The truth about Britney Spears’ album sales in Asia
Southeast Asia – Philippines
All countries analyzed from now to the end of this article are off the radar markets, for which we have no official database of certifications nor weekly ranking.
One main aspect is about the Philippines’ sales curve of Britney following a pattern sawn in Americas rather than in the East Asian countries previously listed. Is it surprising? No. The US culture is fully implanted in the Philippines unlike in countries like China. The second region heavily influencing their culture is the Hispanic World, which is perfectly translated into Britney album sales. This piece of information is fundamental to adjust formulas in order to estimate Asian sales. The idea of Japan being a good representation of sales from global stars all over Asia appears to be wrong.
How does that conclusion translate into sales? Britney’s first two albums, which were monster sellers in the US, sold an outstanding 65% of their Japanese sales in the Philippines alone. Her debut album also sold more there than in South Korea. This is in spite of the market being 2,5 times weaker at the time, which shows well how much more relevant American culture is in the Philippines.
Merging all the data together concludes on the following album sales to date:
- Baby One More Time – 330,000
- Oops!… I did It Again – 275,000
- Britney – 115,000
- In The Zone – 55,000
- Greatest Hits, My Prerogative – 30,000
- Blackout – 7,500
- Circus – 10,000
- The Singles Collection – 5,000