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Thread started 01/28/13 10:00pm

JasonWill1980

wikipedia best selling artists on the planet

I found some stats on Wikipedia claiming the best selling artists... does anyone think its accurate?

The Beatles: 600 million

Elvis Presley: 600 million

Michael Jackson: 350 million-400 million

Madonna: 275 million-300 million

Whitney Houston: 170 million-200 million

Rihanna: 100 million

Prince: 100 million

Eminem: 100 million

Janet Jackson: 100 million

Tupac Shakur: 75 million

Beyonce: 75 million

heres the link

[Edited 1/28/13 22:01pm]

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Reply #1 posted 01/28/13 10:14pm

MickyDolenz

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What happened to Nana Mouskouri? razz At any rate, I don't think Wiki is a good source for info.

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 #2 posted 01/28/13 10:33pm

HatrinaHaterwi
tz

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I'm going to say that it's inaccurate because I'm pretty damn sure without even looking that The Beatles and Elvis have sold more than a BILLION records each, respectively.

I knew from the start that I loved you with all my heart.
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Reply #3 posted 01/28/13 11:27pm

lastdecember

avatar

JasonWill1980 said:

I found some stats on Wikipedia claiming the best selling artists... does anyone think its accurate?

The Beatles: 600 million

Elvis Presley: 600 million

Michael Jackson: 350 million-400 million

Madonna: 275 million-300 million

Whitney Houston: 170 million-200 million

Rihanna: 100 million

Prince: 100 million

Eminem: 100 million

Janet Jackson: 100 million

Tupac Shakur: 75 million

Beyonce: 75 million

heres the link

[Edited 1/28/13 22:01pm]

Well its missing QUITE a bit of artists

Just a few to name

ABBA- 350 million

Bon Jovi - 175 million

QUEEN- 250 million

Billy Joel- 160million

Elton John- 250 million

Barry Manilow 90 million

just naming a few but tons more they missed (left out )


"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #4 posted 01/28/13 11:29pm

Gunsnhalen

Rihanna sold 100 million? yeah right lol

She has sold less than 25 million worldwide what kind of stan put that? lol lol

Pistols sounded like "Fuck off," wheras The Clash sounded like "Fuck Off, but here's why.."- Thedigitialgardener

All music is shit music and no music is real- gunsnhalen

Datdonkeydick- Asherfierce

Gary Hunts Album Isn't That Good- Soulalive
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Reply #5 posted 01/28/13 11:59pm

LiLi1992

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Of course this is not true.
The Beatles have sold over 500 million records.
Elvis - much much less. more than 50% of its sales are concentrated in the United States.

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Reply #6 posted 01/29/13 12:09am

mancabdriver

Is that albums and singles combined? Or just albums?

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Reply #7 posted 01/29/13 12:18am

rialb

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I'm talking out of my ass a little bit here but I believe that any numbers for sales pre mid seventies are basically guesses. In the U.S. there was no platinum certification until the early seventies and no multi platinum until the mid seventies. What does that mean? Well, I'm not certain but I don't think that sales were tracked nearly as closely then as they (supposedly) are now.

If the list factors in singles where are people like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra? Surely in their long careers they sold at least a hundred million? I suspect that they are omitted because the records of their sales are incomplete.

Kiss, Garth Brooks and Mariah Carey are all supposedly in the 100 million units sold club and none of them are listed.

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Reply #8 posted 01/29/13 12:24am

Gunsnhalen

rialb said:

I'm talking out of my ass a little bit here but I believe that any numbers for sales pre mid seventies are basically guesses. In the U.S. there was no platinum certification until the early seventies and no multi platinum until the mid seventies. What does that mean? Well, I'm not certain but I don't think that sales were tracked nearly as closely then as they (supposedly) are now.

If the list factors in singles where are people like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra? Surely in their long careers they sold at least a hundred million? I suspect that they are omitted because the records of their sales are incomplete.

Kiss, Garth Brooks and Mariah Carey are all supposedly in the 100 million units sold club and none of them are listed.

This is true i never quite understood how sales certifications worked back in the day lol

Like i remember they said Songs In They Key Of Life was the first Stevie album to be eligable for platinum status... and i know that Songs was not the first Stevie album to sell a million copies lol

Also i am pretty sure Led Zeppelin have sold way way way over 100 million worldwide as well as The Rolling Stones.

Pistols sounded like "Fuck off," wheras The Clash sounded like "Fuck Off, but here's why.."- Thedigitialgardener

All music is shit music and no music is real- gunsnhalen

Datdonkeydick- Asherfierce

Gary Hunts Album Isn't That Good- Soulalive
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Reply #9 posted 01/29/13 12:26am

Gunsnhalen

Yup Zeppelin sold over 300 million worldwide yet are not on here strange lol

I think ABBA ahs sold like 400 million worldwide as well.

Pistols sounded like "Fuck off," wheras The Clash sounded like "Fuck Off, but here's why.."- Thedigitialgardener

All music is shit music and no music is real- gunsnhalen

Datdonkeydick- Asherfierce

Gary Hunts Album Isn't That Good- Soulalive
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Reply #10 posted 01/29/13 12:37am

LiLi1992

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Guys, the list, which is posted - this is not a direct order, he just picked his favorite artists.

According to this list (not quite realistic, IMHO)
Mariah Carey - 200 million
Led Zeppelin - 300 million
Kiss - 100 million
The Rolling Stones - 200 million
Garth Brooks - 130 million
Stevie Wonder - 100 million

In any case, I'm sure that the data for Elvis are very exaggerated, his sales in the U.S. are close to the sales the Beatles, but the Beatles have sold a lot more records in all other markets: Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, etc.

ABBA - 400 million? on what planet? certainly not on planet Earth. lol

they had only one hit number 1 in the U.S., they did not have any really huge album. most successful Arrival sold about 11-12 million worldwide.
their sales 190-200 million (singles + albums)

[Edited 1/29/13 0:45am]

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Reply #11 posted 01/29/13 1:00am

Gunsnhalen

LiLi1992 said:

Guys, the list, which is posted - this is not a direct order, he just picked his favorite artists.

According to this list (not quite realistic, IMHO)
Mariah Carey - 200 million
Led Zeppelin - 300 million
Kiss - 100 million
The Rolling Stones - 200 million
Garth Brooks - 130 million
Stevie Wonder - 100 million

In any case, I'm sure that the data for Elvis are very exaggerated, his sales in the U.S. are close to the sales the Beatles, but the Beatles have sold a lot more records in all other markets: Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, etc.

ABBA - 400 million? on what planet? certainly not on planet Earth. lol

they had only one hit number 1 in the U.S., they did not have any really huge album. most successful Arrival sold about 11-12 million worldwide.
their sales 190-200 million (singles + albums)

[Edited 1/29/13 0:45am]

calm your tits lol

I saw a special on VH1 from a few years ago that said that hence the ''i think'' part of the statement darling.

Pistols sounded like "Fuck off," wheras The Clash sounded like "Fuck Off, but here's why.."- Thedigitialgardener

All music is shit music and no music is real- gunsnhalen

Datdonkeydick- Asherfierce

Gary Hunts Album Isn't That Good- Soulalive
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Reply #12 posted 01/29/13 1:05am

novabrkr

I've always been skeptical of Prince's "official" figure, to be honest.

Well, most of those figures. It just seems like they've taken the original sales of the albums from the first couple of years after their releases and then they keep adding to the numbers by some completely made-up manner as each year passes by.

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Reply #13 posted 01/29/13 1:18am

LiLi1992

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Gunsnhalen said:

I saw a special on VH1 from a few years ago that said that hence the ''i think'' part of the statement darling.

Yeah, MTV, Reuters or Billboard talked about one billion sold records for the Beatles, and 750 million for MJ.
sometimes it is enough to connect a little logic. razz

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Reply #14 posted 01/29/13 1:23am

Gunsnhalen

LiLi1992 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

I saw a special on VH1 from a few years ago that said that hence the ''i think'' part of the statement darling.

Yeah, MTV, Reuters or Billboard talked about one billion sold records for the Beatles, and 750 million for MJ.
sometimes it is enough to connect a little logic. razz

Perhaps that is true since in some form of the world Rihanna has sold 100 million copies lol

I never know who to trust with these number confused what's a man to do!

Pistols sounded like "Fuck off," wheras The Clash sounded like "Fuck Off, but here's why.."- Thedigitialgardener

All music is shit music and no music is real- gunsnhalen

Datdonkeydick- Asherfierce

Gary Hunts Album Isn't That Good- Soulalive
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Reply #15 posted 01/29/13 1:35am

SuperSoulFight
er

Of course it's not correct. Prince sold more records than Madonna. He said so. And everything Prince says is the truth. hmph!
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Reply #16 posted 01/29/13 1:44am

LiLi1992

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Gunsnhalen said:

LiLi1992 said:

Yeah, MTV, Reuters or Billboard talked about one billion sold records for the Beatles, and 750 million for MJ.
sometimes it is enough to connect a little logic. razz

Perhaps that is true since in some form of the world Rihanna has sold 100 million copies lol

I never know who to trust with these number confused what's a man to do!

You know, maybe it's close to the truth. confused

Rihanna's albums are really not very successful, but she is huge as a singles artist
now the price of digital single is less than 1 dollar, so the sales of singles are at their peak.

in US top 100 digital songs ever Rihanna has 3 songs
We Found Love, Rihanna feat. Calvin Harris 4,283,000
Live Your Life, T.I. feat. Rihanna 4,212,000
Umbrella, Rihanna ft Jay-Z 4,000,000
her sales of singles have already exceeded 35 million in the U.S.

Rihanna has sold approximately 11 million singles in the UK alone.
and ranks second among women, after 5-6 years, she may well overtake the leader Madonna.

we have already at least 45 million singles sold in the U.S. and the UK (50-55% of the world market)
so sales of Rihanna's singles in the world are over 80 million
I think it is quite possible that she has sold 100 million worldwide.

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Reply #17 posted 01/29/13 2:11am

novabrkr

You can buy "Diamonds" currently for $1.29 as a download.

Not really the same as buying the "The Wall" as a double vinyl album from a store, right?

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Reply #18 posted 01/29/13 2:17am

jfrost

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And as an Irish man, I have to say the biggest band on the planet seems to have been left of the list..

Where is Crystal Swing!!!

http://youtu.be/5XSkstqN2T0

Of course I mean U2

The right to free discussion is protected!!
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Reply #19 posted 01/29/13 6:31am

kitbradley

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JasonWill1980 said:

I found some stats on Wikipedia claiming the best selling artists... does anyone think its accurate?

The Beatles: 600 million

Elvis Presley: 600 million

Michael Jackson: 350 million-400 million

Madonna: 275 million-300 million

Whitney Houston: 170 million-200 million

Rihanna: 100 million

Prince: 100 million

Eminem: 100 million

Janet Jackson: 100 million

Tupac Shakur: 75 million

Beyonce: 75 million

heres the link

[Edited 1/28/13 22:01pm]

Yeah, I just looked at the link you provided and it seems like you left several people off this list. lol Donna Summer sold more than Beyonce and Rhianna.

"It's not nice to fuck with K.B.! All you haters will see!" - Kitbradley
"The only true wisdom is knowing you know nothing." - Socrates
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Reply #20 posted 01/29/13 10:04am

robertlove

SuperSoulFighter said:

Of course it's not correct. Prince sold more records than Madonna. He said so. And everything Prince says is the truth. hmph!

yes and still WB would give all their attention to Madge! She sold nothing, it's not fair.

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Reply #21 posted 01/29/13 10:21am

mjscarousal

lol lol lol lol lol smile biggrin cool wink
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Reply #22 posted 01/29/13 2:18pm

lastdecember

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mjscarousal said:

lol lol lol lol lol smile biggrin cool wink

I dont think we will ever know an actual number for artists, but this list is obviously written by Rhianna's tour manager. But if it does factor in Singles sales then its possible, there is no way she has sold more than 25 million worldwide in albums, if even that much. So alot is missing from this list, i mean if you do count singles than the Brit pop girl groups like Spice Girls and Girls Aloud were both massive in europe, Girls Aloud scored 20 straight top 10's and thats all sales, there albums werent tremendous but the singles were big.

But it all depends what this "list" is factoring and who wrote it, you arent gonna get anything accurate, shoot the Beatles were selling for almost 50 years now, got only knows what they racked up, when CDs first came out they sold huge all over again for them. Queen, Abba, Zeppelin, Billy Joel i mean Billy had one album close in on 11 million and then the one right after it did 8 million in the USA alone, and all his others were gold-multiplatnum here, so he for sure is up there, Jovi passed 100 million a decade ago. and since then sold 20 million plus more worldwide.


"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #23 posted 01/29/13 2:25pm

Terrib3Towel

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These lists are nothing but penis waving contests for stans.

Who really cares that much?

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Reply #24 posted 01/29/13 3:30pm

JasonWill1980

kitbradley said:

JasonWill1980 said:

I found some stats on Wikipedia claiming the best selling artists... does anyone think its accurate?

The Beatles: 600 million

Elvis Presley: 600 million

Michael Jackson: 350 million-400 million

Madonna: 275 million-300 million

Whitney Houston: 170 million-200 million

Rihanna: 100 million

Prince: 100 million

Eminem: 100 million

Janet Jackson: 100 million

Tupac Shakur: 75 million

Beyonce: 75 million

heres the link

[Edited 1/28/13 22:01pm]

Yeah, I just looked at the link you provided and it seems like you left several people off this list. lol Donna Summer sold more than Beyonce and Rhianna.

yeah I tried to post the whole list but it wouldn't work, so I just decided to link it

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Reply #25 posted 01/29/13 4:48pm

aardvark15

Gunsnhalen said:

Rihanna sold 100 million? yeah right lol

She has sold less than 25 million worldwide what kind of stan put that? lol lol

She;s sold more singles than any other "artist" if I remember correctly.

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Reply #26 posted 01/29/13 4:55pm

aardvark15

Just saw the list. Someone completely changed it. It was a lot more accuratebefore. The Beatles had more. Elvis Had more. Abba had more than Madonna. How the fuck could Depeche Mode even possibly be that high on the list. That right there is a sign lol they never even had a U.K number one hit

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Reply #27 posted 01/29/13 5:13pm

lastdecember

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aardvark15 said:

Just saw the list. Someone completely changed it. It was a lot more accuratebefore. The Beatles had more. Elvis Had more. Abba had more than Madonna. How the fuck could Depeche Mode even possibly be that high on the list. That right there is a sign lol they never even had a U.K number one hit

Actually the Depeche Mode number is pretty acurate, half of it can be given to "violater", i didnt see Duran in there unless i missed it because they are about 90 or so. It seems a few of the bands i mentioned got added in this list? Queen, ABBA, Jovi etc...all of a sudden are here. HOWEVER alot of those 100million are not accurate

AND NOTE the rihanna number is 25 million albums 75 million in singles. So alot of these numbers on here combine, and are total sales, with that being said lump in a-ha at 51 million, yup 36 million in albums and 15 million in singles over 25 years

[Edited 1/29/13 17:15pm]


"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #28 posted 01/29/13 5:41pm

mjscarousal

Fuck all the moderators here who dont do a damn thing and tamper/edit peoples post biggrin

Now you have something to fuckin edit biggrin

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Reply #29 posted 01/29/13 5:47pm

mjscarousal

lastdecember said:

mjscarousal said:

lol lol lol lol lol smile biggrin cool wink

I dont think we will ever know an actual number for artists, but this list is obviously written by Rhianna's tour manager. But if it does factor in Singles sales then its possible, there is no way she has sold more than 25 million worldwide in albums, if even that much. So alot is missing from this list, i mean if you do count singles than the Brit pop girl groups like Spice Girls and Girls Aloud were both massive in europe, Girls Aloud scored 20 straight top 10's and thats all sales, there albums werent tremendous but the singles were big.

But it all depends what this "list" is factoring and who wrote it, you arent gonna get anything accurate, shoot the Beatles were selling for almost 50 years now, got only knows what they racked up, when CDs first came out they sold huge all over again for them. Queen, Abba, Zeppelin, Billy Joel i mean Billy had one album close in on 11 million and then the one right after it did 8 million in the USA alone, and all his others were gold-multiplatnum here, so he for sure is up there, Jovi passed 100 million a decade ago. and since then sold 20 million plus more worldwide.

Everybody except Rihanna, Beyonce and Tupac (love him) belong on the list.

You bring up a good point. Alot of times when people make these lists they factor in certain things. There are a ton of people missing from the list.

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