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I'm surprised to see that Closer to the Truth sold more than Madonna's Rebel Heart in the U.S. 'Truth' had two singles which were absolutely non-hits and only one music video, which looks VERY low-budget. Rebel Heart had three singles and despite all of them having flopped, "Bitch I'm Madonna" managed to generate some buzz thanks to its all-star music video, which is kinda a hit on YouTube with 200,000+ views. Plus, I can't remember the last time Madonna made such an aggressive campaign for a studio album. During her latest releases, she would drop the first single and its music video, release the album, launch its parent concert tour and that was that - no red carpet appearances, no TV performances/interviews, no nothing. I wonder what went wrong with Madonna's popularity in the U.S.
LOL, don't even start. Closer to the truth "sold" that because she gave away thousands of CDs with her show tickets, just like Madonna did with MDNA. So, you should compare Closer to the truth to MDNA (350k vs 550k in the States). And besides, Rebel Heart outsold Closer to the truth woldwide and I think 98% of Cher's other albums according to this site.
I just don't understand how you felt the need to came out with such a fanboy-ish response to a simple question. I like to know about music chart trivia, but I don't act as if my dignity depended on how much albums my fave sold. Neither Cher nor Madonna need me - or anyone - to defend their careers. Thanks for the info though. LOL
Hi MJD!
Just here to point out you made an error with her album sales. On your breakdown, you have I'm Breathless and Erotica at 6,7m and 6,825m respectively. Yet, on your album sales comments and final CSPC results, you have them at 6,8m and 6,7m respectively. Which one is the correct figure?
Another thing I want to ask you if whether you can update George Michael and Whitney Houston's analysis. They were upadated after the inclusion of Youtube streams, but prior to when you changed the ratio of their downloads. Could you please update their downloads results. I know the change is not that big, but it kinda bugs me😅.
Hi Raffi!
The correct figures for both Madonna albums is the one from breakdowns, the other set of figures was an old copy/paste from the previous version! Everything is now fixed 🙂
True about updates! I'll try to accelerate the pace on those updates during the next few weeks, they do not take that long and put back all artists on the same starting line!
Hi, MJD!
Fantastic work! As a diva fan myself, it is always so much fun to follow your meticulous analysis of each and every diva.
I’d like to point out a potential confusion/error. In page 41, Something to Remember contributed 623,000 sales to Confessions on a Dance Floor. There is perhaps a mix-up between the track “Forbidden Love” from COADF with the homonymous, but different track from Bedtime Stories. STR included the one from BS, not COADF (which was released one decade later). If I am correct, should these sales be credited to Bedtime Stories instead?
Love your work!
oh no!
something is wrong with this,
Ray Of Light has sold over 3.9 in the US, no that almost 5 millions and it has sold 13 million world wide
Hi Alex!
Nothing is wrong - 3,9 million is only its Soundscan sales, which are not comprehensive.
Yes 80 million albums alone. Including greatest hits in Europe based on this chart. However, not including CSPC.
Madonna was not as big as Whitney Houston or Celine Dion or Mariah Carey in Asia at her peak. She was big but not as big. Having said that her consistency is just so amazing. She managed to get an overall bigger sales in Asia compared to Celine and Whitney. Im surprised she managed to surpass their total.
Hi,MJD!
First of all ,thank you and congratulations on your fantastic work.
I just wanna point two missing items regarding Mafonna's video sales.
First is Justify My Love that sold quite well in the US due to being banned by MTV and all the controversy it generated.
And also Ray of Light video single is missing.
One more doubt. The MDNA World Tour is certified 3x platinum in Brazil if im2not mistaken. These equals shipments of 90k ,right ?
How has it only sold 200k then?
Again,sorry if I'm mixing things up!
Cheers,
Alan
Hi Alan!
Sales of video singles were added to the singles directly. That's how Justiy My Love broke 2 million!
About MDNA World Tour, Brazilian certifications are just like Polish / American ones, e.g. factored per discs. In this country shipments of the 2CD+DVD format are 20,000 units, the DVD 23,000 units and the Blu-Ray 5,000 units.
MDNA has sold 70k in Russia. And "Masterpiece" was the 6th most played song of the year here (even without single release and video). I'll never undrstand why it wasn't released as a single.
It's all about ageism on the radio and cultural references. E.g. look at Alla Pugacheva (1949)-worshiped Russia and Madonna's iTunes Top 10 songs in Russia now: Hung Up, Bitch I'm Madonna, Frozen, Masterpiece, 4 Minutes, Ghosttown, Vogue, You'll See, La Isla Bonita, Sorry.
https://itunes.apple.com/ru/artist/madonna/id20044#see-all/top-songs
Looks different from the US or UK iTunes, isn't it? People compare her to 70-80s Soviet diva and find Madonna's reign so much better))). She didn't change "paradigma from rock group to female solo" here and in 2006 it took Orthodox Church hours of slut-shaming on central TV during prime time to spoil her first show here with just 80% attendance. Catherine II was German and she rulled Russia more than anybody else. People were waiting for invitation to Cremlin a-la Paul McCartney, largest newspaper published "3 burning questions":
1. What do you know about Russia?
2. Do you know Russian musicians?
3. If you weren't married and Putin weren't married would you marry him?
(Putin's daughters were rumoured to be Madge's fans).
People of Russia were morally prepared for anything. But hours of slut-shaming in prime-time worked miracles. Now we have gay-propaganda law and "religious feelings of believers" are protected by law, Madonna divorced, Putin divorced. Her fans are much younger here but she cut them with her promise not to travel Russia again. Rebel Heart is a lot better than her previous two albums, IMHO. Her story of her hacker still looks very suspicious to me.
