The best-selling artists in the Soundscan era (through August 2005)

http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=5

If only I could jump into that Belgian documentary on Marvin Gaye living in Ostend. He's sitting in a pub. Some people ask him if he's a fisher. "No, I'm a singer." They ask him to sing a song to prove it.

These figures are taken from the end of year sales lists for albums and artists over the 18 year period 1987 to 2004.

There are a few gaps. The second figures are the maximum possible "missing" sales. In practice, the actual missing sales are likely to be far far less.

No artist sold more than 14 million in this 18 year period.

Sales figures pre-1987 are so far extremely patchy and we would need a lot more to extend the number of years covered by this list - but 18 years is a start!

1 - Madonna - 13,363,000 - 473,000
2 - Robbie Williams - 13,020,000 - career total

3 - U2 - 11,838,000 - 311,000
4 - Queen - 11,373,000 - 500,000
5 - Simply Red - 11,279,000 - 1,378,000
6 - Michael Jackson - 11,268,000 - 601,000

7 - Oasis - 10,599,000 - 1,111,000
8 - The Beatles - 10,194,000 - 830,000

9 - Celine Dion - 8,997,000 - 1,081,000
10 - R E M - 8,948,000 - 864,000
11 - Elton John - 8,393,000 - 405,000
12 - George Michael - 8,018,000 - 1,399,000

13 - Phil Collins - 7,514,000 - 1,243,000

14 - Westlife - 6,761,000 - career total
15 - Beautiful South - 6,541,000 - 1,261,000
16 - Kylie Minogue - 6,328,000 - 1,423,000
17 - Bon Jovi - 6,231,000 - 1,277,000
18 - Rod Stewart - 6,223,000 - 351,000
19 - The Corrs - 6,033,000 - 1,059,000

20 - Wet Wet Wet - 5,890,000 - 1,655,000
21 - Pink Floyd - 5,694,000 - 1,131,000
22 - Tina Turner - 5,625,000 - 1,375,000
23 - Dido - 5,612,000 - career total
24 - Elvis Presley - 5,579,000 - 1,409,000
25 - Meatloaf - 5,280,000 - 1,454,000
26 - Fleetwood Mac - 5,272,000 - 1,409,000
27 - Eminem - 5,244,000 - career total
28 - Abba - 5,222,000 - 961,000
29 - Cliff Richard - 5,168,000 - 1,254,000
30 - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - 5,113,000 - 1,237,000

31 - Shania Twain - 4,961,000 - 384,000
32 - Guns n Roses - 4,956,000 - 1,363,000
33 - Spice Girls - 4,933,000 - 1,798,000
34 - UB40 - 4,905,000 - 1,510,000
35 - Chris Rea - 4,891,000 - 1,852,000
36 - Whitney Houston - 4,876,000 - 2,197,000
37 - Enya - 4,860,000 - 1,811,000
38 - M People - 4,819,000 - 1,651,000
39 - Texas - 4,746,000 - 1,156,000
40 - Prince - 4,733,000 - 1,531,000
41 - Dire Straits - 4,697,000 - 1,623,000
42 - Eric Clapton - 4,681,000 - 1,651,000
43 - Blur - 4,637,000 - 1,315,000
44 - Stereophonics - 4,595,000 - 428,000
45 - Mariah Carey - 4,397,000 - 1,651,000
46 - Coldplay - 4,353,000 - 220,000
47 - Take That - 4,313,000 - 1,902,000
48 - Steps - 4,281,000 - 1,261,000
49 - Michael Bolton - 4,278,000 - 1,902,000
50 - Bryan Adams - 4,269,000 - 1,889,000
51 - Nirvana - 4,240,000 - 1,031,000
52 - David Gray - 4,225,000 - 331,000
53 - Erasure - 4,224,000 - 1,902,000
54 - Cher - 4,168,000 - 1,869,000
55 - Boyzone - 4,105,000 - 1,496,000
56 - Travis - 4,100,000 - 996,000
57 - Gloria Estefan - 4,045,000 - 2,060,000
58 - Robson/Jerome - 4,040,000 - 1,902,000
59 - The Bee Gees - 4,021,000 - 786,000

60 - Genesis - 3,998,000 - 1,677,000
61 - Pet Shop Boys - 3,987,000 - 1,792,000
62 - David Bowie - 3,850,000 - 780,000
63 - Sting - 3,738,000 - 1,433,000
64 - Blue - 3,703,000 - career total
65 - Eurythmics - 3,681,000 - 1,705,000
66 - Lighthouse Family - 3,563,000 - 1,252,000
67 - Jamiroquai - 3,553,000 - 915,000
68 - Radiohead - 3,538,000 - 830,000
69 - Alanis Morissette - 3,427,000 - 1,651,000
70 - Manic Street Preachers - 3,371,000 - 1,468,000
71 - Paul Weller - 3,362,000 - 1,204,000
72 - Daniel O'Donnell - 3,274,000 - 1,096,000
73 - Verve - 3,252,000 - 1,505,000
74 - The Rolling Stones - 3,222,000 - 1,568,000
75 - Norah Jones - 3,216,000 - career total
76 - Britney Spears - 3,176,000 - 840,000
77 - Ronan Keating - 3,135,000 - 374,000
78 - Lionel Richie - 3,114,000 - 1,288,000
79 - Simple Minds - 3,089,000 - 2,060,000

80 - Anastacia - 2,887,000 - 431,000
81 - Eternal - 2,873,000 - 1,848,000
82 - Inxs - 2,840,000 - 2,030,000
83 - Bob Marley - 2,834,000 - 1,390,000
84 - Frank Sinatra - 2,782,000 - 1,589,000
85 - Bruce Springsteen - 2,731,000 - 1,599,000
86 - S Club - 2,711,000 - 976,000
87 - Jason Donovan - 2,672,000 - 1,902,000
88 - Gabrielle - 2,623,000 - 1,600,000
89 - Prodigy - 2,576,000 - 1,634,000
90 - Eva Cassidy - 2,561,000 - 321,000
91 - Van Morrison - 2,546,000 - 1,991,000
92 - Deacon Blue - 2,521,000 - 2,030,000
93 - Diana Ross - 2,488,000 - 2,095,000
94 - Andrea Bocelli - 2,467,000 - 694,000
95 - Busted - 2,441,000 - career total
96 - Def Leppard - 2,418,000 - 1,754,000
97 - The Carpenters - 2,380,000 - 2,113,000
98 - Lisa Stansfield - 2,376,000 - 1,752,000
99 - The Eagles - 2,370,000 - 1,653,000
100 - Crowded House - 2,368,000 - 1,852,000

http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20565

There are artists on the UK list whose ranking seems like a posting from a parallel universe. Gloria Estefan! Deacon Blue! Big ups to Daniel O'Donnell, proving that a wax man in a comfortable sweater is more than a match for the Rolling Stones.

no fucking way that's correct.

ALL EYEZ ON ME 4472366
GREATEST HITS INT 4382910
HOW DO U WANT IT INT Single 2114042
R U STILL DOWN? (REMEMBER ME?) 2092522
UNTIL THE END OF TIME 2083882
BETTER DAYZ 1649190
STILL I RISE 1617418
LOYAL TO THE GAME 1080472

1. Pink Floyd's massive sales -- WHY? I mean, if you told someone that in the recent past, Pink Floyd has outsold U2, Backstreet Boys, Eminem, Britney Spears (!), wouldn't most mouths drop?

2. Looking at the top 11 (the first list), you'd think that country is the hugest market around (garth, strait, jackson, shania, mcgraw)... Put then, country disappears until 22 (reba), 27 (dixie chicks), so maybe it is just that when there is a country "smash", EVERY country fan buys it...

3. Dylan outsold Prince ? and Van Morrison outsold them both ?!

Fuck no. That's the classic rock market for you and there will always be disaffected 16 year olds getting 'deep, man.'

i always wondered why billboard never listed actual sales (even if they're just approximations).

but I guess I didn't know they were Still that Huge.

As stated, I guess getting "deep" is forever...

Plus you have to remember with them, the Beatles, Stones, etc., this era covers when a lot of people replaced old vinyl with CDs.

I'd also think that country artists release albums with greater regularity than do artists in other genres. Alan Jackson never goes more than two years without a new album.

I know that the Beasties have several more albums and all, but jeez, that's a mindbender considering how Thriller is still considered the Biggest Blockbuster Record Ever by so many.