Talk:List of best-selling music artists

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Talk:List of best-selling music artists/Artists · Talk:List of best-selling music artists/Index

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It is essential to provide reliable sources when editing this article. For examples, see the references section. Unsourced or unreliably sourced additions will be removed immediately.

The list is frequently edited in good faith to update the certified sales figures; however, claimed sales figures need to be supported by reliable sources, preferably from news organizations.

Artists with claimed sales figures below 75 million may not be added to the list.

Whilst we encourage editors to be bold, it is highly recommended to discuss changes on this talk page before editing.

Below you can get an understanding as to when certifications for songs are added to the total certified sales of the listed artists.

One lead artist and one featured artist. (The issued certification(s) should be added to the total of both, the lead artist and the featured artist as both will have almost equal amount of part).
Two lead artists. (The issued certification(s) should be added to the total of both lead artists as both will have almost equal amount of part).
Two lead artists and one featured artist. (The issued certification(s) should be added to the total of both lead artists as well as the featured artist. Both lead artists will play a significant part in a song and the part of the featured artist also should be significant enough).
One lead artist and two featured artists. (The issued certification(s) should be added to the total of the lead artist and to the total of both featured artists as almost all should have equal amount of part).

The year next to markets below indicates how far back the certification systems go in each country. The percentages stand for the global market share based on a 2007 IFPI report.

USA: RIAA (1958) (31.6%)
Japan: RIAJ (Physical certifications since (1989)(16.5%)
UK: BPI (1973) (10.6%)
Germany: BVMI (1975) (8.4%)
France: SNEP, Infodisc (albums), Infodisc (singles) (1973) (5.8%)
Australia: ARIA (1990) (2.23%)
Canada: Music Canada (1975) (2.22)
Italy: FIMI (2009) (1.95%)
The Netherlands: NVPI (1978) (1.52%)
Spain: PROMUSICAE (1979) (1.48%)
Austria: IFPI (1990) (1.10%)
Mexico: AMPROFON (1999) (1.08%)
Brazil: PMB (1990) (0.97%)
Belgium: Ultratop (1995) (0.91%)
Norway: (Archived certification-database) (1993) (0.86%)
Switzerland: Schweizer Hitparade (1989) (0.84%)
Sweden: IFPI (Archived certification-database), Sverige Topplistan (Chart-database) (1987) (0.81%)
Denmark: Hitlisten (Chart-database), IFPI Denmark (2001) (0.67%)
Ireland: IRMA (2005) (0.52%)
Poland: ZPAV (1995) (0.51%)
Finland: IFPI (1971) (0.49%)
Argentina: Capif (1980) (0.48%)
New Zealand: Recorded Music NZ (1978) (0.37%)

Album not equal to single not equal to download!

How can it be that the term "record sales" lumps all formats together here? I ask the Wiki people to realize that in this distorted view, artists such as The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Queen, Madonna or The Rolling Stones, who have generated their certifications mainly through physical album sales, are placed against Rihanna, Beyoncé, Ed Sheeran or Justin Bieber, who have received their certifications mainly from single track downloads.

Is this article seriously trying to make us believe that, for example, a physically sold album is the same as a single track downloaded?

Therefore, I would suggest a weighting calculation with Equivalent Album Sales (EAS) as the base unit and the following key:

1 physical album (audio & video) ≙ 1 EAS

1 physical single ≙ 3/10 EAS

1 download single ≙ 1.5/10 EAS

1 audio stream ≙ 1/1500 EAS

1 video stream ≙ 1/6750 EAS.

In addition, I would recommend only listing actually certified sales here, as claims about estimated sales can only result from different subjective feelings and should not have any serious relevance for a direct comparison between recording artists.

With the aim of a significant weighting of physical sales, downloads and streaming, the generally accepted breakdown for Album-equivalent unit could also be used.

As a result of that calculation, each artist should be assigned an overall EAS value determined from their certifications, which would then determine their corresponding position within this best-selling ranking.

I agree with you. I think we should differentiate between album sales, physical singles, and other type of media using Equivalent Album Sales (EAS) and other distinctions. And put that distinctions on the page on different columns or tables. Not total numbers on the same table. Paladium (talk) 12:12, 16 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed. At least we could split the albums and singles like List of highest-certified music artists in the United States. Selling 1 million albums is not the same as selling 1 million digital singles. In iTunes, an album is sold for $9.99, while a digital song is only $0.99, which means that selling 9 million singles is still NOT better than just selling 1 million albums. Bluesatellite (talk) 02:10, 17 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

We could simply separate the sections, rather than grouping them by sales we just have one section for the legacy artists like The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Madonna, Queen and Rolling Stones. Who are ranked based on certified units and then another section for the modern artists like Eminem, Rihanna, Drake, Beyonce, Taylor Swift who don't sell albums anymore but instead have their sales primarily coming from streaming units and digital track sales.

This is currently used for the Best Selling Singles page, where the songs released from the 20th century are ranked based on certified sales and then another section is given for the modern songs. That way there is a distinction based on the artists whose sales primarily come from album sales and single sales whilst also taking into account that as the artists debuted decades ago, their streams as legacy artists would be substantially lower than other acts who debuted during a time where people no longer buy many albums. Never17 (talk) 22:41, 20 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

However we have previously tried multiple times to change the structure of this page with much objection, with editors stating that the claimed sales figures are important and also bringing up the exclusion of artists who did not have their sales certified or debuted too long ago like Bing Crosby whose "White Christmas" song is claimed to have sold over 50 million for example. So in likelihood to get people to agree with a change we'd have to maintain their inclusion and find a different way as removing them might not be the best course of action. Never17 (talk) 22:47, 20 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Jean Michel Jarre

My second request that he may be a valid entry for this page.

https://variety.com/2022/music/news/jean-michel-jarre-publishing-bmg-1235321616/

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/jean-michel-jarre-sells-music-publishing-catalogue-bmg-2022-07-21/

https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-music-france-paris-b62940e2cb33790d9adb316953ef1868

https://www.euronews.com/culture/2022/10/27/jean-michel-jarre-releases-his-22nd-album-oxymore

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/jean-michel-jarre-legion-president-emmanuel-macron-9591678/ Cahlin29 (talk) 05:29, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

? 147.148.121.147 (talk) 19:16, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Marcy Mills

Member of One Direction dead. 147.148.121.147 (talk) 19:12, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Awww! Sad! 147.148.121.147 (talk) 19:14, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Imagine Dragons and others

Can they please be moved near the top? As well as Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift. I also suggest that you put Marshmello on the list. 147.148.121.147 (talk) 19:18, 19 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Kylie Minogue

Please add Kylie Minogue to this list of top selling music artists. According to her record label Bertelsmann Music Group: "Over the course of her music career, Kylie Minogue has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, amassed five billion streams, and released nine British #1 albums." https://www.bertelsmann.com/news-and-media/news/kylie-minogue-announces-new-album-and-world-tour.jsp And, BMG used the same number in 2019: https://web.archive.org/web/20210820184258/https://www.bmg.com/uk/news/Step-Back-In-Time-Release.html Both references are on her Wikipedia page. Faberglas (talk) 02:46, 20 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

The Doors

On November 21, 2024, RIIA certified many singles from the American group The Doors as gold, platinum and multi-platinum, increasing the sum of sales in America, but I noticed that it has not yet been updated. Thank you and good work. https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/#search_section 79.47.6.140 (talk) 23:43, 21 November 2024 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 79.47.6.140 (talk)