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Hi again MJD! I counted a total of 5,220,000 albums sold in Asia for Janet (not counting remix albums or other compilations). With more than 5 million albums sold across the Asian continent, I think it's safe to say Janet is one of the biggest selling non-Asian divas there, even if her sales outside Japan seem to be a bit underwhelming.
I looked up some of your older articles, but unfortunately you didn't start including Asian totals until very recently. If you have the time, would you please tell us how much the following artists have sold in Asia, including compilations?
Madonna
Celine Dion
Whitney Houston
Britney Spears
Beyonce/Destiny's Child
Shakira
Lady Gaga
Taylor Swift
All of them have been analysed by you at some point. It'd be very helpful and I'd really appreciate it! Unfortunately, Asian sales outside Japan are quite hard to find/estimate and you're the only person I trust with this. I don't think the likes of Katy Perry, Rihanna, Adele (shockingly enough), Alicia Keys, Amy Winehouse, etc. have sold considerable amounts in Asia, so I won't bother you with them! After Mariah, which diva would you say has sold the most in Asia? Madonna or Celine? From what I've seen, they have sold similar amounts, but I could be wrong, of course.
Thank you so much for your time and once again, great job with this article.
FINALLY. Thank you so much for your hard work putting all of these together! This is incredible.
But just for your information, Janet's albums from 80's and 90's need to be re-certified in so many territories, especially US. Rhythm Nation 1814 and janet. should have been certified Diamond in US by now. She is one of the few down to Earth diva who don't brag about her albums sales that much. If they re-certify her 80's and 90's albums I believe we can see her album sales is actually a bit bigger than this. But again, I cannot thank you enough for this. We are a part of a Rhythm Nation!
The estimation of 160M sales is actually came from her record sales (albums+singles). Her album sales estimation is around 90M worldwide (with shipments and streaming equivalent sales). Janet's 80's and 90's albums are need to be re-certified, that is why her sales seem so low.
Hi Wibisana!
All album sales mentioned in the article are up to date, none is limited to certifications. There is no way albums like RN1814 or Janet. should be Diamond, they are on 8m overall to date each. Remember her albums were removed from Music Clubs in mid-90s so her Soundscan sales were pretty much comprehensive from that point.
Hi Trish!
I'll have to go back to my files to fully answer you. It won't be easy as the format is constantly evolving as with experience they get better and better. I'll try answering you in full ASAP!
When stating such gross figures as 90m album sales you need to put evidences of it. For Janet we do have financial reports of her labels for most years and there isn't a single doubt she is nowhere near such a tally no matter how you count it.
WOW" I always knew Janet was sort of a local act but I never thought she would be that much of a flop anywhere else besides the USA... Is this the same woman whose fans claim she's the queen of pop? is this the same woman who had the nerve to claim that Madonna's Erotica album was "shipped back"... bitch, please, that album sold more than Janet's 90% discography. 50 million in 30 years is really not that impressive. Other than Velvet Rope she was a non-event outside of the USA borders
Her album sales stand at 60M, why are you deflating them by a whole 10M? Petty.
MJD shouldn't allow this type of replies on his website. There are plenty of forums like ATRL where you can unleash your shade and flamebait comments.
To Wibisana:
90 million? Very inflated. And it's not like Janet is selling much in catalog sales so most of her certs are probably correct, well except for her U.S sales ...
MJD, could you please provide the chart runs of both the Janet. album as well as Design of A Decade in Australia?
I knew that the Janet. album was under-certified based on it's chart run (#1 for 4 weeks, 50 weeks on chart) Still, Janet. had a much better chart run than DOAD (#2 for 3 weeks, 25 weeks on chart) I also heard recently that the Janet. album managed to rebound to #1 in early 1995, nearly 2 years after it's release! I was wondering perhaps it's sales could be possibly closer to DOAD's
Thanks!
Hi Raffi!
For recent albums you would need to go on Pandora website to get full Top 100 charts, I do not have them by hand at the moment. Of course run inside the Top 50 is available at australian-charts.com
It is true that Janet. went to #1 in both 1993 and 1995 and it is also true that its run looks way more impressive than the one of DOAD. This being said, the lead in charts is strongly artificial. Janet three runs inside the Top 10 (July 1993, February 1994, February 1995) were brief but also at very weak periods of sales. On its side, DOAD got the full fourth quarter inside the Top 10.
Year end charts perfectly summarize the situation:
1993 - Janet. #25
1994 - Janet. outside Top 50
1995 - Janet. outside Top 50
1995 - DOAD #6
As you can see, in spite of hitting #1 in 1995, the album Janet failed to make the YE Top 50, which highlights how low it sold at that spot - which is confirmed by its quick 3-10-15 drop in following weeks. BTW, at the time under the Annual Top 20 an album used to sell 100,000 copies or less, with only from 5 to 15 albums a year reaching multi-platinum status. From 35 to 60 albums a year were hitting Platinum. Thus, YECs severely reduce the window of strong sales for Janet.
I wanted to ask whether your estimation for the janet. album in the US isn't a bit too conservative.
I mean did it really sell less than 100,000 copies outside of SoundScan and BMG music club?
SoundScan: 7,041,457 (updated 8/1/13) + 860,000 BMG = 7,901,457+ That's about the same total as reached by "Music Box" by Mariah Carey, for which you stated that it sold well past the 10,000,000 mark!
I thought that SoundScan was far from being comprehensive in 1993 and there were other small music clubs next to BMG and Columbia House (where janet. wasn't available)., so that the janet. album is closer to the 9 million mark.
I disagree. She is in the league of Britney or Shania Twain in the USA (40-45 million albums equivalent). Mariah and Madonna sold the double there. But she was trully big.
Why do you think she wasnt so big in Europe?
