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Hi Fanofpop!
As always with updates from older articles they also involve some fixes. As it has been mentioned Diamonds is down for example. This is due to the same reason that increases 00s songs and decreases 10s songs on digital sales when we update the old articles. Back then, we estimated specifically US ringtones, but for the rest of the World it was a raw extrapolation from downloads based on cumulative market data since these formats first arrived. Now we consider the release year and the strenght of ringtones when the sold came out. They were much strong in 2006 relatively speaking to downloads than in 2012 for example. In fact, they collapsed in early 10s in all relevant markets like the US, Russia or Japan. The latter market is also estimated individually now.
About other releases, the first article was really light on them. It included only 3 other LPs adding for 500k. I remember that I had put estimates of 2-3CD boxes (merging studio albums together) directly inside the pure album sales in France as I knew the numbers, but failed to estimate these releases in all markets they came out. More boxes were also overlooked. As she was the very first CSPC article, our initial aim was to present the process and highlight how we need to put all formats together to get a clear picture of an artist's success, but we were not nearly as precise as we are today.
As for pure album sales, Brazilian figures are down a bit due to an old erroneous though on their digital album certs. In the other side, Japanese downloads were completely overlooked, so estimates now include them. Thanks to discogs we have also been able to refine US numbers confirming that her first 3 albums sold well on clubs there in spite of their 2002-2004 drop. This is the main cause of GGGB increase.
Now that it is corrected, should we expect pure numbers and digital numbers to be relatively stable for future updates for Rihanna, Taylor, bieber etc?
With their gains mainly coming from streaming? Because I noticed albums like 1989 moved 30k pure only despite constantly charting. Also digital tracks for albums like rep didn’t change.
Or is it likely there will still be big changes in those formats?
Unless new information comes out revealing a leak on former data, which is unlikely at this stage since so much is well covered, I do expect numbers to evolve very little in the future. Downloads are virtually dead, exceptions apart, big 00s hits are now selling less than 20,000 downloads per year in the world. For pure sales, it's down to newly released versions, albums with a new LP release will do well, or albums with relevant appeal on this format, but ongoing CD sales are close to null at this point except for kpop stars.
For example, I'm now updating Coldplay, and since their Nov 2019 article only Parachutes charted on UK sales charts with the 20th anniversary reissue, selling near 10,000 copies. But then, even AROBTTH or AHFOD never charted inside the top 100, not even when Everyday Life came out, and that's a chart which takes a mere 200 copies to be featured in some weeks.
Her streaming power is insane too. 6th most streamed women of 2020s without reissuing old albums or releasing countless albums . Her next album gonna break records.
Wow Taylor and Rihanna are pretty close in the race of being the best selling female artist this century. It is remarkable the orphan section, for Taylor only add 5 M and for Rihanna 22 M.
It is remarkable how Rihanna manages to sell 2/3 outside of the US unlike Taylor who sells more in the US.
With the success Rihanna has in the US, it's mind-boggling how much bigger she is in the UK. I'm so glad for all the work that goes into this site that makes informationlike that available. Great job on the update!
Wrong!
Taylor is at 101.8 million
Rihanna is at 101.4 million
Taylor is over 400k above her, so she is more successful than Rihanna at the moment, and Rihanna is NOT catching up to her at this point, with Taylor's re-recordings adding millions to her catalogue.
Taylor is like 3x bigger than Rihanna in Asia and Oceania.
I don't see your point.
what they meant is they are CURRENTLY in a tie. Of course that status will change very soon since Taylor is gonna end this year with around 106m or so
key word is virtual they are never going to have the exact same sales at the exact same time so when your selling 100m 300k isn’t a very bug difference
Yes, this is true and you also have to remember, although the numbers on here are far more accurate than the crap that gets put out there by labels, they are not exact or definitive, as no such information exists. Being so relatively close, in truth, Rihanna could be ahead, given at present there is so little separating them.
Everyone but you understood what point they were trying to come across. 300k difference is nothing when they are both over 100 millions, you are just too dense to get it
Also is remarkable how the 20% of her sales are result of joining force with other huge artists. Taylor doesn’t need it.
