The best selling female artists globally: Britney holds a notable position

[Henry.]

Stole this from RATRL

 

This list represents pure album sales and is compiled by ChartMasters.

1. Madonna - 201,900,000

2. Celine Dion - 171,625,000

3. Mariah Carey - 144,375,000

4. Barbra Streisand - 138,610,000

5. Whitney Houston - 128,600,000

6. Enya - 82,500,000

7. Britney Spears - 77,565,000

8. Shania Twain - 71,750,000

9. Sade - 67,815,000

10. Adele - 63,670,000

11. Janet Jackson - 59,650,000

12. Taylor Swift - 58,952,000

13. Alanis Morissette - 53,380,000

14. Cher - 53,350,000

15. P!nk - 48,222,000

16. Tracy Chapman - 47,230,000

17. Norah Jones - 45,280,000

18. Shakira - 39,420,000

19. Beyonce - 38,628,500

20. Lady Gaga - 36,000,000

21. Alicia Keys - 35,060,000

22. Rihanna 33,777,500

23. Christina Aguilera - 33,525,000

24. Avril Lavigne - 33,140,000

25. Jennifer Lopez - 29,800,000

26. Dido - 27,050,000

27. Miley Cyrus - 25,375,000

28. Kylie Minogue - 25,330,000

29. Amy Winehouse - 24,570,000

30. Kelly Clarkson - 22,920,000

31. Bjork - 22,764,500

32. Carrie Underwood - 18,800,000

33. Lauryn Hill - 17,335,000

34. Katy Perry - 15,959,000

35. Gwen Stefani - 12,060,000

36. Lana Del Rey - 11,048,500

37. Fergie - 6,450,000

38. Ariana Grande - 6,342,500

39. Demi Lovato - 4,500,000

40. Billie Eilish - 4,269,750

 

It's crazy how prominently Britney stands among these legendary artists who made their debut long before her omg

Too bad she isn't really active as an artist anymore

[princessmimi]

Nice! 

Based on the list,

she is the highest selling 21st century popstar

(Yes she debuted in 1998 but I count her more as 21st century since that's where she's had more success)

 

Also didn't she sell like 100 million+ records?

I could've sworn I saw that in an article somewhere. 

[Frankie8]

Great to see a list of pure album sales. We can't judge the newer artists though, since they are not in an albums dominant era. For them to make an appearance on the list is an achievement. But Brit absolutely dominated her era of artists.

[Henry.]

2 minutes ago, princessmimi said:

Also didn't she sell like 100 million+ records?

I could've sworn I saw that in an article somewhere. 

I honestly know nothing about it but these are pure sales so I guess it's different

[Frankie8]

3 minutes ago, princessmimi said:

Nice! 

Based on the list,

she is the highest selling 21st century popstar

(Yes she debuted in 1998 but I count her more as 21st century since that's where she's had more success)

 

Also didn't she sell like 100 million+ records?

I could've sworn I saw that in an article somewhere. 

A record is an album or single. So records include single sales. This list is albums only.

[Henry.]

5 minutes ago, Frankie8 said:

Great to see a list of pure album sales. We can't judge the newer artists though, since they are not in an albums dominant era. For them to make an appearance on the list is an achievement. But Brit absolutely dominated her era of artists.

Well, I know you're talking about pure sales here but I think nowadays streams convert to sales?

That's what Google says:

1500 streams = 10 track sales = 1 album sale

So it's not fair to artists from older generations as well (not talking about pure sales, just sales)

Spoiler

Not me trying to pretend like I know what I'm talking about

 

Edited August 7 by Henry.

[Frankie8]

2 minutes ago, Henry. said:

Well, I know you're talking about pure sales here but I think nowadays streams convert to sales?

That's what Google says:

1500 streams = 10 track sales = 1 album sale

So it's not fair to artists from older generations as well (not talking about pure sales, just sales)

  Hide contents

Not me trying to pretend like I know what I'm talking about

 

When something says pure sales it means physical copies.

Streams are added to the total sales, but going by the wording of this list, it excludes streams. Sales including streams are given as EAS, which means Estimated Album sales based on Streams.

Hope this helps. The streaming era made things confusing.

[DiamondCircus]

Lol so you mean to tell me Billie Elish sold more albums at 4 million more than Jessica Simpson who is listed at selling 20 million WW

 

Fake list

[princessmimi]

14 minutes ago, Frankie8 said:

A record is an album or single. So records include single sales. This list is albums only.

Oh ok idk that.

Thanks for letting me know.

[DiamondCircus]

Also, Missy Elliott sold 7 million albums alone in the USA yet isn't even on the list.

Take this crap list back to that other flop forum.

 

[Dama Etro]

4 minutes ago, DiamondCircus said:

Also, Missy Elliott sold 7 million albums alone in the USA yet isn't even on the list.

Take this crap list back to that other flop forum.

 

Missy was not analyzed by them yet, the lists are incomplete. 

[MikeHunt]

That’s insane that Ariana Grande has sold less than 7 million physical copies of records. 
 

For being young, it’s impressive to see Taylor and Adele so high on the list. 

[DiamondCircus]

Just now, MikeHunt said:

That’s insane that Ariana Grande has sold less than 7 million physical copies of records. 
 

For being young, it’s impressive to see Taylor and Adele so high on the list. 

The list is highly inaccurate, the don't even have Jessica Simpson listed who sold 20 million WW, even if they cut that into 1 third of her sales she would still make the list and be above Billie Elish. 

[3IsACharm33]

41 minutes ago, princessmimi said:

Nice! 

Based on the list,

she is the highest selling 21st century popstar

(Yes she debuted in 1998 but I count her more as 21st century since that's where she's had more success)

 

Also didn't she sell like 100 million+ records?

I could've sworn I saw that in an article somewhere. 

You’re right it’s annoying that she’s always considered a 90s artist

[Style.]

Beyoncé is where she belongs so this is pretty accurate 

[PokemonSpears]

1 hour ago, Frankie8 said:

Great to see a list of pure album sales. We can't judge the newer artists though, since they are not in an albums dominant era. For them to make an appearance on the list is an achievement. But Brit absolutely dominated her era of artists.

and the same can be said about older artists like Britney when it comes to streaming

[PrincessAkwa]

Funny how she is a top selling artist but has a net worth of 60 mil.

[PokemonSpears]

I wouldn't trust that Chart Masters source though.

A lot of Mexican artists are excluded which have sold at least several millions of albums, such as Thalia or Paulina Rubio, both in Mexico and the US, and when you go to the Mexico charts, lots of international artists show 0 sales, which is basically impossible

 

[DiamondCircus]

Just now, PrincessAkwa said:

Funny how she is a top selling artist but has a net worth of 60 mil.

Thanks to the con, and people still bringing up her billion-dollar perfume empire, she doesn't have much money from that at all allegedly.

Also, people say she got 15 million for the book, well when taxes are taken out, and Cade gets his cut and anyone else owed fees that number really decreases.

Plus, with possible looming legal pay outs, and bills money goes quickly. 

[DiamondCircus]

Just now, PokemonSpears said:

I wouldn't trust that Chart Masters source though.

A lot of Mexican artists are excluded which have sold at least several millions of albums, such as Thalia or Paulina Rubio, both in Mexico and the US, and when you go to the Mexico charts, lots of international artists show 0 sales, which is basically impossible

 

I agree that list is