Michael Jackson is the biggest musical act of all time. He's probably sold so many records they can't even keep track over the years. I believe the sales.
750 Million Records to be exact this includes album sales, single sales, dvd sales, jackson 5 sales, complination sales, greatest hits sales ect. so yeah that seems about right, dont mind duca and his stale recipents
Madonna is the biggest selling female artist of all time with about 400+ million.
I think in all honesty that sales BEFORE 1991 are inflated and very inaccurate. They didn't have actual numbers, Nielsen has the real numbers. So I don't think the albums before Nielsen came in the picture are the real sales but just estimates (they always are), and copies shipped not sold. So do I the think Thriller sold over 100 million? No, I think its grossly inflated. I know its a best-seller but not by that much.
He's definitely approaching a billion, let's not forget physical single sales used to be relevant, and he had tons and tons of hits. Each of his hits alone probably sold 10 million+ worldwide. And he's released like 50+ singles, many of which were big hits. I'd say 750 million records is a low estimate.
He's definitely approaching a billion, let's not forget physical single sales used to be relevant, and he had tons and tons of hits. Each of his hits alone probably sold 10 million+ worldwide. And he's released like 50+ singles, many of which were big hits. I'd say 750 million records is a low estimate.
Kworb, I know you're better with numbers than that. His biggest singles are generally reported as having WW sales ~5-6M.
Saying he has 50 singles, many of which have probably sold 10M+ is a bit excessive.
Kworb, I know you're better with numbers than that. His biggest singles are generally reported as having WW sales ~5-6M.
It's guess work. Even in today's digital era we don't have accurate worldwide sales figures. The situation back then was even worse. And don't forget:
Quote:
A special mention, too, of Michael Jackson. Eight songs by the late King of Pop have passed a million downloads despite all having been released long before the dawn of the digital era. "Thriller" is first at 2.8 million, followed by "Billie Jean" (2.2 million) and "Beat It" (1.9 million).
That is only the digital era. Michael is relatively MORE popular in other countries than in the US. We can't even begin to estimate just how much he has sold all over the world. But the number is HUGE.
Most serious chart/sales followers I've encountered over the years seem to agree that there are simply no receipts to prove that Michael Jackson, The Beatles, or Elvis Presley have sold a billion records.
Each of their individual labels have claimed record sales of a billion at one point or another, so if that's all the convincing you need, then believe it.
Also, Jackson 5 record sales do not count towards Michael Jackson's record sales. They are not the same artist, much like you wouldn't see Paul McCartney or John Lennon atop all-time record sales lists.
That is only the digital era. Michael is relatively MORE popular in other countries than in the US. We can't even begin to estimate just how much he has sold all over the world. But the number is HUGE.
I'm betting you could double all of his receipt-proven single sales and combine that with the higher-end of the album sales estimates, and you still wouldn't reach into this realm of numbers.
When the 750M number was originally proposed, I believe the understanding was that they converted the album sales into single sales equivalents to come up with those numbers. :shrug: