CSPC: U2 Popularity Analysis

U2 Career CSPC Results

So, after checking all figures, what’s the most successful album by U2 and how many overall equivalent albums sales have they 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
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	1		Boy	3,700,000	18.09.21	1,790,000	124,000 (200,000)	56,000 (370,000)	98,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 50 LD: 60	5,768,000	20,230,330	98,000	1,571
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	2		October	3,600,000	18.09.21	706,000	110,000 (150,000)	25,000 (170,000)	43,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 20 LD: 20	4,484,000	20,230,330	43,000	1,572
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	3		War	10,900,000	18.09.21	13,037,000	363,000 (900,000)	342,000 (2,280,000)	504,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 250 LD: 290	25,146,000	20,230,330	504,000	1,573
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	4		The Unforgettable Fire	8,100,000	18.09.21	4,213,000	484,000 (1,400,000)	281,000 (1,870,000)	395,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 200 LD: 260	13,473,000	20,230,330	395,000	1,574
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	5		The Joshua Tree	26,800,000	18.09.21	17,389,000	1,470,000 (3,864,000)	1,690,000 (11,270,000)	2,088,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 1,000 LD: 1,210	49,437,000	20,230,330	2,088,000	1,575
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	6		Rattle And Hum	13,800,000	18.09.21	1,839,000	908,000 (2,900,000)	217,000 (1,450,000)	254,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 120 LD: 150	17,018,000	20,230,330	254,000	1,576
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	7		Achtung Baby	17,500,000	18.09.21	5,025,000	1,323,000 (4,050,000)	642,000 (4,280,000)	900,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 450 LD: 520	25,390,000	20,230,330	900,000	1,577
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	8		Zooropa	8,000,000	18.09.21	364,000	344,000 (1,050,000)	92,000 (610,000)	122,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 60 LD: 70	8,921,000	20,230,330	122,000	1,578
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	9		Pop	6,700,000	18.09.21	248,000	701,000 (2,048,000)	64,000 (430,000)	79,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 30 LD: 30	7,792,000	20,230,330	79,000	1,579
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	10		All That You Can't Leave Behind	12,300,000	18.09.21	6,784,000	667,000 (1,850,000)	893,000 (5,950,000)	789,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 360 LD: 460	21,433,000	20,230,330	789,000	1,580
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	11		How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb	10,200,000	18.09.21	640,000	344,000 (816,000)	346,000 (2,310,000)	304,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 140 LD: 170	11,834,000	20,230,330	304,000	1,581
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	12		No Line On The Horizon	4,400,000	18.09.21	46,000	182,000 (50,000)	239,000 (1,590,000)	127,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 30 LD: 30	4,993,000	20,230,330	127,000	1,582
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	13		Songs Of Innocence	1,100,000	18.09.21	0	0 (0)	75,000 (500,000)	357,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 90 LD: 110	1,532,000	20,230,330	357,000	1,583
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	14		Songs Of Experience (Deluxe Edition)	0		0	0 (0)	0 (0)	384,000 (03/30/23)	Av.: 0 LD: 0	384,000	20,230,330	384,000	0
51Blml2LZPmy7TTiAg47vQ	15		Orphan	0	18.09.21	970,000	930,000 (1,500,000)	30,000 (200,000)	370,000 (09/18/21)	N/A	2,300,000	20,230,330	370,000	1,749

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

What do we see here? The Joshua Tree is the predictable winner. Up to an incredible 47,7 million, the only albums we studied so far topping it are Nirvana‘s Nevermind, the Grease Soundtrack and Led Zeppelin‘s fourth album, all over 52 million.

There is more to highlight. Whilst on pure sales Achtung Baby is their second biggest selling title by far, with the CSPC’s approach that crown goes to War at 24,6 million, something that not many would have seen coming a few pages earlier. Achtung Baby, on its own hand, still cumulated a great 24,4 million CSPC’s sales.

Driven by Beautiful Day, All That You Can’t Leave Behind reaches 20,5 million CSPC’s sales, proving, once again, it is far bigger than How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb, despite having similar pure album sales and being remembered as about equally successful. As it generates more yearly sales now than both Achtung Baby and War, it may even challenge the band discography runner up spot in the future.

The Unforgettable Fire looks now better with 13 million CSPC’s sales, although still lower than Rattle And Hum at 16,7 million. In the other side, Boy, October, Zooropa and Pop didn’t get much outside their original sales.

You may be wondering about U2‘s final CSPC total. Well, the final result is an astonishing 194,5 million, only 6 million short of Led Zeppelin‘s total.

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.