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Thread started 08/13/19 5:13pm

cjmc2006

Independent website listed the 50 Biggest Selling Artists and Prince wasn’t even mentioned even though he sold over 150

Prince sold over 120-150 million records and yet Foreigner and Chicagonate mentioned, even Bob Dylan and Prince sold more than Dylan

https://www.independent.c...46531.html
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Reply #1 posted 08/13/19 5:32pm

SquirrelMeat

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Sales don't equal talent. Stevie and Bowie are just two that prove that.

Influence is a greater benchmark. How many artists list Chicago as career influencing or genre shaping?

If the lead singer of Foreigner died tomorrow, would it be headline news all around the world and could they be referred to in one word or phrase and everyone would know who you mean?

.
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Reply #2 posted 08/13/19 6:32pm

cjmc2006

You're right, I'm mostly surprised that BON JOVI has sold that many records. Anyhow, in order to matter, you would have to sell a certian amount of records and we know PRINCE sold at least in the top 25!

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Reply #3 posted 08/13/19 8:41pm

Mikado

Garth Brooks sold a shit ton for some bizarre reason - lots of American country artists have. Zero cultural clout and half the country doesn't even know who they are, but they still sell records in a major way.

A certain kind of mellow.
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Reply #4 posted 08/13/19 10:35pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

Link?
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Reply #5 posted 08/14/19 1:30am

purplethunder3
121

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So? shrug

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #6 posted 08/14/19 7:22am

luv4u

Moderator

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moderator

MotownSubdivision said:

Link?



yeahthat


lockdance

canada

Ohh purple joy oh purple bliss oh purple rapture!
REAL MUSIC by REAL MUSICIANS - Prince
"I kind of wish there was a reason for Prince to make the site crash more" ~~ Ben
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Reply #7 posted 08/14/19 6:28pm

cjmc2006

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Reply #8 posted 08/14/19 6:48pm

funksterr

Lists and awards usually mean bought and paid for.

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Reply #9 posted 08/14/19 7:09pm

MickyDolenz

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Mikado said:

Garth Brooks sold a shit ton for some bizarre reason - lots of American country artists have. Zero cultural clout and half the country doesn't even know who they are, but they still sell records in a major way.

I listen to country music. Country has always had an audience in the US. But it probably started to get a more mainstream audience with the Hee Haw TV show in the 1970s and then with the crossover success of Kenny Rogers in particular. Kenny became so popular, they made a TV movie about his song The Gambler. Also, westerns were really popular for decades in the USA until the around maybe the early 1970s. That's a reason why the music is called "country & western", it was originally called "hillbilly". There's been popular country/rural movies & TV like Ma & Pa Kettle, Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, Smokey And The Bandit, Urban Cowboy, Dukes Of Hazzard, The Waltons, Convoy, BJ & The Bear, etc. There's southern rock like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Eagles, 38 Special, Poco, Allman Brothers, Marshall Tucker Band, etc. 1960s rock bands like The Beatles, Rolling Stones, & CSNY had songs with country elements. Elvis Presley had country songs too. Nashville session musicians played on country and R&B records. Farm Aid concerts go on to this day. Dollywood is a popular amusement park. Many places have rodeos and NASAR tends to have a country related audience too, so does monster truck shows. So I don't know what you mean that country has no cultural clout. You've never seen people wearing a Johnny Cash flipping the bird t-shirt, a mechanical bull on TV or a band performing behind chicken wire? lol Country music is even popular in Jamaica and in some countries in Africa. In the early 1990s the dance music group KLF got Tammy Wynette to sing on a song.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #10 posted 08/14/19 10:06pm

nextedition

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cjmc2006 said:

Prince sold over 120-150 million records and yet Foreigner and Chicagonate mentioned, even Bob Dylan and Prince sold more than Dylan https://www.independent.c...46531.html

Please, these are US sales.

Prince never sold 120 million records in the US.

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Reply #11 posted 08/15/19 12:27am

jaypotton

"We compiled this list by ranking the most successful acts in music history according to their total certified album units sold in the US, as provided by the RIAA."

So not worldwide sales.

Saying that Prince was not that big a seller (some exceptions) but the volume of releases all adds up.

Interesting the top 30 only has three non-White artists. Americans also clearly love their rock and country music!
[Edited 8/15/19 0:34am]
'I loved him then, I love him now and will love him eternally. He's with our son now.' Mayte 21st April 2016 = the saddest quote I have ever read! RIP Prince and thanks for everything.
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Reply #12 posted 08/15/19 7:59am

emesem

At first I found it a bit odd Prince didnt make the list. I figured that PR alone is good for 25-30million. But now I see that the 24million figure I'm familiar with was worldwide and in the US was only about 15million.

This should not be a surprise however. Aside from a '84-86, Prince, all-told, was somewhat a niche artist who has a much greater influence on music than his sales alone would lead you to beleive.

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Reply #13 posted 08/15/19 8:53am

feeluupp

RIAA USA CERTIFICATIONS FOR THE 80s

DIRTY MIND - GOLD

CONTROVERSY - 1 M

1999 - 4 M

PURPLE RAIN - 13 M

ATWIAD - 2 M

PARADE - 1 M

SIGN O THE TIMES - 1 M

LOVESEXY - GOLD

BATMAN - 2 M

His USA numbers were low except for 1999 and Purple Rain. But world wide was somewhat avarage, for example world wide 1999 sold 7 million total. Purpe Rain sold over 21 million total, Parade over 4 million total.

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Reply #14 posted 08/15/19 9:47am

feeluupp

Keep in mind many of his albums have not been recertified by RIAA when they should.

Purple Rain still stands at 13x Platinum, last certification was 1996. It should be at least 16x Platinum in USA by now, if not more!

Dirty Mind was never recertified, it should be at least Platinum by now. TVBOP is the largest selling album since Prince's death with sales past 3 million in the U.S. alone but only stands at 1x Platinum still.

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Reply #15 posted 08/15/19 12:00pm

cjmc2006

nextedition said:

cjmc2006 said:

Prince sold over 120-150 million records and yet Foreigner and Chicagonate mentioned, even Bob Dylan and Prince sold more than Dylan https://www.independent.c...46531.html

Please, these are US sales.

Prince never sold 120 million records in the US.

PRINCE sold 48.9 million records in the US ALONE

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Reply #16 posted 08/15/19 12:03pm

cjmc2006

feeluupp said:

RIAA USA CERTIFICATIONS FOR THE 80s

DIRTY MIND - GOLD

CONTROVERSY - 1 M

1999 - 4 M

PURPLE RAIN - 13 M

ATWIAD - 2 M

PARADE - 1 M

SIGN O THE TIMES - 1 M

LOVESEXY - GOLD

BATMAN - 2 M

His USA numbers were low except for 1999 and Purple Rain. But world wide was somewhat avarage, for example world wide 1999 sold 7 million total. Purpe Rain sold over 21 million total, Parade over 4 million total.

He def sold more than BOB DYLAN. RIAA isnt counting everything. PR sold 16 million in the US ALONE and 1999 has sold over 5 million. TVBOP has sold over 3 million

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Reply #17 posted 08/15/19 12:06pm

cjmc2006

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Reply #18 posted 08/15/19 12:44pm

MickyDolenz

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cjmc2006 said:

RIAA isnt counting everything.

The RIAA doesn't count anything. It's not a requirement that labels report their sales to it, it's always been voluntary. The labels have to pay a fee for those certifications anyway, which some might not want to do. When Berry Gordy ran Motown he generally didn't report to it. Neither did Syd Nathan at King Records. If a label reports what a record has sold, then they have to pay the artist royalties for the sales. If the label doesn't report the sales for certifications, the acts do not know what they sold and so cannot ask for more money.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #19 posted 08/15/19 4:51pm

purplethunder3
121

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Wish there was better Prince news than this...

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #20 posted 08/15/19 6:19pm

cjmc2006

purplethunder3121 said:

Wish there was better Prince news than this...

There is. Look at the Previous Comment! It's all good now.

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Reply #21 posted 08/15/19 7:30pm

purplethunder3
121

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cjmc2006 said:

purplethunder3121 said:

Wish there was better Prince news than this...

There is. Look at the Previous Comment! It's all good now.

All right...but I was wanting to hear breaking news about a Prince album I've never heard before...

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #22 posted 08/16/19 4:24am

jaawwnn

SquirrelMeat said:

Sales don't equal talent. Stevie and Bowie are just two that prove that.

Influence is a greater benchmark. How many artists list Chicago as career influencing or genre shaping?

If the lead singer of Foreigner died tomorrow, would it be headline news all around the world and could they be referred to in one word or phrase and everyone would know who you mean?

Well, a certain musician from Minneapolis for one

Joking aside though, you are 100% correct. Why people care about this is beyond me, Kenny G is on that list and I don't see people foaming at the mouth for reissues of his catalogue. Take it as a compliment that Prince was too cool to appeal to all the people all of the time.

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Reply #23 posted 08/17/19 3:51pm

MickyDolenz

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jaawwnn said:

Kenny G is on that list and I don't see people foaming at the mouth for reissues of his catalogue.

Kenny G has sold way more than LaToya Jackson, but she has several deluxe CD reissues of her albums. So there's a demand for a lot of things

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #24 posted 08/17/19 7:57pm

MotownSubdivis
ion

Thanks for orgnoting me the link, TC.

This really ain't an issue though. Aside from '82-'86 and '91, P wasn't a big seller. Despite that he's one of the most popular names in music, past or present and is held in very high regard by critics and fans alike to this day.

He sold enough.
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Reply #25 posted 08/18/19 10:15am

jaawwnn

MickyDolenz said:



jaawwnn said:


Kenny G is on that list and I don't see people foaming at the mouth for reissues of his catalogue.



Kenny G has sold way more than LaToya Jackson, but she has several deluxe CD reissues of her albums. So there's a demand for a lot of things


Um, yes, thank you for taking my point and rewording it to say the same thing.
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Reply #26 posted 08/18/19 10:57am

MickyDolenz

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jaawwnn said:

Um, yes, thank you for taking my point and rewording it to say the same thing.

Not really. My point is that if there are people who want reissues of LaToya, whose albums weren't popular when they were originally released. What makes you think that there aren't people who want remasters of Kenny's albums? His albums sold multiplatinum. Adult R&B stations still play his music and smooth jazz in general on the Quiet Storm program. Kenny was even on the rap battle show Drop The Mic not that long ago and had a battle with Richard Marx. Adult contemporary songs are popular with weddings too.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #27 posted 08/19/19 2:11am

jaawwnn

MickyDolenz said:

jaawwnn said:

Um, yes, thank you for taking my point and rewording it to say the same thing.

Not really. My point is that if there are people who want reissues of LaToya, whose albums weren't popular when they were originally released. What makes you think that there aren't people who want remasters of Kenny's albums? His albums sold multiplatinum. Adult R&B stations still play his music and smooth jazz in general on the Quiet Storm program. Kenny was even on the rap battle show Drop The Mic not that long ago and had a battle with Richard Marx. Adult contemporary songs are popular with weddings too.

Fair point. Embarrassing for some people, but fair point.

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Reply #28 posted 08/21/19 9:43am

MickyDolenz

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jaawwnn said:

Fair point. Embarrassing for some people, but fair point.

How is that? I've never understood this kind of thinking that somebody has to like a so-called "high class" type of music or if it's not then it's a "guilty pleasure". I don't feel embarrased about anything I listen to or watch and don't believe in guilty pleasures. I use the name Micky from The Monkees. biggrin Music is for people to enjoy. It doesn't matter if they like opera or Soulja Boy. It's all good if it makes a person happy. Music snobs never make any sense to me. I have a few Kenny G records and he played on other records I have from people like Whitney Houston, Kashif, & Johnny Gill.

You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton
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Reply #29 posted 08/21/19 1:09pm

kewlschool

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feeluupp said:

Keep in mind many of his albums have not been recertified by RIAA when they should.

Purple Rain still stands at 13x Platinum, last certification was 1996. It should be at least 16x Platinum in USA by now, if not more!

Dirty Mind was never recertified, it should be at least Platinum by now. TVBOP is the largest selling album since Prince's death with sales past 3 million in the U.S. alone but only stands at 1x Platinum still.

Don't they count single sales and album sales?

Also, all songs he penned and sung by others count as a Prince sale? Both in an album or single sale?

He songs are on best selling artists albums which would add to his sales numbers, no?

99.9% of everything I say is strictly for my own entertainment
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Forums > Prince: Music and More > Independent website listed the 50 Biggest Selling Artists and Prince wasn’t even mentioned even though he sold over 150