Best-selling music artist
- This article is about best-selling music artists. For other uses, please see the disambiguation page at Best sellers.
This article discusses who is the world's best-selling artist of all-time.
Disclaimers
- The artists below are listed in alphabetical order. Bands are listed by the first letter in their name (not including the words "a", "an", or "the"), and individuals are listed by last name.
- All sources of information that are mentioned below obtain information about worldwide record sales from record companies. There is no other official tracking system for worldwide sales.
- The World Music Awards is the only music awards organisation who based their awards on worldwide record sales. According to their official website, "The world's best-selling recording artists are determined by a thorough enquiry conducted by the organization, which include sales figures and record certifications." However, their databases don't hold a lot of information from the 1950s or 1960s, or sales of uncertified releases. http://www.worldmusicawards.com/ifpi.html
- Some record companies claim that their artists are the "best-selling of all time", but this could be just a promotional statement. The same principle applies in the marketing of films and television shows; those statements serve only to attract the public.
- Figures given for artists should include both albums, downloads and singles sales.
The holder of the title may change in the future, depending upon the fate of each artist's new releases, changes in the sales rates of their back catalogues, and various other factors.
Artist who have been claimed as the biggest-selling of all-time
The Beatles
The Beatles were a British group active from 1962 to 1970, who recorded various musical styles, most commonly known for their pop and rock numbers. When their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album was released in 1967, it became the best-selling album of all-time. However, the sales of Sgt. Pepper's have since been beaten. The album now stands at #13 of the List of best-selling albums worldwide. At times they had multiple albums and singles on charts around the globe, for example at one time or another in 1964 they held all the top 5 places in the Hot 100 and had 9 of the top 10 singles in the pop charts in Canada.(For a more detailed list of their chart facts see the main article).
The Guinness World Records have claimed The Beatles have the biggest all-times sales for a band [1]. This is based on an accumulative sales figure provided by their record company EMI who claim they have sold over a billion records by 1985. Neither EMI or the Guiness World Records have specified if the 1 billion sales figure is accumulative of each Beatle's solo careers on top of their group sales, or just their group sales. This sales figure has often been disputed. [2].
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson is an American R&B, pop and rock artist who's recording career has spanned from 1969 to the present. In 1982, Jackson recorded and co-produced the best-selling album of all-time Thriller, with claimed worldwide sales of up to 60 million[3].
In 1996, the World Music Awards awarded Michael Jackson with the "best-selling artist ever" award. In 2000, they reinstated this claim by awarding him the "best-selling male pop artist of the millenium" award [4][5]. However, their databases don't hold a lot of information from the 1950s or 1960s, or sales of uncertified releases, which do not effect Jacksons totals as all his solo records were after 1971.
Michael Jackson's record company Sony BMG have never given an accumulative sales figure for Michael Jackson. However, they have given worldwide sales claims for each of his albums [6]. His former-record company Motown have also released the worldwide sales claims of each album and single Michael Jackson released through their label [7]. It has been estimated by various fan sites, by adding the figures provided by these companies, that Michael Jackson's accumulative worldwide sales is about 300 million.
From 1968 to 1987, Michael Jackson was also a member of The Jackson 5 (later called "The Jacksons"). Their accumulative worldwide sales are reported to be approximately 150 million. Sometimes their sales total is added to Michael Jackson's solo sales total because he was their lead singer from 1968 to 1987 and cheif songwriter from 1978 to 1984. If this was taken into account, Michael Jackson's accumulative worldwide sales are claimed to be 450 million.
Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley was an American rock, pop, gospel and country singer whose professional career spanned from 1954 until his death in 1977. Presley has had 149 top 100 singles in the US [8]. He has also had 150 RIAA-certified Gold awards for his albums, EP's and singles, many of which certified Platinum, and Multi-platinum [9], and all of which in more quantities than any artist in history. Since that time his music has continued to reach number 1 on both singles and album charts around the world.
His record company RCA have claimed in 1981 he has sold over one billion singles and albums, meaning he would be the biggest-selling solo artist of all-time [10]. According to the RIAA, 97 of Presley's albums account for his 118.5 million album tally, in the US alone. In addition, Presley is due certification for 120 additional albums. He is also credited by the RIAA with sales of 51.5 million singles in the US alone ( deriving from 53 of his certified singles), and is due certification for an additional 40 of his singles.
While it is roughly estimated that 60% of Presley's worldwide sales, for singles and albums alike, have been in the United States, this is sometimes disputed as Presley has been reported to sell well over 19 million singles in the United Kingdom alone, a figure that is roughly more than a third that of his US tally alone (51.5 million, as per the RIAA). In many ways, and as this is certainly the case with other truly global recording artists, the percentages vis-a-vis sales in the US, and elsewhere, will invariably vary according to whatever the market structure may be, for singles and albums, at a particular time and place. In 2005, and this in direct contradiction to the demand for Elvis Presley recordings in the UK, he sold in excess of 800,000 and 250,000 singles and albums, respectively. Conversely, and as per the current market trends, Presley's albums in 2005, sold in much greater quantities (95-5, in % terms), in the US, Australia, Europe and throughout the Far East, than did his singles. [11]