Talk:List of best-selling music artists

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[edit] Bias towards older artists

Since when does illegal downloading start in 1990, and since when does illegal downloading hurt music sales? Proof of this would be useful before declaring it a bias. The-bus 19:25, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ayumi Hamasaki

quit fucking deleting her name, she had a fucking source!

[edit] Vicky Leandros (singer

Vicky Leandros has officially exceeded the 100 million records according to Sony Classical and other sources.It appears in many catalogues in Greece and other countries. Here she appears for more than 50 millions. I think is wrong.--The preceding unsigned comment was added by 194.219.44.116 (talk) 11:34, 27 January 2007 (UTC).

If you can cite the source, feel free to adjust the chart accordingly.--Son of Somebody 17:42, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

www.vickyleandros.com in "chronology" refers to 100 million copies. Also Sony Classical.

[edit] Pink (singer)

hey i dont noe how but can sum1 plz add pink 2 the 50 million list cause i dont know how but she has sold over 50 million...if u dont believe me look at her page on this site

Her wiki page says she sold 30 million, and all websites found says 18 - 22 million. So sorry to say, Pink shopuld not be on the list. 60.234.242.196 03:05, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Rush

212.2.183.83 21:20, 4 December 2006 (UTC). Rush has 23 gold and 14 platinum albums (a little more than KISS). Shouldn't they be on here?

[edit] Tupac and Eminem

212.2.183.83 21:20, 4 December 2006 (UTC) There is a problem with '2pac' and 'Eminem', the source is outdated, as Tupac Shakur (2pac) is still the greatest selling rap artist of all time, yet eminem is under the 'over 100 million records sold' and 2pac is in the '50 million records sold', which doesn't add up.

It is actually the other way around, Shakur has sold over 100 million, where eminem has sold an estimated 70 million (even by his own wikipedia page). The information is incorrect and conflicting.

Shakur (2pac) should be in the "over 100 million" bracket, while eminem should be placed down in the "over 50 million" bracket.

If a member could clean this up it would be great.

Tupac wiki page references a link from October 2006 that says Tupac has sold 73 million. It does not say over 100 million. Eminem's link says he has sold 70 million. So, yes, this should be moved. 60.234.242.196 03:13, 16 December 2006 (UTC)
I recall this being discussed and researched in November, so went back and checked this. The link says 70m for Eminem, but is 2005. His new album has sold 7.5 million, so 77.5 million total. This was reversed, but the research was good. Readded it back. 60.234.242.196 08:05, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
Apologies, that should read 5.5m for his new album. 60.234.242.196 08:14, 18 December 2006 (UTC)
Just need a citation claiming over 75 million.--Son of Somebody 04:57, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] what about best selling in different genres?

Can anybody make an extension to this article? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.17.28.62 (talk) 00:52, 8 December 2006 (UTC).

[edit] 500 million + section

Should there be a 500 million + section for Elvis, Beatles and Michael Jackson? They have sold so much more than the rest of the artists in the 250M+ section that a new section should be creating to show that these 3 artists are in a league of their own. 59.100.94.3 05:59, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

I don't really see why. There's the section explaining it all at the top, and the seperate best seller article. --Robdurbar 11:16, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

i agree with a 500 million section even though elvis was such a copycat fake, and if you did put thet addition stupid people would add for example the crappy rolling stones to the 500 million list hahahaha--The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.74.11.76 (talk) 18:27, 23 January 2007 (UTC).

A couple of users have tried to make this change today. I'm not entirely against it per se, but I'd like a bit of discussion here first for an explanation of why its needed. --Robdurbar 15:16, 10 January 2007 (UTC)


DONT PUT A 500 MILLION CAUSE THEN STUPID PEOPLE WILL PUT BING CROSBY OR LED ZEPELLIN, AND THATS PLAIN DUMB--The preceding unsigned comment was added by 207.203.31.186 (talk) 17:10, 14 February 2007 (UTC).

How is accurately reporting sales figures dumb?. It seems your version of events would be a better candidate for that. --Sicamous 21:50, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] AC/DC

I reversed this as most links on the net are saying 100 - 150m. As they have sold 68m in the USA alone (RIAA), it does not sound feasible that their world total is less than 100m as they are the most popular heavy metal band in the world. 60.234.242.196 08:25, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

do you know that they are the most popular band in the world?


This is vert true. AC/DC does come in with something like 70 million U.S. sales alone. They are also hugely popular in the Uk, Japan, Canada and other parts of the world. I would guestimate that AC/Dc has sold somewhere near 175 million worldwide - if not more.

As for most popular band worldwide - that one still goes to the Beatles, maybe Rolling Stones second, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are also up there.

[edit] Abba - not over 250 million

I have recently read a very informative article which listed many reliable source (unfortunately I can not find the article again) which states Abba has not sold over 250 million albums - as speculated - but they have actually sold something more like 160 million albums. This sounds more accurate to me - as in reality in countries like the U.s. - not many of Abba's albums were mega-hits. The areas they were mega-hits - only sold in the hundred thousands. In the U.S. (which is usually the biggest selling market for most artists Abba has sold under 20 million albums - something around 17 million). In proportion for Abba to have sold 250 million copies worldwide - they most likely would have had to sell something like 50 million or more in the U.S. alone.

abba , rod stewart? queen? 250 million? this is too funny --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.74.11.76 (talk) 18:58, 23 January 2007 (UTC).

I stand and firmly believe Abba is at around 160 million copies. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 63.215.27.121 (talk) 17:26, 3 January 2007 (UTC).

Remember this is albums AND singles. Throughout their career, there has been many references to their climb in sales. In 1976 their world sales were estimated at 40 million (Harry Edgington biography ISBN 0905018 745), the reissue of the same book in late 1977 references 60m sold. "More than 150 million ABBA records were estimated to have passed over shop counters in the 1970's" (John Tobler ISBN 0 312 11227 0 - 1993). In 1995, the estimate was 275 million (Miguel Angel Sanchez biography ISBN 84-376-1339-6). In 2001, the estimate was 300 million (Carl Magnus Palm biography ISBN 0 7119 8389 5). In 2004 Universal and Polar Studios awarded then disks for 365m in sales. Currently they are still selling 3m per year. As with all the top acts, when you add up their sales data, it isn't even close to the figures being pushed about. Therefore all you can do is reference reliable sources. 60.234.242.196 09:19, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

According to the RIAA site's "top artists" chart, ABBA sold 10.5 million albums in the US. I don't dispute the 250 million+ figure but still, if Led Zeppelin is reported to have sold 300 million records then the ABBA figure is probably as accurate as that is. Led Zeppelin never released any singles which were successful. And I'm very sure that their single sales worldwide won't even cumulatively add up to 1 million. On the other hand, they weren't very popular outside the US. I doubt they've sold 200 million records outside the US(109.5 million in the US alone) but the sources say they did so meh... <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:XXSaifXx"><font color="orange"><b>Saif</b></font></a> 16:32, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] 500 Million and 1 Billion Categories?

This page breaks down 50,75,100, and 250 million. Please add over 1 Billion and 500 million to the top of this list. The Beatles and Elvis Presley are in a class by themselves at over 1 billion and Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra over 500 million. They deserve distinction with their extraordinary success far beyond all the other categories. Avatar413 12:59, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

WHO SAYS THE BEATLES AND BITCH ELVIS ARE ONLY ALONE? MICHAEL JACKSON CAN BE THERE TOO WHITE BITCH, AND WHAT ABOUT SINATRA, WHO SAID HE SOLD 500 MILLION ALBUMS WHITE BITCH?

There is the Best selling music artist page. The claims of 500 million and 1 billion are nowhere near certain enough to create sub sections. --Robdurbar 13:41, 26 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Oasis- 50 million

who keeps deleting Oasis off the 50 million or more list, they have definitely sold over 50 million and pretty much every site says so. [1] —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 81.153.133.12 (talk) 14:14, 30 January 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Ace of Base/ 2 Unlimited

Hey, I've got a question: why aren't Ace of Base and 2 Unlimited in this list? I don't no how much they sold, but both groups were a hype in the 90's, and both groups were populair in at least 4 continents. Perhaps they don't reach any of the numbers in this list, but I still would think that it would be at least something to find out. Maybe anybody knows more about the record-sales of these both groups? --84.104.123.100 17:00, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

2 Unlimited didnt sell that many, they have several dance hits in the 1990s but nothing on this scale, as for Ace of Base, they were extremely popular at one time but they sort of died out after that.81.155.50.231 18:55, 31 January 2007 (UTC)

Hey, the producer of Ace of Base has a new band [since lik,e 10 years ago XD} called Sweetbox im not sdure of their sales, but i remember seing something that they have sold over 70 Million in compilations alone. not sure if this is true, memory could be failing me here. XD (Impracticable 13:39, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Ayumi Hamasaki, 50 Million

Ayumi Hamasaki has just sold her 50 millionth album. I think she deserves to be on the list, first off, she meets the requiremtns, second, she is the best selling female artist ever. She just sold her 50 millionth about a week ago. i will go look to see if i can find her sales estimates on RIAJ or something. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Impracticable (talk • contribs) 13:10, 3 February 2007 (UTC).

AYUMI HAMASAKI AND UTADA HIKARU SHOULD BE ADDED! UTADA HIKARU HAS SOLD OVER 40,000,000 MILLION WORLDWIDE BUT HER DIGITAL SALES ARE CLEARLY OVER 10 MILLION... SHE EVEN HAS ONE SONG WITH 2.5M DL'S. AYUMI HAMASAKI IS CREDITED WITH 46M IN JAPAN EXCLUDING HER NEWEST ALBUMS AND SINGLES AND HER INTERNATIONAL SALES. HER DOWNLOADS ARE VERY HIGH AS WELL BUT ORICON ONLY COUNTS PHYSICAL SALES!! MR. CHILDREN SHOULD BE ADDED AS WELL, THEY HAVE SOLD 48M IN JAPAN EXCLUDING INTERNATIONAL AND DIGITAL SALES!

[edit] JOHNNY MATHIS 350 million record sales worldwide.

A recent BBC radio documentary by the respected chart and music critic Paul Gambacini has quoted Johnny Mathis as having sold over "350-Million records" worldwide. This is proberbly true given his 50 years on the music charts. His albums have sold consistantly well with over 73 charted in the USA charts alone. His UK albums have also been big sellers as have Canadian, French,South American, Australian,South African and some other european countrys. Then there is his massive single sales in the early years and late seventies. Some notable USA sales are his Merry Cristmas album from 1958 still available with approx 6 million sales, His 1958 Greatest Hits approx 4 million, Heavenly from 1959 sold 2.5 milion to name but some. His total stay on the USA album charts have given him the 3rd highest total stay just less than Elvis and Sinatra.Mathis selling 350 million records seems proberbly about right.

Alla Pugacheva, Bing Crosby, Chubby Checker, Cliff Richard, Julio Iglesias, Nana Mouskouri, Rod Stewart, and Tino Rossi have not sold over 250 [b]million[/b] albums. Almost all sources have little to no credibility, I suggest removing them from the list until finding proof that is beyond a reasonable doubt. Even though I'm uncertain about some of the rest, the sources seem to be credible, and their careers have left a staple on society.

Example: Chubby Checker - The first source is a poster made to advertise him, of course it's going to be partial. The second source looks like it was made by someone fooling around in HTML. It later goes on to say tickets will be on sale. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Leethal (talk • contribs) 20:42, 3 February 2007 (UTC).

Well I'm pretty sure you're right about most of those people there but Bing Crosby should definitely be up there. Bing Crosby was more popular in his time than Frank Sinatra was at any time... So if you're going to remove Bing, you have to remove Frank. Other than that, I don't know about Rod Stewart's sales much. Can't say. He's probably closer to 200 million sales...but still...when you've got Led Zeppelin up there with the dodgy "Polar Music Award" site as source, removing Rod would be hypocrisy since Led Zeppelin's albums never did well outside the US. At best they've sold 150 million albums, and most sources quote 175-200 million, but it seems everyone's using the highest figures they can find to promote their favourite bands. Same case with ABBA. Yeah sure, they've definitely sold upwards of 250 million records but not 370 million...I mean come on! They've only sold 10.5 million albums in the US and probably a million singles there at best. XXSaifXx 08:16, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
Perhaps you need to check the last line of the introduction :"This means that these figures should be considered claims, not facts." We don't take any old website - fourms, pure fancruft etc - but becasue there's no official body recording these figures, we have to be fairly flexible. --Robdurbar 10:37, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
I would like to add that instead of complaining about what you *think* is wrong, then why not try and a better source instead. I think it would be great if the page used more paper sources. --Maitch 11:01, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
That is EXACTLY what I just said. I can't find a reputable source for Chubby Checker, so if someone can find one that's better, that's great. Until then though, he should not be on the list. And why would I try and find a better source for what I know is wrong, that doesn't make any sense. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Leethal (talk • contribs) 11:12, 7 February 2007 (UTC).

With the exception of sales info for elvis, the beatles, kenny rogers and garth brooks, everyone else's sales claims are pure fiction. 74.65.39.59 02:50, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

Unfortunately, there is a lot of fancruft here, but as Rob said, there's not much that we can do. Almost certainly, however, the claims for certain artists are exaggerated beyond belief. Obviously Bing Crosby has not sold 900 million records worldwide; any suggestions to the contrary are merely promotional and can be ignored. The same goes for a lot of these other artists here (The Beatles have not sold over a billion, neither has Elvis, and Michael Jackson has not sold 750 million). It's important to understand that many of these figures are PR gimmicks by the record companies of these artists. Beyond that, we can't do much here. People will just have to be very cautious about what they read into these claims.UberCryxic 23:16, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] BLACK SABBATH

Ozzie's page says 70+ million album sales, but is uncited. Anyone? (The Elfoid 21:48, 26 March 2007 (UTC))

[edit] Diana Ross/Supremes

Given her now 48 years in the industry, I am CERTAIN Diana Ross is somewhere in the top 10. Anyone got any idea of record sales for Diana?

If it's just Diana Ross solo, then she is not anywhere in the top ten all time. The Supremes should've been mentioned. They are not top ten, but they are definitely up there.UberCryxic 17:22, 3 April 2007 (UTC)

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