no, Wikipedia is fake as is a lot of the fake hype by the music press.
True, Madonna has sold more physical albums. Queen have moved ahead because their streaming numbers are incredibly strong.
It’s not just streams, look at the first 2 columns and see that Queen sold more LP’s.
No, they didn’t, Queen are only beating Madonna because of streams and catalog sales.
Yes, they’ve only recently overtaken her, but catalogue sales are, at least partly, also LP’s.
Madonna only outsold Queen on studio albums and physical singles. Queen outsold Madonna on digital/streaming, other releases, and because of them, albums overall. That’s it, you can’t (and many people can’t) process Queen outsold Madonna by far lol.
I literally said that minus the digital sales.
Compilations are catalog sales and streaming is their main source sales with their catalogue.
I don’t see the need for down votes and replies.
Madonna actually outsold Queen in albums, she has over 200 million sales, Queen are at 179 million the last time I saw. Doubt they sold 30 million CDs in 2 years.
So… they only have streams on their side.
You just need to look at the table and add up everything lol.
Queen: 90+140=230 million (207 million without multiple packages).
Madonna: 146+64=200 million
I LOVE Madonna but you and all Madonna fans are really stressing.
Where do you get that 140 million figure from for Queen?
Just look at the table lol. Also I messed up Madonna’s number, its 210 million. MJD just wrote Madonna would grow at best 2 million pure. So lets leave it at 212 million. Good luck with the just annonced Madonna biopic xx.
You’re completely right Jake. In the end Madonna’s album sales show she was more popular than Queen, maybe if she had more compilation albums like Queen she was above them.
Correct, was 💅🏻 😎
Why? She has plenty GHs/Best Ofs out there. The fact is, her songs are quite simply just not as popular or enduring as Queens. So what makes you think her having yet more GHs, would equate to more sales?
Because the table shows that Queen only did better than Madonna in Other LPs and Digital Singles. None of their albums from the 80s and 90s sold more than Madonna’s albums released at the same period. That is, during the 80s and 90s Madonna sold more albums than they did. Queen did better than she did in the end of the result because of the great sales of two compilations, one with 25 million and the other with 18 million, and also the digital sales which are boosted thanks to the Fred Mercury’s film success, not because their songs are… Read more »
I’d have to strongly disagree, I’d say WATC is infinitely more well known than LAV and more popular. Obviously not when they were respectively released but over time, WATC is clearly the more revered and well known track. And why did and do those two GHs sell so well? Because their tracks have stood the test of time better, are more popular, more listened too, more downloaded, more revered etc etc etc. And if you’d cared to check their respective results prior to the Queen film, you would have seen that Queens tracks were already way more popular, more streamed,… Read more »
The only reason her lead in studio album sales is so big is precicely cause Queen released so many compilations. These cannibalized the catalog sales of the studio albums. They would probably be on par with Led Zeppelin or Pink Floyd in terms of catalog sales of studio albums if this wasn’t the case.
I’ve never truly believed this. Just because say Under Pressure streams so well and hence a hell of a lot of sales from comps/live albums etc go towards Hot Space, I don’t think it automatically means that Hot Space, is as popular as it’s CSPC makes out or that it would have sold a huge amount. Lets face it, in the UK Hot Space had 9 years of sales before UP turned up on GH2 and it wasn’t exactly flying off the shelves in that time.
For this matter, you can’t really isolate one example to consider the whole point. If we really into “if”s, we need to rebuild the context. Without GHs, ANATO would have been a great seller even since his release. In a slightly lower scale but still very healthy would have been the likes Jazz, NOTW, The Game, etc. Then, once consumers start having 3-4 studio albums, when another one is reissued, they go after it too, then another one, then they just consider completing the collection. Then they are more tempted to purchase new albums getting released too. That’s how even… Read more »
But this whole area is an “if”. We can’t know, had an artist not released a GH so soon after a studio album that, that studio album would have continued to sell well. We do not know that ANATO would have been a great seller, if GH had not been released 6 years later, we are just assuming it would have become a great seller. I get that it seems logical to assume this and it is true (that GHs take sales away from studio albums) but it is in every sense an “if”. It’s not just a specific case… Read more »
Also, Queens Greatest Hits came out 6 years after A Night At The Opera, The Immaculate Collection came out 6 years after Like A Virgin, 4 years after True Blue and only 1 year after Like A Prayer, yet they still sold 21m, 22m & 14m respectively, while A Night At The Opera only around 12m. I know the market and sales had upped since 1975-1981 but it still shows to me that, the public wanted her albums more than people wanted Queens.
I desagree. The compilations sold more exactly because the casual buyers wanted the hits that were showed in the movie and the songs that played extensively on TV and radio after Fredie Mercury’s terrible and unexpected death.
Oh come on Andrew, you’re just sounding biased and in denial now. Their compilations have done exceptionally well since the movie but their tracks and hence their hits albums have long since been way more popular than Madonnas. It’s not as if the hits albums have shifted the majority of their copies since the movie came out!
Yet again a Madonna fan bringing up Freddies death, while completely failing to appreciate that since he died, Madonna has had the advantage and benefit of almost 30 years of new material and concert tours!
To give some perspective and to show that WATC was way ahead of LAV prior to the Bohemian Rhapsody film; Like A Virgin (08/17)/(10/20) Spotify: (47m)/(155m) Youtube: (79m)/(Approx 120m) We Are The Champions (10/17)/(10/20) Spotify: (92m)/(445m) Youtube: (275m)/(Approx 580m) On top of this, today, WATC is “only” Queens 8th most popular track on Spotify, LAV is Madonnas 2nd most popular. Madonnas most streamed track on Spotify, Like A Prayer has 198m streams, Queen have a whopping 14 tracks with more streams than that; Bohemian Rhapsody – 1395m Don’t Stop Me Now – 989m Another One Bites The Dust – 875m… Read more »
The streaming is thanks to the movie release and the death of Fredie also helped the sales and both things help them to get a new (young) audience.
No, as shown, their streaming figures on both Youtube and Spotify were way ahead of hers as far back as 2017, when both were originally analysed and between then and the movies release, they further extended their lead. Back then on Spotify (over a year prior to the movie), Bohemian Rhapsody at 330m, Don’t Stop Me Now at 227m, Another One Bites The Dust at 199m and Under Pressure at 191m, were either ahead or just behind her current most streamed track (Like A Prayer 198m) and let’s not forget, that Spotifys usage has greatly increased since then. And so… Read more »
One more thing worth noticing:
“None of their albums from the 80s and 90s sold more than Madonna’s albums released at the same period.”
Queen lost the US in the early 80s. Being the biggest market in the world, and Madonna’s prime market, she obviously sold more those days.
These days? No contest, in Queen’s favor.
Interesting point about Queen and the US. As for the strange “battle “between Queen and Madonna, maybe the US market might be the reason of Madonna’s not exactly stellar streaming numbers. She underperforms Mariah Carey and is neck and neck with Whitney Houston on Spotify, something I wouldn’t expect. Might this be explained by the severe backlash Madonna has faced in the USA since “American Life”? As we know Madonna never truly recovered from that backlash in the USA. Yes “Confessions on a Dancefloor” was a hit, “Hung Up” was a smash but largely thanks to European markets while in… Read more »
Actually most of spotify listeners come from europe(39%), while north america is second(29%), and latin america third(21%) somaybe madonna just didnt connect well to the new generation
Thanks Edward for the data, very interesting. While I completely agree that Madonna failed to connect with the new generation, largely because of a long series of mistakes she made after “Confessions”, I still think that her not great results on streaming have something to do with the boycott she faced from american radios after “American Life” and that part of her struggles on streaming might be explained by that backlash she never truly recovered from. Take p.e. Madonna’s “Hung Up” vs Mariah’s “We Belong Toghether”. Both songs were released in the same year (2005) and both songs signalled a… Read more »
Obviously you can’t and she does have it in her catalogue but if you were to discount All I Want For Christmas, which is a bit of an anomaly, from Careys overall total, her, Houston and Madonna have almost identical Spotify numbers.
Yes, but even discounting “All I Want for Christmas” Madonna is still neck and neck with Mariah Carey, despite the fact that Mariah in Europe was never as big as in the USA and in Europe you rarely hear a song from Mariah’s catalogue on the radio for 11 months a year, while it’s not so unusual to hear an old song of Madonna on the radio. So I would expect Madonna to be above Mariah on streaming and also above Whitney, who has a much smaller discography. Considering what happend in the USA after “American Life”, where Madonna was… Read more »
If we cut out the Madonna sales in US she still sold more than any of the Queen releases in the 80s and some of the 90s.
Confusing post. U been sniffing glue?
Adam, I think you should read the answers they gave you here jajaja, and never trust Wikipedia again
I would like them to make a list with the artists with the most sales only in net album
Where is this sudden jump in beatles STREAMS EAS coming from? (8,951,000 yesterday to 10,690,000 today)
Hi Braca!
It comes from a data glitch! In spite of our various controls to avoid saving the duplicates sent by Spotify in their hour of daily updates, the Beatles’ wrong total got saved. It’s now restored 🙂
😊Cheers mjd.
Elton’s number has a delay in the Streams EAD update it is still on 15 july.
Can you shed some light on why pls?
Artists with heavy catalogs often have minor releases added / masked by Spotify. Since the script rules out as ‘dubious’ results that have much more duplicates (on song names) than the previous day, to avoid savings duplicates from the 2-4pm update time frame, it can happen that legitimate data isn’t saved. Elton John has now 741 songs including 29 duplicated names popping up while on last save ‘only’ 715 songs and 24 duplicates were identified. I forced the save of this data so now the 741 songs will be the new comparison point.
Ty MJD
The beatles has leaped to 12,643,000 streams EAS overmight
Mjd – Is madonna streams EAS jump to 4,875,000 from 3.233,000 a glitch?
Yep, Spotify has been tricky with their updates lately. We always fix these as soon as we notice them though 🙂
Hi MJD — Beatles streams EAS jumped to 10,800,000. The issue is resilient 😊
Is there any technical glitch from Spotify or chartmasters? Beatles jumped to 8.9b from 6.8 while MJ moved from 6.3 to only 6.4 since Jan 2020 .. agreed the Beatles ever lasting legacy and greatness but the pace at which the Beatles hv grown is on par with Queen’s … Without major boost from films or new material how did Beatles jump so big???
Maybe because they are the biggest artist of all time? lol (well Abbey Road 50th anniversary has something to do tho).
Well I’m not into these “biggest” debates his fans call Elvis the biggest as he never toured outside US yet sold crazy records ,their fans call The Beatles the biggest as they sold more than any other music artist also their cultural legacy, and some call MJ the biggest as he sold such crazy numbers with only 6 albums during his lifetime as an adult solo artist also being the most popular and global especially outside US&UK his influence is unparalleled. Everyone has their claims and reasons to back those but such a massive jump in such a short time… Read more »
Mjd beatles made an additional jump to 11,320,000