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Thats why I need MJD or Marvin to answer this. I also want to know who the best selling artists this century
Just look at the ranks. She will never be the best selling artist ever considering her album sales have been on the decline lately. I dont think she has much time left to be at the top if follows the normal pop star pattern. And Eminem for sure sold more than her this century.
Ultimately no one knows what the future holds, so you can never say it's impossible but i'd say it's near on impossible and if I was a betting man, I certainly would not be putting money on it happening.
You also have to remember that, The Beatles sales/streams are not static, they are still selling and streaming vast quantities year in, year out. So, for all her fantastic sales in the US, she is not actually gaining that much on them, as was evidenced by those Nielsen figures for the century so far, that showed since 2000, in the US, she has shifted 57m and The Beatles 50m.
Thank you, Martin. Chartmaster is the one that I trust the most when it comes to discussing sales record and impact.
Martin, I have one other question for you. Do you think bts will surpass Beatles soon?
Yes, next week! lol
Seriously though, no, no I don't. You have to appreciate, not only are The Beatles the best selling act ever and by some margin, their contemporary sales and streams are also higher than the vast majority of current acts and show absolutely no signs of waning.
While people obviously like to make a fuss about the huge streaming/sales numbers of current acts such as BTS, Taylor or Drake and they are impressive, just take a minute to appreciate the numbers for The Beatles in 2021, a whopping 51 years since they last released new music or even existed as a group. To still have such a level of popularity, so long after their break up, is quite simply outstanding.
I don't think your Soundscan number for Taylor is correct. She's far from the 57m mark, or is it an EAS figure?
I'm not sure what it incorporates, it was posted on a few sites earlier this year, stating Nielsen Musics best selling acts of the century so far;
https://eminem.news/nielsen-21st-century.html
In truth I can't find any official link to Nielsen stating these numbers though.
Seeing Drake so high it has to include streaming and probably downloads as well.
There was another this link as well https://hiphop24x7.com/news/eminem-is-named-the-best-selling-us-artist-of-21st-century/ which just seems to be for solo artists, only difference seems to be Britney in and The Beatles out.
Strange that there seems to be nothing official that can be found.
Thank you, Martin, for the answer. May you continue with your mission to provide accurate data and information. More power to chartmasters ❤️❤️❤️
Probably no western artist, but BTS signals a musical equivalent to the pivot to Asia, so who knows how those big markets might be able to lift sales there?
BTS popularity I think is amplified by their strong social media presence and how active their fans are in stan Twitter. Honestly, I think there are many musical acts in Asia especially in India that are as massive as BTS but they don't get the spotlight yet since they were not heavily promoted by their labels or they have not taken advantage of stan culture.
Markets there are already growing really fast, revenues in Asia (outside Japan) have more then doubled the past 4 years.
I think you're right, but the crossover appeal from East to West could also give them an edge other artists lack (for now)
