Talk:List of best-selling albums in the United States/Archive 1

Vanilla Ice
According to the wikipedia page on vanilola ice, "to the extreme" went 11x platinum. According to the RIAA website he was certified at 7x platinum. Either way, he should be on this list and hes not.


 * OK well the RIAA certifies albums and thus if the RIAA says that "To The Extreme" is 7x Platinum, then that's what it is. Some fan of Vanilla Ice's probably changed it to 11x Platinum... —Preceding unsigned comment added by D bovair1988 (talk • contribs) 22:47, 4 September 2010 (UTC)

"Napster era"
"Albums from the Napster era on are underrepresented due to the decline in conventional album sales." I'm going to edit this to see if I can make it a little more NPOV :-) /splintax
 * I don't mind so badly; all it means is that because people began getting their music from the Internet (often in the form of tracks as opposed to full albums). Still, it is a little speculative. I'll see about it. Deltabeignet 19:43, 20 May 2005 (UTC)
 * I think this assertion was refuted by several studies; the reason being, for the decline of record breaking sales, the extraordinary amount of releases the 90's saw, and the general poor quality of a vast majority of these releases. tchlouis 18 March 2006

Ace of Base
Why is Ace of Base The Sign album listed as only 9 times platinum when the RIAA site lists it at 10 times platinum? You can check at http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/default.asp (put in the band's name and hit 'search'). The RIAA site says the album was awarded 10 times platinum status in 2002, and the accompanying article on Wikipedia says the same thing.--Firsfron 09:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
 * I think at least the beginning was taken from this page which still lists it as platinum nine times. &mdash;User:ACupOfCoffee @ 05:11, 6 December 2005 (UTC)
 * Thanks for the response. I would like to edit the article to reflect the 10x platinum number. Any objections?--Firsfron 14:31, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

Double for The Wall?
Pink Floyd's The Wall is marked with an @, indicating that it is counted as two discs sold, but the notes at the bottom of the page indicate that this is only the case for albums more than 100 minutes in length... I don't know which of these is correct.
 * Good question. LPs were typically 46 minutes, so a double LP would generally be 92 minutes, so something seems wrong here. (The White Album, for instance, is 93 minutes.) If I were less lazy, I'd look it up. --Chowbok 22:51, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

from the RIAA website :

"1992 : Multi-box sets are redefined as two or more CDs (or the equivalent in LPs or cassettes) with a minimum running time of 120 minutes. The criteria are also changed so that each unit within a set is counted separately. The criteria for a Gold® multi-box set now require sales of 500,000 units; Platinum®, one million units; and Multi-Platinum™, two million units.

1997: An exception to the 120-minute running time rule for multi-disc sets is implemented for pre-1982 releases. The running time of these albums is no longer considered. The multi-box set running time is reduced to 100 minutes."

I will update the article going by this information.

The Wall clocks in at about 85 minutes if I'm not mistaken, for what it's worth. However it was first sold in '79 or '80 which means the running time (either way) wouldn't count. 71.209.245.59 18:12, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

The RIAA Certification page states that The Wall only counts once, despite being a double album, due to its shorter length.

NO, actually, its says it's counted twice. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.145.237.54 (talk) 18:00, 5 November 2009 (UTC)

Exactly when the RIAA counts a double album as one or two units is still not clear here. For example, is the 'Forrest Gump' soundtrack one unit or two? It's less than 100 minutes... Also, it's suggested on this page that 'Physical Graffitti' and "the white album" count as two, but they're both less than 100 minutes as well. And from before 1982.

Yes, because, they are from before 1982. DUHHH —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.145.237.54 (talk) 18:05, 5 November 2009 (UTC)


 * Hello everyone. I've just added shipment amounts for all the possible double albums on the list, going by the rule that anything that doesn't fit on one CD is a double album. I kind of overlooked the running time rules RIAA created in 1992 and 1997, though.


 * In any case, I'm especially confused about to count the shipments for 1967–1970 and 1962–1966. While both are released as two-CD packages, neither is longer than 100 minutes, with The Blue Album having a running time of 99:34 and The Red Album clocking in at 63:00.


 * Does RIAA count both as double albums? I think so but I don't see a way to prove it.--Mauri96 (talk) 22:33, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

Up!
According to RIAA website's list of the top 100 albums. Shania Twain's album Up! has gone 11X Platinum, so it should be on this list shouldn't it? --Thankyoubaby 18:54, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Look at #67...

i don't believe this...
Highest selling album by a group - Green Day - Dookie (1994) - 129 times platinum

Where'd you find that? It's not true. Mpawluk 04:02, 15 May 2006 (UTC)

well now it says 10 times platinum, i have to correct it Upol007 (talk) 16:08, 14 June 2008 (UTC)

The Bodyguard soundtrack...
I was amazed to see that "The Bodyguard" soundtrack had outsold both "The Wall" and "Led Zeppelin IV", until i checked the RIAA top 100 page, and realized that it was only 17x platnum, instead of the 20x it was listed as.

I have placed it in with the other 17x items.Maclover134 13:36, 21 May 2006 (UTC)

2Pac
Both "All Eyez on Me" and "Greatest Hits" are two disc. Neither are marked with a "≈". They're listed at 9x platinum should this be 18x because of the two CD thing? Cms479 19:31, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Album or CD?
In the "Trivia" section, it seems like the word album is being used as interchangable with "CD", i.e. including greatest hits/compilations (ex: Eagles Greatest Hits 1971-1975). Generally "album" does not refer to greatest hits/compilations, so I think either "album" should be replaced with "CD" or the greatest hits/compilations should be ineligable for categories labeled as "albums". Cms479 19:37, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

I am not sure what you mean by trivia section. This list here is of album sales in the USA. An album is the physical thing. It makes no difference what is on it - original release, greatest hits, sound track, 70s rock greats. Album and CD are correctly interchangeable. 125.236.196.95 (talk) 21:19, 20 November 2008 (UTC)GMI

Elvis Presley???
Didn't Elvis sell a shitload of records? Why isn't he on this list?Hanako 02:44, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

yes he did - but the catolog they have put out on this guy is enormous (400 albums), he only got such a high sales number because they keep releasing the same stuff over and over again the average sale number per album is poor

Album covers
Back on July 4 we lost the album covers. Should we put them back on?


 * No. I don't really think it's fair-use. It's just eye candy. Mak (talk)  03:03, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

The Eagles Us Sells
Where did the 29 million figure come from.? I thought it was sold 28 million in the U.S. Is that an estimated figure? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 76.169.140.32 (talk) 05:26, 4 January 2007 (UTC).

Thriller confusion
The article on Thriller says that the RIAA only recognizes Thriller as 27 platinum, yet the verbage on this article suggests that the RIAA recognizes it as 30 platinum. One of the articles obviously needs to be changed, but which one? Sarysa 02:26, 29 January 2007 (UTC)


 * The problem is that those are not constant numbers. Either we need to be using Neilson/Soundscan or RIAA, one or the other, because they count differently. This list is all RIAA, and I vote that, as it is public domain info, where neilson will issue a cease and desist if we publish their copywritten numbers.--CastAStone|(talk) 01:01, 6 February 2007 (UTC)


 * Some of these sales were inflated and some albums were missing, so I went to Billboard and RIAA and got the right info.LAUGH90 21:37, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Artist vs Solo Artist
Why is there a distinction between "Artist" and "Solo Artist" in the facts category? Since MJ fits into both they're not exclusive categories -- they seem to both be addressing the same category. 68.0.212.222 06:49, 30 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Exactly. If "artist" excludes group, then what is the difference between artist and solo artist. Not sure why artist should exclude group though. -- Beardo 07:57, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

The Eagles: Group
The Eagles' Greatest Hits is listed as both the highest selling album for a group and for an artist. This must be a mistake, as the Eagles are not an artist, but a group. Does anyone know the actual highest selling album by an artist? Monkeyfinger 04:11, 31 August 2006 (UTC)


 * Not sure why a group is not an artist. But if not, then Michael Jackson comes next. -- Beardo 08:03, 17 February 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't know, but I think it's B.S. that a 'Greatest Hits' album should be considered the best selling album... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.239.96.162 (talk) 00:52, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Any reasoning to back up the position? The RIAA's an objective organization that tracks record sales/shipments in the United States. They have nothing to gain by any recording artist outselling another.Odin&#39;s Beard (talk) 15:30, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

That don't change the fact that the RIAA can make lot of mistake, I have added the closest to the real sales according Nielsen/Soundscan and Billboard, I don't know how to add the reference in the main article, so I give you the link:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/07/19/us-jackson-billboard-idUSTRE56I2B820090719

http://www.billboard.com/column/chartbeat/ask-billboard-instrumentals-kelly-clarkson-1003997102.story#/column/chartbeat/ask-billboard-instrumentals-kelly-clarkson-1003997102.story

"The RIAA's second certification of shipments of the Eagles' "Their Greatest Hits" didn't occur until August 1990, when it certified the release as 12 times platinum. The RIAA couldn't immediately explain why the album wasn't certified at earlier platinum milestones, or why it was next certified at 14 times platinum in December 1993, and for 22 times in June 1995, despite U.S. sales of only 919,000 during that period. When the RIAA certified "Their Greatest Hits" as 26 times platinum in November 1999, it unseated "Thriller" at the top of the RIAA's all-time ranking.

Since being certified as 29 times platinum in January 2006, "Their Greatest Hits" has sold 404,000 copies, including 33,000 this year and 115,000 in 2008.

Whether Jackson's reclaiming a share of the top spot in the RIAA ranking will mean anything in terms of marketing isn't clear. Representatives at Sony and Warner Music Group, which distributes "Their Greatest Hits," declined to comment."

or another articles with the clear number from Nielsen/Soundscan:

The Eagles album have supposed to have sold around 17 millions since 1990, but not according Nielsen Soundcan it's 5,356,000 since 1991, Nielsen/soundscan have the real sales, unlike RIAA:

http://music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/week-ending-aug-16-2009-king-of-country-boots-king-of-pop.html

"Thriller this week pulls ahead of the Eagles' Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 on Nielsen/SoundScan's recap of the best-selling albums in its history. Thriller has sold 5,366,000 copies since May 25, 1991, compared to 5,356,000 for the Eagles' compilation. The Recording Industry Assn. of America, which goes back much further than 1991, continues to list the Eagles' album as its all-time best-seller, at 29 million, with Thriller a beat behind at 28 million. Expect movement there soon."

So for the real sales, I have taken the not very credible number of 1990 (12 millions) and add the 5,356,000 from Soundscan, we have 17,536,000 not 29,000,000. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Marc g34 (talk • contribs) 21:38, 12 September 2012 (UTC)

Equal numbers
In the section on best selling by decade there are several examples of bands or individuals with equal sales - indicated by the same number and an "=" sign but the numbering shows one being above another - should this be changed? Guest9999 21:22, 22 March 2007 (UTC)]]

What does platinum mean?
What does platinum mean? 100,000? 1 million? I personally don't know, but someone should say what it is (or just put real numbers in?) 83.67.130.87 14:58, 21 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Platinum means 1 million copies of that CD were shipped (or in the case of double albums, which count 2 copies for each set shipped, 500,000 cd's shipped). It is included on the RIAA page so you should check that out first. Ayumi4u 20:20, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Merge from Best-selling albums in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began
I have proposed taking the lastest list from the source page (1991-2006) and merging in into this section. There is some worth to the list (it provides an apples-to-apples comparison, and SoundScan is much more accurate and inclusive), but it does not merit an article of its own.

Horologium talk - contrib 20:12, 17 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I removed the tag. see Talk:Best-selling albums in the United States since Nielsen SoundScan tracking began for the rationale.


 * Horologium talk - contrib 20:40, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Iron Butterfly
Why isn't Iron Butterfly on here? I think they were the first to get a Platinum Record? --Blue Tie 06:43, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

"Life After Death" Listed Twice
Wanted to ask before I go editing: The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Life After Death" is listed twice in the 10x platinum section. Oversight or is there another reason? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Blackwarrior (talk • contribs) 06:57, August 29, 2007 (UTC)

Where is Thriller?
The article says that Michael Jackson's Thriller sold 27 million copies (in the category lists- ie best selling of 80's, etc), but it is not included in the main list of best selling albums... It seems like this album should be third... Canjecricketer 19:33, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

50 Cents Album
Why is the 50 cents album at 12x platinum when according to RIAA website it is 6x platinum. http://www.riaa.com/gp/database/default.asp

Answer: Because "50 Cents" has lied to you. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 78.86.140.151 (talk) 19:08, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

General Errors
There is an immense amount of misinformation on this page. I don't care or have the time to clean it up. Wiki pages seem to be breeding grounds for people who feel the need to overestimate their favorite artist's sales figures. It's really a hopeless cause. There are a few names, however, who need to be mentioned: "KoRn", "Kid Rock", and "Spice Girls". Any soul who actually wishes to undertake the arduous job of setting this page aright should look into the figures of those names. It is ridiculous. 78.86.140.151 (talk) —Preceding comment was added at 19:12, 23 November 2007 (UTC)

The numbered list after the table
...needs a title/introduction. What is it? (John User:Jwy talk) 02:39, 14 January 2008 (UTC)
 * Looks like some editor tried to create a chronological table but either gave up or deliberately stopped including some albums. Whatever the motives the current page is a mess. MegX (talk) 01:46, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Garth Brooks
The main table lists Garth Brooks's Ropin' the Wind as being 17x platinum. However, it is not listed in the top 10 albums of the 90s. It should be somewhere between 2nd and 4th. Also, the highest selling album is listed as Garth Brooks's Double Live at 20x platinum. However, since that is a double album, each sale counts twice. It sold "only" 10 million units. The #1 country album should either be Brooks's Ropin' the Wind or Shania Twain's Come On Over(if it is considered country.) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.219.4.5 (talk) 17:09, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Nirvana and Pearl Jam Grunge Error
Nirvana's Nevermind is listed as the top selling Alternative album but not as the top selling Grunge album. If I'm not mistaken, Nirvana is considered a grunge band and should have Nevermind listed as the top selling grunge album of all time. Anyone disagree? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.98.223.91 (talk) 04:18, 12 February 2008 (UTC)
 * I believe Grunge is a subgenre of alternative. Kei-clone (talk) 03:28, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

neither are genres.

Kid Rock is hiphop?
lol why is kid rock listed under top selling hiphop album? Kei-clone (talk) 21:06, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

since no one replied yet, I'll point to what I'm referring to: "Highest selling album by an Hip Hop act - TLC - CrazySexyCool / Kid Rock - Devil Without a Cause / OutKast - Speakerboxxx/The Love Below - all three went 11 times platinum. Although, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below is a double album." Since when was Kid Rock considered a Hip Hop artist? Perhaps he incorporates hiphop elements but I'd hardly consider him hiphop. Kei-clone (talk) 17:10, 9 April 2008 (UTC)

He doesnt incorparate hip-hop he started out has a rapper Grits Sandwiches For Breakfast,The Polyfuze Method, Early Mornin Stoned Pimp, Devil Without A Cause, The History Of Rock and most of Cocky were rap albums. He was in the rap group The Beast Crew and opened for Ice Cube, A Tribe Called Quest and Boogie Down Productions back in the day. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.170.23.251 (talk) 13:50, 23 October 2012 (UTC)

The Wall
Is there a reason The Wall is not listed anymore? --Exer 505 (talk) 04:15, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

I've cleaned it up
I've cleaned the article up. Please stop vandalising it like the beatles album was certified 30x platinum. --Be Black Hole Sun (talk) 21:29, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Still needs a little more cleaning up, the sales records section is a mess.. Gunis del (talk) 11:58, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Certification Column
Someone needs to fix these tables. You cannot use span on sortable tables, so either someone needs to go through and break up the Cert. Column into separate rows, or remove the Sortable attribute. On a table like this, it can be useful to sort on the Album name, or the Artist name, so doing something with the Cert. Column to fix this would probably be the best approach. Mizery Made ( talk  ·  contribs ) 23:06, 8 June 2009 (UTC)


 * There, I went ahead and did it myself. You can now sort the tables without issue. Mizery Made  ( talk  ·  contribs ) 10:15, 12 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Good idea. I'm also thinking the sort function would be more meaningful if it could be applied to the entire list contained in a single table.  The groupings always seemed arbitrary to me anyway. Piriczki (talk) 12:53, 12 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Funny you should say that, since as I was typing up my note about doing it myself, I was tempted to ask why it's broken up into separate tables, especially now that the sort function works correctly. That's a "big change" though, so it's not something I was willing to change without discussion on here first. Mizery Made  ( talk  ·  contribs ) 23:47, 12 June 2009 (UTC)

Certification records in the US - Original Research?
There are several "records" listed in this article, such as "Highest selling album by a group" or "Highest selling album by a Teenager" but there are no reference supporting the existence of such "records." I added a request for a source, and it was removed, stating that the one source on the page covers it, because you can see that "Shania Twain's Come On Over is the highest selling album by a female, given it's place on the list," etc. That does not support this "record," in my opinion. Someone had went through and made these records, so why not have a record for "Highest selling album by a group with a bald lead singer" eh? Under the current 'rules' for this section, all I would need to do is look to see if there's any bands on the list that have a bald lead singer and thus have a right to add it to the list of records. Why not a "Highest selling album released on a holiday"? I propose that a source be provided specifically labeling these albums with these records, otherwise I consider them original research... speculation. Mizery Made ( talk  ·  contribs ) 05:36, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * Why doesn't it support that record? Sometimes, you have to use a little common sense and apply them to the articles. According to the source, Come On Over has been certified 20x Platinum right? Well, that does make it the biggest selling album by a female in U.S. recording history. The certification records section is made up of albums that are among the 100 top selling according to the RIAA. As to your suggestion of the Highest Selling Album of a band with a bald lead singer, I don't think it'd fit. None of the bands listed had bald lead singers at the time the albums may have been released. Also, every album listed has been certified at least Diamond. So, find a band that has a Diamond RIAA certification and has a bald lead singer that was bald at the time the album came out, then you might have something.Odin&#39;s Beard (talk) 06:21, 14 June 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't know if this section constitutes original research or not, but these records are definitely "user-defined" as the RIAA only certifies sales and does not define categories or recognize such records. Although some categories are common sense and often used in other music awards, i.e. male/female, solo/group, others could be subject to debate and appear to be fan POV.  For instance, defining The Wall as a soundtrack album is highly questionable.  Some of the categories are uniquely defined in a way that they appear to have been created simply to allow a certain album on the list (female R&B debut, post-grunge group).  At a minimum the article should be amended to explain that the source only verifies the sales totals and that the "records" themselves were defined by wikipedia users who contributed to the article.  Of course, the need for such a disclaimer is probably a good indication that this section is not encyclopedic to begin with. Piriczki (talk) 15:11, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

MC Hammer
If there is no objections, per these references (which are also included within the articles), Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em has sold betweem 15-18 million units to date according to citations below (I realize he is currently listed as over 10x) and therefore should be moved up to the higher section for MC Hammer (see album info within article). Here are sources to verify this as well: 69.129.170.102(talk) 10:42, 16 June 2009 (UTC)


 * A few of those articles specify that the numbers are the Worldwide sales totals, but only "sales" in the US count toward certification. This album isn't based around sales, regardless of worldwide or US totals, but is instead based around the RIAA's certification. The RIAA is the definitive source when it comes to Album Certification, and they have it entered into their website as 10x platinum, which is what it has been entered here as. Thus, no change should be made. Mizery Made  ( talk  ·  contribs ) 11:24, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

No offense, but it doesn't make it accurate or up-to-date. That site has album release dates wrong even. I confirmed with actual albums and the site isn't 100% accurate. But whatever, thank you kindly. 69.129.170.102 (talk) 07:15, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Ten million albums was the initial/original sales of it soon after it's release during his "hey day". Since then, many more copies have been sold, exceeding well over 10 million. Valid per several sources given. Jon the editor (talk) 06:16, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

About Eagles Greatest Hits Sales
About Eagles Greatest Hits Sales:

The sales are not true. in fact, the eagles sold between 1991-2008 5,27 million units. not 17 million. so, the total sold units 'til today are around 17 or 18 million units.

And the fact is that Thriller, by Michael Jackson, always was and is the biggest selling album in the U.S. since 1984. with around 29,4 million units at the moment.

sure this will not be included in this false list, made by some amateurs/ignorants, without any knowledge about the real sales. but u have to know, the RIAA and Sony (who gave the RIAA the false sales infos) manipulate the certifications of the eagles to get thriller off the first position. and to make the eagles album the best selling album of the 90's (they awarded it in the past for that), and of all time.

some infos for people without knowledge what was going on in the past. MJ is also at sony. sony (espcially tommy mottola) and MJ started to get problems with each other. it got most attention around 2002. we dont know exactly what was going on in the past. but sony did a lot to destroy everything, to hurt MJ as much as they can... and MJ said that in public! several times!

some facts:

August 21, 1990 the Eagles get 12x platinum

December 14, 1993 14x

June 5, 1995 22x

March 3, 1997 24x

January 8, 1999 25x

November 10, 1999 26x

November 8, 2000 27x

November 7, 2002 28x

January 30, 2006 29x

again. the sales between 1991-2008 is 5,27 million (Source: Soundscan). the certification says 16 million. how can that be? between 1993 and 1995 it was certificated for 8 million units. thats around 80.000 units a week. with this sales it have to be in the top 20 for 2 years! but it wasnt! in fact it sold 919.00 copies (Source: Soundscan) 8 million units in 2 years? no catalog album, and especially no 17 years old catalog album can do that. thriller can't do that. thriller sold around 1,1 million units this year (in the 90's maybe it would be 3 millions, if he died in the 90's). and thats totally amazing for an catalog album. but 8!?!?!? let get that in your mind, and think about that before you say this facts are not true.

Soundscan have 100% trustable infos. everyone know that. they made the sale infos for the weekly billboard charts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Chrisu77 (talk • contribs) 18:44, 7 December 2009 (UTC)