Talk:List of best-selling music artists

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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%)

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the List of best-selling music artists article.
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Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Archives: Index, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49: 10 days

Lady gaga

She have new certification for A star is born in uk and for Always remember us this way in Australia. Why they are not in the list. And she got higher certified number than claimed sales.

She got in month of july new certification for songs from A star is born in Australia

Aye, according to their wikipedia page these musicians have sold more 75 units.

So, I don't know where their sources are but Enrique Iglesias has sold 180 units Ellie Goulding had sold 15 million albums and 102 million singles also Ricky Martin has sold more than 70 million records worldwide but the exact number is not given.

Can you tell me why Frank Sinatra was removed??

Frank Sinatra has sold 150 million units according to CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2015/12/11/the-business-of-frank-sinatra.html Mr Kris 420 (talk) 07:12, 4 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The required percentage of certified sales for all artists who have begun charting before 1973, has been raised from 20% to 30%. It was done because based on IFPI available data, the US market alone has generated and generates more than 30% of global sales annually. You can find the detailed percentage requirement at the top of this talk page, in one of the yellow boxes. All that said, Frank Sinatra needs to have 45 million certified units to be on the list. He so far has 39.2 million certified units.--Harout72 (talk) 13:28, 4 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

@Mr Kris 420: Maybe you can find a low claim for Sinatra be included in the list, between 75-100 million worldwide.--88marcus (talk) 17:33, 4 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Harout, Don't you feel it's not fair to use the same percentage for artists who began charting way before the establishment of RIAA?·— TheWikiholic (talk) 14:04, 14 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I think 30% for all that have begun charting before 1973 is very generous. As for Frank Sinatra, while his overall charting may have begun in the second half of 1940s, his main success has taken place when the RIAA already was certifying. Also Sinatra has continued charting well throughout the 1960s.--Harout72 (talk) 14:15, 14 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

72% of Sinatra's available certifications are from the USA. And the market share of the USA can be 60% to 80% in the 40s comparing to the IFPI market share of 2002. And I think it's not fair to use the 30% for the artists from both eras.— TheWikiholic (talk) 14:56, 14 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, the US may have generated some 50-60% of the global sales back in 1940s and 1950s and even 1960s, that's exactly why his certified sales should be at least 45 million units for a claimed figure as high as 150 million. If the US has generated 60% of the global sales up to 1970, that translates into 90 million units for a claim as high as 150 million. So again, requiring only 45 million certified units for the global sales since 1950s up to now for a claim as high as 150 million, isn't unfair.--Harout72 (talk) 16:07, 14 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 10 July 2021

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Oasis needs to be added. They sold 75+ million records worldwide 2A00:23C7:B8F:DF01:D04F:3029:64BD:7405 (talk) 09:19, 10 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 11:20, 10 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 12 July 2021

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Please change Justin Bieber's United Kingdom sales figures from 28.445 million to 30.545 million. The change is based on the latest count of BPI Brit Certified units sold in the country which includes all singles (solo, duets and as featured artists), Video/DVD and Album sales. ^[1] Beemer03 (talk) 08:31, 12 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

^ "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

Take a look at this file for detailed certified sales of Justin Bieber, whatever you see on that file is also included on the list. Let me know if anything is missing. Also, note that the certifications that include four artists are not included.--Harout72 (talk) 12:19, 12 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Phil Collins

Hey Harout, hope you doing well, apparently according to my calculations, Phil Collins has a total certified sales of 43.4 million units in the US and 3.875 million units in Canada and this is all based from the database. Moh8213 (talk) 19:57, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It's very possible that I've missed a thing or two, it wouldn't be the first time. Would you mind going over my file and see what's missing?--Harout72 (talk) 20:04, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I've just checked it and it says "This folder is empty" lol Moh8213 (talk) 20:12, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

OK I re-uploaded it here, I had the 3x Plat. missing for Digital format of "In the Air Tonight", I only had gold.--Harout72 (talk) 20:15, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

For Canada, the missing certifications were Platinum for "Dance Into the Night" and 2x Platinum for "Serious Hits...Live". But that brings the total there to 3.675 million. Am I missing something else?--Harout72 (talk) 20:32, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The single Easy Lover by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins is certified Gold (1,000,000) in the US and Platinum (100,000) in Canada in 1985. Moh8213 (talk) 20:49, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

And also apparently according to the RIAA database, there's two No Jacket Required video longform, the 1st one which is No Jacket Required EP listed as Gold (50,000) in 1985 and the other one is No Jacket Required listed as Platinum (100,000) in 1989. In your file only the No Jacket Required EP is included with 100,000 units. Moh8213 (talk) 21:09, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I think it's the same one. There seems to be only No Jacket Required EP, in the Video table. Whoever at the RIAA has posted the Platinum, seems to have forgotten to type EP, therefore, it appears as a certification for a separate video release.--Harout72 (talk) 21:18, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Oh cool, also it's listed as Various Artists for some reason, the soundtrack album Tarzan was certified 2× Platinum (200,000) in Canada in 2002, listed in your file only as Platinum. Moh8213 (talk) 21:32, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Yup, good catch, I added it.--Harout72 (talk) 21:39, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Also (again lol) seems like there's a typo on the German certs. The album Hello, I Must Be Going is certified 2× Platinum (1,000,000) in 1994 tho in your file it's listed 750,000 (3× Gold). Moh8213 (talk) 22:07, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Got it, let me know if you spot anything .--Harout72 (talk) 23:31, 20 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It looks like the album Dance into the Light was certified 2× Platinum (100,000) in Switzerland in 1996, ...But Seriously also certified 2× Platinum (200,000) in the Netherlands in 1990, and seems like there is a typo in the Argentinean certs, the album Serious Hits... Live! certified 5× Platinum (300,000) in Argentina. Also certs level for NZ singles in 2007 were (7,500) for Gold and (15,000) for Platinum so I guess there should be a correction for the In the Air Tonight and the album Both Sides certified Platinum (15,000) in 1994, listed in your file only as Gold. Moh8213 (talk) 00:12, 21 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Other than that so far, I didn't find anything missing or uncorrected. Moh8213 (talk) 00:15, 21 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Oh shot, almost forgot, his DVD Finally... The First Farewell Tour was certified 3× Platinum (45,000) in Australia in 2009, listed in your file as Platinum. Moh8213 (talk) 00:25, 21 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Switzerland: The album Dance Into the Light is certified only Platinum. I've seen other duplicated titles like that in their database. That's just an error on their part.
Netherlands: I've seen the album But Seriously having duplicated Platinum in NVPI's database. I don't know what to make of it since it doesn't have the 2x in front of it. It's possible it was certified Gold in 1989. In any case, it's safe to leave it at Platinum.
Argentina: Yes that should be 300,000 units as it was released in 1990. I've treated that as the 2003 DVD release.
New Zealand: The certification levels for singles released before 1989 were 10,000/20,000.
Australia: The 3x Plat. wasn't posted in 2009 for DVD Finally... The First Farewell Tour. God know what else ARIA didn't have on their previous posts.--Harout72 (talk) 01:08, 21 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Lmao! Well I guess that's it for now. Also a very random question, from all the artists on this list, which of them you listen to the most? Moh8213 (talk) 01:38, 21 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Honestly, I'd have to force myself to listen to the recordings of most artists on the list. But Phil Collins has some good stuff, some of Robbie Williams and George Michael's stuff are excellent, Madonna too. Let me know if you want to help out with double checking my other files :). Good job.--Harout72 (talk) 02:11, 21 July 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The Doors: Original Soundtrack Recording

Hi, The Doors in France 2.200 million not 1.900 million ! scope="row" | France (SNEP)^[1] | Platinum | 300,000^* |-

^ "French album certifications – B.O.F. – The Doors (B.O.F.)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 18, 2021.

[1] "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

[FranceB.O.F.The_Doors_(B.O.F.)albumCertRef-2] "French album certifications – B.O.F. – The Doors (B.O.F.)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 18, 2021.

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