Since the explosion of Thriller way back in 1983, Michael Jackson has been regarded as the definitive reference in terms of global superstardom. Even huge worldwide singers have better markets than others though. So, where does the king of pop perform the best? And the worst?
The Independent, Business Insider, Digital Music News, they all published “Best Selling Artists Ever” lists that placed Garth Brooks as the second best selling artist ever, number one among solo acts. One would expect these sources to be reliable. It sounds very hard to believe the country giant outsold the likes Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson yet. So, where is the truth?
The success of Paul McCartney as part of the Beatles has been out of this world for 55 years and counting. What about his solo career through? At 76, he is still able to shot to the top of the US album chart as shown by his last effort Egypt Station. He also landed at #1 multiple times with both albums and singles during the 70s and the 80s. Will that be enough to crack the 73 million equivalent album sales registered by his former band partner John Lennon?
What is the 3rd most streamed track of 1955, the 8th most streamed track of 1973 or the 12th most streamed track of 1997. You probably won’t know this of the top of your head, but fret not, we are now going to present to you, overall decade lists, broken down year by year, of the most streamed tracks on Spotify. Ultimately, when updating them, we will also be able to identify the pace of increase of songs, albums, and catalogs of some artists to know how much they will increase in terms of equivalent album sales in the future.
From local newcomers to selling millions of albums globally and topping the Billboard 200 twice! It’s safe to say that K-pop group BTS is the hottest boyband in the world at the moment. But have they really hit mainstream status everywhere?
On a global scale, Avril Lavigne was one of the biggest names of the 2000s decade. Her debut album moved nearly 20 million equivalent album sales. She has huge sales all over Asia, but how does the Canadian superstar perform all around the world?
The career of Taylor Swift is pretty unique. For many years, she was seen as a pure US star from the country family. She then moved to pop music, trying to make her success global. Her sales are undoubtedly massive, but has she managed to turn her popularity as big abroad as stateside?
What happens when we put head to head the first LPs that ever appeared and streaming statistics on Spotify, a platform which has now completed its first 10 years of public availability? These little exercise highlights the most essential recordings. Can you guess which oldies are the most listened to nowadays?
Beyoncé is one of the best selling artists to debut in the last 25 years. Her solo career has been going strong for 15 years now and she recently celebrated 20 years in the music industry as part of Destiny’s Child. She’s obviously seen huge amounts of success in the US, but what about the rest of the world? We’ll find out shortly!
Mariah Carey is among the Top 3 best selling female artists of all time. She has massive sales in North America and Asia. In Japan, she even outsells the likes of Madonna and Celine Dion. How does the legendary diva perform in the rest of the world? We’ll find out shortly!