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Hi Tre!
Wikipedia list is based on OCC figures which, while being official, are hugely flawed as far as historical data is concerned. Music clubs are ignored, dubious methods of counting are used for Queen, non-panel sales are ignored for recent albums, claims of Alan Jones have been regarded as the absolute truth even if some are completely false, etc.
In truth, the best selling album ever in the UK is ABBA's Gold (at 5.8m as of their article). The gap to followers is easily big enough (over half a million) to be really safe about that. A trio of albums follow around 5.2/5.3m each: Queen's Greatest Hits, Adele's 21, and Oasis' Morning Glory. They are all fairly close and depending on which one will be boosted in a year by a new movie / a new album (for Adele), anyone can claim spots #2 and #3.
But if it was released on streaminh earlier during its debut. Lemonade wouldnt sell nearly as much in terms of physical and downloads. She will be massive in Streaming though. It is just like taking a format out and replace it with another format. It ends out having the same result anyway.
It's not that simple. It may be so for some artists, but it clearly isn't for everyone, especially with artists such as Drake with high piracy rates. Hence why he blew up when the streaming era started.
Anyway, Bey released Lemonade to Spotify finally. Hit the top 10 on BB200 because of that.
It has added about 130,000 CSPC from Spotify/AM in a month. So much better than practically nothing from pure sales alone. Ya'll look like Boo Boo the fool now.
Timber,
And its physical sales are just dying. The catalogue appeal of its album is replaced by its streaming numbers.
Are we forgetting that most Beyoncé fans did not want her to tour or release music with Jay-z. That is why that album flopped. it had nothing to do with her star power at all. Her next studio album will determine if she is old news!
Her new album is not doing well unfortunately. She has to stick with Pop music or else she'll be forgotten.
I'm pretty sure Rihanna is on the lead and she will be releasing a new album before Adele would so definitely, Rihanna will be the first to reach 100 million EAS. Drake still has a chance if he releases a new album first. And my feelings for Adele's next album might be the least-selling (my basis is that a.) her first 3 albums has been very successful so there's a chance that her 4th will be the least-selling, b.) she's 31 now so her loyal fans might not be so loyal anymore and less young music fans will partronize her music. c.), no world tours mean loyal fans might not be so loyal anymore. d.) lastly,she releases her next 4th album almost 4 years since her 3rd album was released. The excitement and craziness for her has diminished. For me, aside from releasing her 4th album this year, she should also released a good christmas album. Adele is the only music current artist who could match the sales figures of Celine Dion's xmas album and Mariah Carey's album. For me, Adele releasing a Christmas album would be more successful as a holiday album than her upcoming 4th album. Just my opinion.
As for Beyonce, she has to go back recording pop and ballad songs so her songs will be more memorable and radio friendly.
Drake needs to release a double album in 2019 if he wants to be the first to reach 100 million EAS.
Coldplay definitely has a chance too but based on what I've found so far, Rihanna is going to release her album first.
If Britney will release no music it may be surpassed by those freaking digital artists...but if she will keeping be successful as she was on first part of 10s be sure that she will keep the head of sells.
The gift also flopped and as a beyhive i'm telling you this fandom is lazy
Interesting to see none of these confirmed the prediction so far. Adele might do it this year as her "Worst case scenario" with her upcoming album, but the others seem far from it.
Mjd why is it that very few of the acts that debut from 97-2003 managed to break through the 100 million mark? Considering the market was so huge at that time why arent there at least 4,5 or 6 artists that managed to pass through that milestones. Instead only 2 did, and one of them barely pass the 100 million mark. I also noticed that there were plenty of acts that managed to breakthrough the 50-60 million marks from that era but then their popularity quickly slow down. Is it because the market was too competitive back then and its hard for singers to be consistent with so many competition on the field?
Probably because the sales market died a death in the mid 2000s, not giving them the length of time or market conditions that say Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd or The Beatles had to accumulate huge catalogue sales.
Hi Jasmine!
There are about 50-ish artists with sales over 100m CSPC (including unstudied ones). Let assume they all started in 1955 (Elvis) or later (in truth Sinatra started way before but it's not important). Let also consider than 10 years is too little to hit 100 million. From 1955 to 2010, 50 artists represent roughly 1 per year. If you take any period of 5 years, then norm is that no more than 4-5 will be over 100 million.
Another thing to consider is that with a KPI so low (2-4-5 artists), details can change the perception of the big picture. Robbie and Beyonce as persons sold more than 100m and Justin is close. Coldplay is virtually at 100m as well, BSB are very close (and Nick Carter is over the mark). You are suddenly looking at 7 persons rather than 2 acts.
Then the most important element is the genre. In the 60s/70s, rock music was dominant everywhere. In late 90s, rap was strong in the US, Europe was more into pop, regions like Latin America and Asia had developped their own scene. The only acts who got truly global at this point were teen pop artists, acts well known for being short lived. It obviously doesn't help. This situation someway mirrors late 70s situation with Disco music. It was also the highest selling genre globally, but poorly rated by critics too. Ultimately, the period was very short lived like with teen pop stars and only ABBA and the Bee Gees sold over 100m units on the back of their disco years. Others haven't made it although they were insanely popular back then (Earth, Wind & Fire, Boney M, Donna Summer, etc).
