Member Since: 4/29/2011
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Three queens and their single sales.
August 28, 2009
Again, before we run the numbers, a major point to remember: sales data for Nielsen SoundScan dates to 1991. So, any singles released by Madonna and Houston in the '80s (or by Carey in 1990) only show sales since 1991 in SoundScan's database. We can only guess at the number of singles that Madonna's "Like a Virgin" and Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," for example, actually sold while they were current hits in the '80s.
Still, the 18-year span of SoundScan data is a hefty sample size, and Madonna, Houston and Carey have all released material in that stretch.
Ultimately, all we can do is present the figures and explain as clearly as possible the parameters of each statistic cited.
With that in mind, here are the singles sales totals for each artist. Nielsen SoundScan separates totals for physical singles from digital tracks, so we'll present the sums of both configurations:
Physical singles:
17,172,000, Mariah Carey
14,744,000, Whitney Houston
10,554,000, Madonna
Digital tracks:
11,120,000, Mariah Carey
10,307,000, Madonna
3,320,000, Whitney Houston
Carey, thus, leads in both categories, while Houston has sold more physical (CD, cassette) singles than Madonna since 1991. Madonna, however, has moved a significantly higher number of digital tracks in that span than Houston, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That should not come as a surprise, as Madonna has been more prevalent on radio than Houston this decade, when digital sales overtook those of physical singles. (Since 2000, Madonna has logged nine top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 vs. Houston's two).
What are the biggest-selling hits for each artist?
Whitney Houston
Physical single: "I Will Always Love You," 4,591,000
Digital track: "I Will Always Love You," 575,000
Mariah Carey
Physical single: "One Sweet Day" (& Boyz II Men), 2,334,000
Digital track: "All I Want for Christmas Is You," 1,156,000
Madonna
Physical single: "Music," 1,136,000
Digital track: "4 Minutes" (featuring Justin Timberlake), 2,476,000
http://www.billboard.com/#/news/ask-...04007651.story
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