Music industry – One step closer to being accurate
Selling a million album is something, no matter if we talk about pure album sales or converted singles formats. It takes a lot of success to get there. Climbing all the way to 10 million is all the more difficult while hitting 100 million is some kind of a legendary achievement. The last artist to do so? Britney Spears who debuted way back in 1998. Thanks to strong ongoing sales, several 00s artists are now on their way to get there too. Rihanna, Coldplay, Adele, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, they are all contenders to reach 9 digits sales. Who will do it first though? Also, can younger artists like Ed Sheeran, Justin Bieber, and Drake be dark horses and top them all?
James Blunt had everything for you to love him or hate him. Excessive radio play, easy love-themed songs and weird nasal voice in a side, soulful singing, relentless melodies and cleverly written lyrics in the other. In 2005/2006, this explosive mix made him both the biggest seller in the world and the most bashed singer of that time.
Depending on where you sit on Earth, you will think of James Blunt as a complete has-been or a consistent hit maker. What’s safe to say is that all of you know You’re Beautiful. What do streaming numbers have to say though?
It’s time to take an interest on one of the most legendary acts in music history: The Doors! Often ranked as some of the best albums of their respective year (1967 and 1971), do their eponymous album and L.A. Woman have huge figures on streaming platforms? Is the rest of their discography remembered as well?
In 1970, the biggest band on Earth was no more the Beatles, nor it was Led Zeppelin. By then, the top selling rock group was Creedence Clearwater Revival, abbreviated CCR. Nowadays, they are nowhere near a household name as the former two though. So where is the truth, how much have they really sold? Are their songs as popular as they were upon release?
Like shown by these impressive numbers, the Notorious B.I.G. has left an indelebile mark on American hip hop, even if he released only one album during his life. Do his posthumous albums have a comparable influence? How high are Biggie Smalls’ streams?
A dominant genre for over 20 years in the US, Hip Hop is now regarded as the number one music at a global scale. One man is in good part responsible for that, Drake. Far and away the most streamed artist ever in both Spotify and Apple Music, does this domination comes from a limited number of markets, or is the urban music icon truly big everywhere?
The ABBAmania took over the World in the second half of the 70s. The Swedish quartet ABBA broke various sales records in many countries with their success being compared with the one of the Beatles a decade earlier, except in the US. Some 40 years later, their catalog is still hot enough to release massively popular comedy musicals based on it. How global the band really is though? Have they at last broke over the US as much as abroad? Are they still beloved more in Sweden than anywhere else?
