Talk:List of best-selling albums/Archive 17

Semi-protected edit request on 15 November 2023
Nevermind by Nirvana and Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park need to be moved to the 30-39 million records sold section respectively. Nevermind has 30 million claimed sales (seen on MTV and the album's Wiki page); Hybrid Theory has 32 million claimed sales (seen on the album's Wiki page) 184.96.215.24 (talk) 14:57, 15 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Awhellnawr123214 (talk) 07:09, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

Beastie Boys
The Beastie Boys album Licensed to Ill has been certified Diamond---why is it not on the list? 207.237.254.189 (talk) 03:39, 9 December 2023 (UTC)

“Cracked Rear View”
Hootie & The Blowfish’s “Cracked Rear View” has been certified 21 million sold.

https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/

Select the "Top Tallies" link at the top. 149.75.188.162 (talk) 23:40, 15 August 2023 (UTC)

Nevermind and Hybrid Theory: Relevant citations?
Saw a previous comment requesting Nevermind be moved to the 30-39 million records section without any specification, so I'll try to do this as good as I can.

Replace the previous citation for Nevermind with this one. As for Hybrid Theory I didn't find a citation to go with the 32 million copies claim, but a quick Google search digs up at least three links that mention this?

From Kerrang!: https://www.kerrang.com/linkin-park-the-inside-story-of-hybrid-theory

From Pitchfork: https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/linkin-park-hybrid-theory-20th-anniversary-edition/

From Loudwire: https://loudwire.com/linkin-park-hybrid-theory-facts/ Carlinal (talk) 20:52, 12 January 2024 (UTC)

Billy Joel's "The Stranger"
https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=The+Stranger#search_section

as included in The Stranger wikipedia article.

tyvm. 38.73.253.217 (talk) 15:48, 20 January 2024 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 27 January 2024
I want to bring some information about The Dark Side Of The Moon and The Wall. According to Pink Floyd's website, DSOTM sold 50 million copies, citing https://www.pinkfloyd.com/tdsotm50/. Also, according to BestSellingAlbums.org and Sony Music Japan, The Wall sold 33 million copies. https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/36336. Youcanlaugh (talk) 20:42, 27 January 2024 (UTC)
 * Red question icon with gradient background.svg Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Begocci (talk) 15:50, 27 February 2024 (UTC)

Best-selling album by year worldwide
I agree with that this list should be its own article. Unlike the main best-selling albums page, the list of best selling albums by year has the potential to be a FL. Erick (talk) 00:01, 11 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Hi. I previously suggested a split in one thread a few months ago. But thanks to open this thread for the record, and maybe, some users could bring their opinion/approval/disapproval. I see a split worthy because the current list feels a bit long and the data is annually provided by IFPI, plus now, we have three different decades (2000s to 2020s) and can be a single topic and a stand alone list. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 00:27, 11 March 2024 (UTC)
 * At the least, I think we could start a draft and use Billboard Hot Latin Songs Year-End Chart and List of best-selling albums in the United Kingdom as the basis for the article. Erick (talk) 04:25, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

Iron Maiden - The Number of the Beast
Iron Maiden's 1982 album "The Number of the Beast" should be added to this list. It has sold over 20 million copies. My source is linked and is a complete breakdown of their entire discography by album sales. If you scroll down to the section called "Albums CSPC Results", you can see the original release has 19.078 million Equivalent Album Sales (EAS), whilst the 1998 remaster has 1,017,000 EAS. Metallica's self-titled 1991 album is already on here and rightly so, but they're not the only metal band that should be on this list!

Source: https://chartmasters.org/iron-maiden-albums-and-songs-sales/

The Wikipedia article for The Number of the Beast also reiterates the albums sales figure with multiple sources - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Number_of_the_Beast_(album) Grojnad (talk) 19:21, 11 March 2024 (UTC)


 * 1, chartmasters.org is not a reliable source 2, and an album needs to be certified at least 10 million copies to be on the list. Erick (talk) 20:13, 11 March 2024 (UTC)

RFC on the current methodology
Following the discussion on Talk:List of best-selling music artists, I think we should have the same discussion here too. The methodology that was previously used on best-selling music artists was found to violate WP:OR and I'm guessing the current methodology for this article does the same as well and needs to updated. Want to see other editors before making adjustments to it. Erick (talk) 03:34, 6 February 2024 (UTC)


 * It's been more than a week so I would like to put my proposals. Instead of going by "x should receive y%" I think we should just use a set number and that number being 10 million, the equivalent of a RIAA diamond award (which we can mention on the prose). I also think the threshold should be 10 million instead of 20 million. So basically to be on the list, my idea would be that the album must have sold and been certified at least 10 million copies. What do you all think? Erick (talk) 02:27, 24 February 2024 (UTC)
 * I just realized that having 10 million units sold would make this list probably too big so we can probably keep the 20 million minimum threshold I still think having 10 million certified units should be a minimum threshold as well. Erick (talk) 11:52, 24 February 2024 (UTC)

The Eagles - Their Greatest Hits
The sales seem incredibly inflated, Nielsen Soundscan reported that the album had sold less than 1 million from 1993-1995 in the United States but it recieved certifications for 8 million. From 1991 to 2006 Nielsen said it had sold 5 million during that period despite the fact it recieved certifications for 17 million. 2006 to 2020 again Nielsen said it only sold 6.4 million even including stream equivalent units, but it got certified for a additional 9 million.

If we can use the claimed figures for Eagles greatest hits with this amount of inflated sales numbers, then it should only be fair to use the 100 million claimed sales of Thriller Never17 (talk) 03:23, 28 March 2024 (UTC)
 * Some Wikipedians have already noted that new certifications from some really old albums are not necessarily some newly accumulated sales from Soundscan era. Very old albums like Sound of music soundtrack was once even noted to have a hard time about getting exact numbers because bookings were done differently. It can correct figures from previously non included sales from the past. It came as a surprise but Eagles representatives pointed out how certifications were not even done properly. Billboard wrote about how their record label did some huge investigation even going through Iron Mountain documents from way before to find out about those sales. Article points out how RIAA can include shipments however also they can include sales that are not recognized from Nielsen. And of course RIAA sees sales from way before 1991. But even after 1991 in the 1990s there were club sales that Nielsen doesn't count or some sales through artists websites (something like that). // 100 million sales for Thriller was discussed many times and probably you can read through some archived discussions, some agree, some others really don't.  Dhoffryn (talk) 06:17, 28 March 2024 (UTC)
 * If we operate under the logic of shipments regardless of sales used for Greatest Hits, it's very probable that the 100 million represented for Thriller was the amount it was shipped to retail stores, whereas the actual number of sales was between 70-80 million.
 * On the case of Thriller i think it would be reasonable to put Thriller at "70-100 million" sold, because we do have reliable sources saying that it had sold 78 million at the time Jackson died Billboard and certifications have jumped by 10 million since it was it's initial placement at 65 million, which indicates sales of 75 million or more, Along with the fact that it's certified sales today are 50% of what's been claimed, which would meet the threshold used for other albums. Never17 (talk) 17:00, 28 March 2024 (UTC)


 * These numbers are all grotesquely inflated. Actual sales numbers for everything from Their Greatest Hits to Thriller to Back In Black to Rumours etc. etc. are much lower than their certified or claimed amounts. There has been a game of "sold more" that has been ongoing, and is preposterous. If you actually examine the rise in recertifications by the RIAA for these albums, it is clear that there is something crooked involved. It is highly doubtful that any album at all has ever sold 20 million copies worldwide, certifications or not. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 197.83.246.171 (talk) 12:27, 2 April 2024 (UTC)

Wrong Establishment Dates
UK... music sales certifications were established in 1959. As an example, Elvis Presley was awarded a Silver Record for 250 000 UK sales of his 1960 LP G.I. Blues in 1962. [ https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Disc/1962/DISC-1962-02-17.pdf](spread across pages 8-9).The BPI certification began in 1973. But to pretend that 14 years' worth of Silver(and Gold) Records simply never existed is farcical.

Canada... 1970. Note too that if one searches for Led Zeppelin II on the Music Canada website, you are informed when the album went Platinum etc. But not when it was certified Gold in Canada. Because that happened in 1970. So, there are at least 5 years' worth of Canadian Certifications...ignored. It appears that the "Platinum" Certification goes back to 1975 in Canada, but Gold was around long before that.

In the British case, much of the information is available in book form, and should be utilised. Canadian Certifications appear much trickier to track down, but hopefully I am mistaken about that. But, to claim that "UK Certification began in 1973, and Canadian Certification began in 1975" is wrong on multiple levels. 197.83.246.171 (talk) 09:52, 4 April 2024 (UTC)