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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.

Claimed vs Certified

Why would the claimed sales be lower than the certified sales for some artists, like Rihanna, for example? 136.26.182.32 (talk) 19:33, 13 December 2024 (UTC)

The media will generally report on the actual record sales for various modern artists, they cite "album units" and then total record sales from single sales and album sales. By 2018 which was about 6 years ago, Rihanna was quoted as having sold over 250 million records worldwide. Today if a media outlet would quote her as having sold 300 million then her figure would be raised as such. Never17 (talk) 00:20, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

Julio Iglesias

The values on Julio Iglesias is not correct and the source is not correct. Multiple souces states that it is claimed that Julio has sold over 300 million records (for example the official Julio Iglesias website). And according to "JULIO IGLESIAS album sales" from the bestsellingalbums.org Julio has sold over 220 million records worldwide which seems to be ceritified. Julio got a guiness world record for most sold latin artist of all time. There it is stated that he has sold 250 million records. So the claimed record sales should be changed to 300 million and the total certified units should be changed to 220 million or even a tad higher if you think guiness world records is a good source. If you who reads this think this is too high you might not know how big Julio was in the latin world. He was so big he even made music with famous english singing artists like Frank Sinatra and Diana Ross. JannePotatis (talk) 14:39, 15 December 2024 (UTC)

The Doors

Hi, I don't understand why the entry The Doors sales of recordings in America is not updated. The total sales of the RIAA in the US of 42,850 million are wrong. See the link below of the RIAA in the description. The exact sales are 47 million in the US. Then there would be to add the 600,000 of the video albums for a total of 47,600,000 of total certified sales. The Doors have obtained 47 million certified by the RIAA in US with Gold Units: 32 Platinum Units: 22 Multi Platinum Units: 8 Diamond Units: 1 Format: All types https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?advance_search=1&tab_active=awards_by_artist&type_option=ST&type=all#search_section 82.55.102.140 (talk) 00:02, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Mariah France certifications

Mariah has 5,150,000 certified sales in France, according to SNEP site:

Singles: Hero - Gold (250k) Without You - Gold (250k) Fantasy - Gold (250k) One Sweet Day - Gold (250k) My All - Gold (250k) When You Believe - Gold (250k) Heartbreaker - Gold (250,000) Total: 1,750,000

Certified albums: 3,400,000

Total: 5,150,000 186.249.92.214 (talk) 14:45, 17 December 2024 (UTC)

Drake

The RIAA database claims that Drake has 291.5 Million certified units, so how come his entry cites sales of over 400 million? Is this a typo?

https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=awards_by_artist#search_section

Never17 (talk) 07:22, 20 December 2024 (UTC)

The 291.5 million certified units of Drake only include his certifications as a lead artist. The 400M+ figure includes his certifications as both a lead and featured artist, and this applies to all artists listed on the page." TheWikiholic (talk) 19:49, 20 December 2024 (UTC)
Ah, that makes sense. Never17 (talk) 23:31, 20 December 2024 (UTC)

Extended-confirmed-protected edit request on 22 December 2024

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Mariah Carey has 5,315,000 certified units in Canada, Can someone update? Ricsalles (talk) 06:14, 22 December 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. cyberdog958 00:22, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

The Doors

Hi, I don't understand why the entry The Doors sales of recordings in America is not updated. The total sales of the RIAA in the US of 42,850 million are wrong. See the link below of the RIAA in the description. The exact sales are 47 million in the US. Then there would be to add the 600,000 of the video albums for a total of 47,600,000 of total certified sales. The Doors have obtained 47 million certified by the RIAA in US with Gold Units: 32 Platinum Units: 22 Multi Platinum Units: 8 Diamond Units: 1 Format: All types https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?advance_search=1&tab_active=awards_by_artist&type_option=ST&type=all#search_section 82.55.102.140 (talk) 14:07, 22 December 2024 (UTC)

Billy Murray

all sources show he had 300 million sales, why is he not included on this list? 2600:1015:B10F:CA54:4166:7EC5:1555:381C (talk) 15:30, 22 December 2024 (UTC)

Bing Crosby and Henry Burr?

both sold well over 200 million records, why does it seem like this list only includes arists from the 1950s to present? 2600:1015:B10F:CA54:4166:7EC5:1555:381C (talk) 15:41, 22 December 2024 (UTC)

Billie Jean

Recently, the page for Billie Jean only had the physical singles listed for Canada. But the actual certification website cited an additional 800,000 units for it's digital sales as of April 2024, which i had to add. Is this already accounted for here? Never17 (talk) 04:03, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

"Music Canada's recent updates typically combine physical and digital sales. As a result, separate digital certifications for songs like 'Billie Jean' (Gold, Platinum, and Double Platinum) are not listed individually in the database. My latest edit fills this gap by adding certifications for 'Billie Jean', 'Beat It', 'Black or White', and 'This Is It', which were previously missing from the list." TheWikiholic (talk) 14:34, 24 December 2024 (UTC)
Tank you Never17 (talk) 17:44, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

Elvis is the highest selling solo artist in hx ( CLAIMED AND CERTFIED)

Brookville Record sales cannot at present be certified (7 x platinum – 2 albums) Another 5 to 7 million sales of Pickwick releases cannot be fully certified. Numbers are known, but they come from an audit report and not from actual sales accounting Missing sales info on pre computer sales Missing international sales reports. Elvis was not with RCA in many countries Missing SUN sales figures (small numbers I know, but!!!) About 400 U.S. album releases (RCA, Special products and more) all between one of other level of certification. RIAA only counts full millions. So if any album sold 1.999,999, it still counts as 1 million 24.218.114.189 (talk) 22:12, 14 December 2024 (UTC)

There is also the fact that in the four months after his death, an estimated 200 million Presley records were sold worldwide. None of those sales have ever been certified. Henceforth the billion records he sold worldwide figures. Victor0327 (

161.11.160.60 (talk) 14:27, 24 December 2024 (UTC)

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