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[Wolf]

Found this information at another forum. It provides information on Beatles sales in North America as recorded by SoundScan since June 1991.

http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26913

Thought I'd share:

Key
year of release
year of latest certification
title
riaa shipment
soundscan figure where available with date - figures courtesy of Hanboo with some updates by John2000 and Dane
weeks on catalogue chart 1982-2005

Part One - USA Albums

UK titles (CD only)
1987 1997 Please Please Me - 1,000,000 - 772,000 jan 2004 - 1 week
1987 1997 With the Beatles - 500,000 - 563,000 jan 2004
1987 2001 Beatles For Sale - 1,000,000 - 594,000 jan 2004

USA only titles (not on CD)
1965 1997 Early Beatles - 1,000,000
1964 1991 Meet the Beatles - 5,000,000
1964 1997 Second Album - 2,000,000
1964 1997 Something New - 2,000,000
1965 1997 Beatles '65 - 3,000,000
1965 1997 Beatles VI - 1,000,000
1966 1997 Yesterday and Today - 2,000,000
1970 1991 Hey Jude - 3,000,000

Soundtrack Related
1964 2000 A Hard Day's Night - 4,000,000 - 1,037,000 jan 2004 - 2 weeks
1965 1997 Help - 3,000,000 - 1,087,000 jan 2004 - 8 weeks
1967 2000 Magical Mystery Tour - 6,000,000 - 1,339,000 jan 2004 - 20 weeks
1969 1991 Yellow Submarine - 1,000,000 - 1,090,000 jan 2004
1970 2000 Let It Be - 4,000,000 - 1,032,000 jan 2004 - 3 weeks
1999 1999 Yellow Submarine Songtrack - 500,000
2003 2003 Let It Be - Naked - 1,000,000 - 1,027,000 nov 2003

UK/US titles
1965 1997 Rubber Soul - 6,000,000 - 2,148,000 may 2006 - 34 weeks
1966 2000 Revolver - 5,000,000 - 1,701,000 may 2006 - 25 weeks
1967 1997 Sgt Pepper - 11,000,000 - 3,495,000 may 2006 - 187 weeks
1968 2001 The Beatles - 9,500,000 - 2,945,000 jan 2006 - 98 weeks
1969 2001 Abbey Road - 12,000,000 - 3,592,000 may 2006 - 195 weeks

Primary Compilations
1973 2001 1962-1966 - 7,500,000 - 2,146,076 may 2005 - 63 weeks
1973 2001 1967-1970 - 8,000,000 - 2,476,590 may 2005 - 88 weeks
2000 2005 One - 10,000,000 - 10,371,400 dec 2005 - 179 weeks

CD Era Compilations
1988 1997 Past Masters Vol 1 - 1,000,000 - 772,000 jan 2004 - 1 week
1988 1997 Past Masters Vol 2 - 1,000,000 - 1,098,000 jan 2004 - 2 weeks
1988 2001 Studio Box (15 CD's) - 67,000
1994 1995 At the Beeb - 2,000,000 - 1,498,000 jan 2004
1995 1996 Anthology 1 - 4,000,000 - 3,639,000 jan 2004
1996 1998 Anthology 2 - 2,000,000 - 1,707,000 jan 2004
1996 1997 Anthology 3 - 1,500,000 - 1,323,000 jan 2004
2004 2004 Capitol Box Vol 1 - 250,000
2006 2006 Capitol Box Vol 2 - 125,000

Non CD Compilations/Exploitation
1964 1964 Beatles Story - 500,000
1976 1976 Rock n Roll Music - 1,000,000
1980 1997 Rock n Roll Music Vol 1 - 1,000,000
1980 1997 Rock n Roll Music Vol 2 - 1,000,000
1977 1977 At the Hollywood Bowl - 1,000,000 - 11,000 jan 2004
1977 2000 Love Songs - 1,500,000
1980 1997 Rarities - 500,000
1982 1982 Reel Music - 500,000
1982 1997 20 Greatest Hits - 2,000,000 - 821,000 jan 2004


All of the above are the official Capitol/Apple Albums.

Many more albums were released in the US on other labels.

Herkenrath reports that a 1964 court case forced Vee-Jay to release their sales figures.

Introducing the Beatles was a cut-down version of their UK debut.  It sold 1,346,226 by the end of 1964.  The other Vee-Jay albums sold 465,557 in total.

Total riaa shipment for The Beatles is 130,850,000.  They are the only artists to ship more than 100m albums.

Soundscan began more than 20 years after the band broke-up, but their total of 51.3m (june 2006) is way ahead of any other band.

The following 4 titles

A Hard Day's Night
Help
Rubber Soul
Revolver

shared the same titles in the UK and US, but their contents were very different until the CD re-issues.

[raxo]

Thanks for sharing, Wolf ... and welcome back!!!

[...]
1995 1996 Anthology 1 - 4,000,000 - 3,639,000 jan 2004
1996 1998 Anthology 2 - 2,000,000 - 1,707,000 jan 2004
1996 1997 Anthology 3 - 1,500,000 - 1,323,000 jan 2004
[...]

This is one thing I've never understood: why Anthology 2 and Anthology 3 weren't sold half as much as Anthology 1? There was great (and unreleased) stuff on them too!!!

[Wolf]

Thanks for sharing, Wolf ... and welcome back!!!

This is one thing I've never understood: why Anthology 2 and Anthology 3 weren't sold half as much as Anthology 1? There was great (and unreleased) stuff on them too!!!

I guess many non-fans bought Anthology 1 because of the hype back in December 1995, but thought it wasn't as good as they expected. They didn't touch the follow-ups, which was of course stupid. In an ideal world, A1 would have been A2 (the strongest in my opinion), more people would have caught the Beatles fire that way, but of course that wasn't practicable as things had to be kept chronological.

Thanks for welcoming me back. Been a while.

[raxo]

I guess many non-fans bought Anthology 1 because of the hype back in December 1995, but thought it wasn't as good as they expected. They didn't touch the follow-ups, which was of course stupid. In an ideal world, A1 would have been A2 (the strongest in my opinion), more people would have caught the Beatles fire that way, but of course that wasn't practicable as things had to be kept chronological.

Yep, that's what I used to believe too ... but don't you think that the half of them is like too many people? :-/

Thanks for welcoming me back. Been a while.

I know ... and you're not the only one re-discovering the site!  

[harihead]

Wow, Wolf, thanks for this! I really enjoy seeing these statistics-- it just awes me. These guys sure had that certain something!

Soundscan began more than 20 years after the band broke-up, but their total of 51.3m (june 2006) is way ahead of any other band.

*laughs and pumps fist in the air*

Why do I enjoy this so much?   Cheers.

[Wolf]

Wow, Wolf, thanks for this! I really enjoy seeing these statistics-- it just awes me. These guys sure had that certain something!


*laughs and pumps fist in the air*

Why do I enjoy this so much?   Cheers.

It is indeed stunning. Not only that they outsold all of their competitors from back in the 1960s without the slightest difficulty, no, they also outsold all current bands and singers, really huge 1990s stars like Mariah Carey, Eminem or whoever. It's amazing. Only Garth Brooks sold more, but I'm sure we'll get him at one point in the future. The Beatles will remain strong sellers for decades to come (they just need to open their catalog to digital retail), while I have doubts that Garth Brooks will keep on selling like he did in the last 15 years forever.


From the same source as above, here's the complete list of the biggest selling acts since SoundScan took over the data collecting back in 1991:

Top 100 Selling Bands/Artists in the Soundscan Era
January 2007

Key
position sep 2005
position 1st jan 2006
position 1st jan 2007
artist
soundscan total (albums) 1991-2006

Artists in Bold are UK/Irish

(1) - (1) - 1 - Garth Brooks - 66.031m
 
(2) - (2) - 2 - The Beatles - 53.701m
 
(5) - (3) - 3 - Mariah Carey - 49.606m
(4) - (4) - 4 - Celine Dion - 48.395m  
(3) - (5) - 5 - Metallica - 47.870m

These Top 5 seem to be well clear of the rest for a few years yet.

(6) - (6) - 6 - George Strait - 37.871m
( - (9) - 7 - Alan Jackson - 34.393m
(11) - (11) - 8 - Tim McGraw - 34.045m
(10) - (10) - 9  - Pink Floyd - 33.394m
(7) - (7) - 10 - Shania Twain - 33.291m
(9) - ( - 11 - Kenny G - 32.676m
(15) - (12) - 12 - Eminem - 32.471m
(14) - (14) - 13 - U2 - 31.358m
(12) - (13) - 14 - Backstreet Boys - 30.400m

(13) - (16) - 15 - 2Pac - 29.132m
(17) - (17) - 16 - Pearl Jam - 29.026m
(16) - (15) - 17 - Britney Spears - 28.484m
(19) - (19) - 18 - Aerosmith - 28.168m
(22) - (22) - 19 - Elvis Presley - 28.073m
(20) - (20) - 20 - Dave Matthews - 28.059m
(21) - (21) - 21 - Eric Clapton - 27.986m
(18) - (18) - 22 - N Sync - 27.941m
(23) - (23) - 23 - Reba McEntire - 26.405m
(29) - (25) - 24 - Rod Stewart - 26.147m
(28) - (32) - 25 - Dixie Chicks - 25.647m
(24) - (24) - 26 - Creed - 25.608m
(25) - (26) - 27 - Elton John - 25.139m

(31) - (28) - 28 - Enya - 24.910m
(33) - (29) - 29 - Madonna - 24.891m
(27) - (30) - 30 - Frank Sinatra - 24.811m
(26) - (27) - 31 - The Eagles - 24.728m
(35) - (34) - 32 - AC/DC - 24.550m
(30) - (31) - 33 - Santana - 24.360m
(40) - (40) - 34 - Toby Keith - 24.125m
(36) - (35) - 35 - Jimmy Buffett - 24.007m
(32) - (33) - 36 - Nirvana - 23.884m
(37) - (39) - 37 - Jay-Z - 23.613m
(34) - (36) - 38 - BoyzIIMen - 23.046m
(41) - (37) - 39 - The Rolling Stones - 22.979m
(38) - (38) - 40 - Guns n Roses - 22.923m
(46) - (42) - 41 - Green Day - 22.480m
(39) - (41) - 42 - Michael Bolton - 21.829m
(47) - (47) - 43 - Brooks & Dunn - 20.820m
(42) - (43) - 44 - Nelly - 20.776m
(54) - (54) - 45 - Red Hot Chilli Peppers - 20.675m
(45) - (45) - 46 - Led Zeppelin - 20.634m
(43) - (44) - 47 - R Kelly - 20.253m

(44) - (46) - 48 - Alanis Morissette - 19.930m
(73) - (57) - 49 - Kenny Chesney - 19.880m
(48) - (48) - 50 - Barbra Streisand - 19.869m
(52) - (49) - 51 - Mannheim Steamroller - 19.597m
(50) - (51) - 52 - Leann Rimes - 19.233m
(53) - (53) - 53 - Janet Jackson - 19.177m
(49) - (50) - 54 - Limp Bizkit - 19.170m
(75) - (71) - 55 - Mary J Blige - 18.958m
(51) - (52) - 56 - Usher - 18.918m
(88) - (90) - 57 - Prince - 18.799m
(63) - (59) - 58 - Faith Hill - 18.553m
(56) - (56) - 59 - Michael Jackson - 18.532m
(59) - (60) - 60 - Snoopy Dogg - 18.532m
(55) - (55) - 61 - Beastie Boys - 18.457m
(62) - (63) - 62 - Luther Vandross - 18.220m
(57) - (58) - 63 - REM - 18.132m
(60) - (62) - 64 - Kid Rock - 18.077m
(58) - (61) - 65 - Vince Gill - 17.927m
(--) - (--) - 66 - Johnny Cash - 17.812m NEW
(68) - (66) - 67 - Queen - 17.751m
(69) - (70) - 68 - Sarah McLachlan - 17.614m
(71) - (73) - 69 - Bob Seger - 17.538m
(61) - (64) - 70 - Van Halen - 17.456m
(64) - (65) - 71 - Alabama - 17.389m
(85) - (80) - 72 - Bob Dylan - 17.225m
(65) - (67) - 73 - Billy Joel - 17.187m
(67) - (68) - 74 - Linkin Park - 17.085m
(70) - (72) - 75 - Outkast - 17.051m
(--) - (--) - 76 - Bob Marley - 16.813m NEW
(83) - (77) - 77 - Korn - 16.803m
(66) - (69) - 78 - Yanni - 16.746m
(80) - (78) - 79 - Bruce Springsteen - 16.744m
(82) - (74) - 80 - Destiny's Child - 16.584m
(--) - (87) - 81 - Bon Jovi - 16.282m
(72) - (76) - 82 - DMX - 16.220m
(74) - (75) - 83 - Sade - 16.100m
(89) - (84) - 84 - Sheryl Crow - 15.929m
(92) - (88) - 85 - Lynyrd Skynyrd - 15.887m
(76) - (79) - 86 - Fleetwood Mac - 15.881m
(84) - (86) - 87 - Van Morrison - 15.691m
(78) - (81) - 88 - Offspring - 15.618m
(79) - (83) - 89 - Smashing Pumpkins - 15.505m
(--) - (--) - 90 - Andrea Bocelli - 15.461m NEW
(77) - (82) - 91 - TLC - 15.418m
(90) - (93) - 92 - Bone Thugs N Harmony - 15.415m
(81) - (85) - 93 - No Doubt - 15.317m
(93) - (94) - 94 - Def Leppard - 15.254m
(97) - (92) - 95 - Neil Diamond - 15.161m
(95) - (97) - 96 - James Taylor - 15.157m
(87) - (89) - 97 - Ozzy Osbourne - 15.062m
(--) - (--) - 98 - Christine Aguilera - 15.002m NEW
(86) - (91) - 99 - Sting - 14.992m
(96) - (98) - 100 - The Doors - 14.725m

So, these acts are relegated (2005 totals)

(91) - 95 - Matchbox Twenty - 14.4m
(94) - 96 - Jewel - 14.3m
(98) - 99 - Lenny Kravitz - 14.0m
(99) - 100 - Hootie & Blowfish - 14.0m


Many thanks to Hanboo for these figures.

Further artists totals are posted further down this first page.

[Wolf]

Yep, that's what I used to believe too ... but don't you think that the half of them is like too many people? :-/

It is strange. You'd think there'd be more Beatles fans involved in the sales of the first Anthology, assuring a smaller drop down in sales for the follow-ups, as Beatles fans of course knew that the best was yet to come. I'm not really sure what to make of these numbers myself.

[raxo]

I think that the price was part of the problem too ... probably they expected more and only the older fans (usually the ones with more money) bought the rest of the series .. 'cos the 2nd and 3rd parts sold more or less the same!

[harihead]

Thanks, Wolf! Awesome!

Okay, now I need an engineer to make a spreadsheet based on popularity vs. number of years the artist has been extinct. Surely nobody else is selling so strongly this far after the disbanding as the Beatles. Although I'm sure the Anthology boom really helped.

As part of my extensive research  : I've been playing the music of other artists of the era. It amazes me to discover for myself that there really wasn't anyone putting out the sheer quality of product that the Beatles were. Everyone else seemed much more uneven-- although that might not be a fair judgment. Their sound might have been tailored to appeal to the time. But the Beatles' work (both in the group and all their early solo work) has aged extremely well. In fact, I think some of it (like Harrison's) plays even better today than it did at the time-- perhaps because they trained us to expect the unexpected all those years ago...

[raxo]

[...]But the Beatles' work (both in the group and all their early solo work) has aged extremely well. In fact, I think some of it (like Harrison's) plays even better today than it did at the time-- perhaps because they trained us to expect the unexpected all those years ago...

It could be because of the completelly different kinds of music of that time: simphonic, reggae, punk, new age ... and many more ...

... now we usualley just listen to their albums without prejudices but out of context ... this seems to be very helpful when the quality of the music is high and not a mere product of its time!  

[The End]

HUGE thanks for the info Wolf - AWESOME post, as ever!

And a very warm welcome back to the forum - great to have you back with us.

[The End]

Just curious, but how did the "Music For Pleasure" release of Hollywood Bowl impact on the Parlophone/Apple release? Were the sales figures pooled or were they counted seperately?

[pnxo]

i can't understand why aren't oasis there

[raxo]

Good question ...

[Wolf]

Oasis sold less than 14 million CDs in America since 1991. Hence them not making the list.

[BlueMeanie]

i can't understand why aren't oasis there

Oasis are not that huge in The States.

Thanks for all that info Wolf. It's rather a shame to think of The Beatles being outsold by some third rate 'country' singer.

[harihead]

Of the artists who made it really big, I don't listen to any of the ones in the top 10 except the Beatles and Pink Floyd. I actually prefer British groups... unlike the Beatles, who preferred American artists. But the USA is a big country, I mean really big, and you have a lot more people overall who are interested in easy listening and country, simply because it is middle-of-the-road.

People (including me) need to remind themselves that "more popular" does not equal "better", although it's only natural for us to want our "team" to win. Still, I think the Beatles are doing very well over all. It's nice to think that sometimes, quantity and quality do go together. Cheers.


PS: Looking at that list again, as far as albums I actually own, besides the Beatles and Pink Floyd, I have to skip all the way down to Enya at 28 and Eagles at 31 before I can find one of these records in my house. But everyone has their own favorites, I'm sure. My sisters' lists would look very different from mine.

[BlueMeanie]

PS: Looking at that list again, as far as albums I actually own, besides the Beatles and Pink Floyd, I have to skip all the way down to Enya at 28 and Eagles at 31 before I can find one of these records in my house. But everyone has their own favorites, I'm sure. My sisters' lists would look very different from mine.

Mine goes:

2. The Beatles

9. Pink Floyd

13. U2

21. Eric Clapton

46. Led Zeppelin

63. REM

86. Fleetwood Mac

87. Van Morrison

100. The Doors.

Interesting. Though the only ones on the list that I own a lot of is The Beatles, Floyd, Led Zep, and Van.

[raxo]

Of the artists who made it really big, I don't listen to any of the ones in the top 10 except the Beatles and Pink Floyd. I actually prefer British groups... [...]

Me too ...

[...] it's only natural for us to want our "team" to win. [...]

Ask The End!!!LOL!

[...]  It's nice to think that sometimes, quantity and quality do go together.[...]

Sometimes those go together, yep ... that's one proof!!!

[BlueMeanie]

Blimey, that list really makes me look middle aged doesn't it!!!