CSPC: ABBA Popularity Analysis

ABBA Career CSPC Results

So, after checking all figures, how many overall album sales equivalent each ABBA album achieved? Well, at this point we barely need to do the addition of all figures defined all over this article!

In the following results table, all categories display figures in equivalent album sales. If different, pure sales are listed between parentheses.

artist_spotify_id	#	Cover	Album	Studio albums (EAS)	sales_update_date	Other LPs (EAS)	Physical singles (units sold)	Digital singles (units sold)	Streams	Streams increase	Total EAS	valid_as_of	streams_updated_value	album_id
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	1		Ring Ring	1,000,000	02.11.16	2,241,000	120,000 (400,000)	38,000 (250,000)	102,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 10 LD: 40	3,531,000	20,231,002	102,000	1,469
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	2		Waterloo	2,700,000	02.11.16	8,713,000	1,215,000 (4,050,000)	180,000 (1,200,000)	438,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 70 LD: 290	13,261,000	20,231,002	438,000	1,470
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	3		ABBA	3,600,000	02.11.16	18,658,000	1,890,000 (6,300,000)	383,000 (2,550,000)	847,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 130 LD: 540	25,423,000	20,231,002	847,000	1,471
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	4		Arrival	10,800,000	02.11.16	20,077,000	3,315,000 (11,050,000)	728,000 (4,850,000)	1,701,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 270 LD: 1,240	36,621,000	20,231,002	1,701,000	1,472
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	5		The Album	7,200,000	02.11.16	8,827,000	1,980,000 (6,600,000)	338,000 (2,250,000)	563,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 80 LD: 350	18,908,000	20,231,002	563,000	1,473
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	6		Voulez-Vous	7,000,000	02.11.16	10,702,000	2,550,000 (8,500,000)	300,000 (2,000,000)	1,094,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 210 LD: 720	21,646,000	20,231,002	1,094,000	1,474
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	7		Super Trouper	8,200,000	02.11.16	10,743,000	1,830,000 (6,100,000)	345,000 (2,300,000)	1,268,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 200 LD: 820	22,386,000	20,231,002	1,268,000	1,475
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	8		The Visitors	4,800,000	02.11.16	2,698,000	780,000 (2,600,000)	135,000 (900,000)	329,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 50 LD: 220	8,742,000	20,231,002	329,000	1,476
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	9		Voyage	0	31.12.21	0	0 (0)	0 (0)	246,000 (10/02/23)	Av.: 190 LD: 90	246,000	20,231,002	246,000	2,012
0LcJLqbBmaGUft1e9Mm8HV	10		Orphan	0	02.11.16	8,832,000	2,460,000 (8,200,000)	233,000 (1,550,000)	555,000 (11/02/16)	N/A	12,170,000	20,231,002	555,000	1,610

As a reminder:

• Studio Album: sales of the original album
• Other Releases: sales of compilations generated thanks to the album
• Physical Singles: sales of physical singles from the album (ratio 3/10)
• Download Singles: sales of digital singles from the album (ratio 1,5/10)
• Streaming: equivalent album sales of all the album tracks (ratio 1/1500 for Audio stream and 1/6750 for Video stream)

See where the artist ranks among remaining singers

With some artists previously studied, we saw several albums doubling their tally from their studio album sales to their CSPC total. ABBA situation is just extreme as each of their album at least double their sales in original album sales with ABBA multiplying its result by more than 6!

A relatively modest seller at 3,6 million, ABBA album is just way, way bigger than suggested by its initial sales. Home of hits like Mamma Mia and SOS, the album failed to sell more at first only because it was replaced by compilations very, very early before it had time to accumulate some catalog sales.

ABBA isn’t the only album much bigger than it seems. It had to be expected considering their incredible compilation sales, but all their albums generated millions of sales outside of their original format. So much that a superb figure of 18,4 million album sales equivalent is barely enough for 5th biggest album among their eight releases.

The leading album is Arrival which dominates each of the five categories. Its impressive total of 35,1 million is enough to rank #4 in the 70s summary I posted a few days ago, ahead of albums like A Night At The Opera by Queen or Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd.

Over a mere 8 albums, ABBA accumulates the total of 156,6 million equivalent albums sold, even excluding the Orphan Album that is still a stunning 18 million average per album. I started by saying the Swedes do not belong to the same league of the Beatles which is true, nevertheless their results are still mind blowing.

Do not forget to check our amazing lists posted inside the CSPC: Data Collector which includes the full listing of all CSPC results compiled so far, to better gauge their position in the history of the music industry.

As usual, feel free to comment and / or ask a question!

Sources: IFPI, Spotify, Chartmasters.org.