CSPC: Pink Floyd Popularity Analysis

Pink Floyd Career CSPC Results

So, after checking all the figures how many overall equivalent album sales has each Pink Floyd album achieved? Well, at this point we hardly need to add up all of the figures defined in 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
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	1		The Piper at the Gates of Dawn	2,450,000	18.06.17	2,932,000	31,000 (50,000)	29,000 (190,000)	121,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 40 LD: 40	5,563,000	20,230,603	121,000	1,237
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	2		A Saucerful of Secrets	1,900,000	18.06.17	2,908,000	18,000 (50,000)	20,000 (130,000)	62,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 20 LD: 20	4,908,000	20,230,603	62,000	1,238
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	3		More	2,700,000	18.06.17	378,000	25,000 (50,000)	5,000 (40,000)	60,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 20 LD: 30	3,168,000	20,230,603	60,000	1,239
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	4		Ummagumma	5,050,000	18.06.17	187,000	0 (0)	2,000 (20,000)	22,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 10 LD: 10	5,267,000	20,230,603	22,000	1,240
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	5		Atom Heart Mother	5,700,000	18.06.17	189,000	0 (0)	23,000 (150,000)	56,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 20 LD: 20	5,968,000	20,230,603	56,000	1,241
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	6		Meddle	7,950,000	18.06.17	2,200,000	18,000 (50,000)	72,000 (480,000)	262,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 110 LD: 160	10,502,000	20,230,603	262,000	1,242
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	7		Obscured by Clouds	3,600,000	18.06.17	214,000	28,000 (10,000)	5,000 (40,000)	100,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 40 LD: 60	3,947,000	20,230,603	100,000	1,243
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	8		The Dark Side of the Moon	43,300,000	18.06.17	11,027,000	282,000 (940,000)	795,000 (5,300,000)	2,549,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 990 LD: 1,690	57,953,000	20,230,603	2,549,000	1,244
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	9		Wish You Were Here	22,300,000	18.06.17	9,251,000	11,000 (35,000)	645,000 (4,300,000)	994,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 340 LD: 550	33,201,000	20,230,603	994,000	1,245
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	10		Animals	12,150,000	18.06.17	734,000	6,000 (20,000)	75,000 (500,000)	206,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 80 LD: 140	13,171,000	20,230,603	206,000	1,246
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	11		The Wall	31,300,000	18.06.17	15,459,000	1,908,000 (6,075,000)	1,115,000 (7,440,000)	3,468,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 1,350 LD: 1,930	53,250,000	20,230,603	3,468,000	1,247
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	12		The Final Cut	6,800,000	18.06.17	415,000	69,000 (150,000)	36,000 (240,000)	155,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 60 LD: 80	7,475,000	20,230,603	155,000	1,248
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	13		A Momentary Lapse of Reason	10,200,000	18.06.17	1,822,000	120,000 (240,000)	129,000 (860,000)	325,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 120 LD: 220	12,596,000	20,230,603	325,000	1,249
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	14		The Division Bell	11,550,000	18.06.17	1,194,000	143,000 (475,000)	195,000 (1,300,000)	731,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 290 LD: 380	13,813,000	20,230,603	731,000	1,250
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	15		The Endless River	2,650,000	18.06.17	0	0 (0)	90,000 (600,000)	237,000 (06/03/23)	Av.: 60 LD: 30	2,977,000	20,230,603	237,000	1,251
0k17h0D3J5VfsdmQ1iZtE9	16		Orphan	0	18.06.17	3,115,000	209,000 (470,000)	34,000 (230,000)	31,000 (06/18/17)	N/A	3,389,000	20,230,603	31,000	1,719

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

Albums from the late 60s selling 5 million units are huge albums. This is true if we look only at the pure album format. Now that we mentioned it, we need to check carefully additional information. Albums like Atom Heart Mother or Ummagumma built solid sales over the years, but outside the main format they created close to no value to the band’s catalog. Thus, the total CSPC isn’t much higher at also around 5 million equivalent album sales. If we look at the Rolling Stones for example, Aftermath and Beggars Banquet sold 4 million units each in pure album sales, but their overall totals combine for a massive 35 million. In concrete words, even if sales of Pink Floyd‘s albums pre-1973 are solid, they aren’t as big as they seem with decent catalog sales being the result of the absence of cannibalization from compilations.

Nothing can be said against the big 3 though. It is already an absolutely unbelievable feat to reach 50 million with one album, let alone doing it with two. Although The Wall doesn’t quite catch Dark Side of the Moon (55,8 million), it is an unstoppable machine itself at 50,3 million. Whilst Dark Side Of The Moon sold 8,5 million more physical copies of the original album than Saturday Night Fever, it falls 10,9 million short in terms of overall performance. Still, 55,8 million puts it in a very restricted league. Below is the Top 5 albums out of all the previously posted articles:

1 1977 Soundtrack / Bee Gees – Saturday Night Fever – 66,705,000
2 1977 Fleetwood Mac – Rumours – 60,508,000
3 1971 Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV – 56,573,000
4 1973 Pink Floyd– Dark Side of the Moon – 55,796,000
5 1992 Whitney Houston – The Bodyguard – 53,231,000

Overall, Pink Floyd sold 229,4 million equivalent album sales, a figure out of reach for all but a handful of artists.

The following pages list their most successful songs. Do not forget to check our amazing cross-artists 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, YouTube, Billboard, Musica e Dischi, Guinness Book of Records, New York Times, JimmyPages59, Chartmasters.org.