Talk:List of American Idol alumni album sales in the United States

William Hung

Does William Hung belong on a list of American Idol contestants' CD sales? He was a failed auditioner, he wasn't even a contestant that got a gold ticket. AllDone (talk) 00:59, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

He does belong. His audition appears on at least one PS2 video game, a DVD set, etc. Sincerely, --Le Grand Roi des Citrouilles^Tally-ho! 07:06, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Yes he does belong. Anyone who became notable as a result of Idol should be included. That includes others who were shown with popular rejections or those cut in Hollywood (although no one in that category has had an album with sales figures available). CrazyC83 (talk) 23:13, 13 February 2008 (UTC)

So why was he removed? 75.56.142.244 (talk) 23:34, 6 August 2008 (UTC)

No reliable data source available. CrazyC83 (talk) 20:04, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

WILLIAM HUNG HAS SOLD 990,000 OF HIS FIRST ALBUM IT WENT PLATINUM...... —Preceding unsigned comment added by RPaulley24 (talk • contribs) 16:05, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Inclusion of EPs

There are several EPs on the list but for some reason, people keep removing the EP from Clay. There is no reason to include EPs from Jordin Sparks, Blake Lewis and even Haley Scarnato and NOT include Clay. We should either omit ALL EPs or include them. My own view is to exclude all EPs from this master list and people can find EPs and pre-Idol albums and other comprehensive information on the individual artist page. But the key thing is just to be consistent. MarcoNYC (talk) 00:08, 5 February 2008 (UTC)

I agree. The EPs, especially the ones only selling around 100 copies, are a waste of space. They should be excluded, or listed seperatley. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.69.140.37 (talk) 05:13, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

If EPs are not going to be listed along with other albums, which I think they should, as long as it is consistent for all AI alumni, their sales should still be reflected in the Albums Sales Total. If Clay's EP is removed, then they should all be removed. Likewise, if they are to stay then Clay's should be put back.AllDone (talk) 05:46, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

I feel that EP's should be included because you have: Jordin Sparks, Clay Aiken, David Cook, Sanjaya Malakar, George Huff, Diana Degarmo, Carmen Rasmusen, and several others..... When I say EP I mean actual album with 5 songs, etc. I dont mean electronic downloads —Preceding unsigned comment added by RPaulley24 (talk • contribs) 16:04, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Certification

According to the RIAA certification scale and the Wikipedia page on Music recording sales certification and the page on RIAA an album needs to sell 1M copies to be certified Platinum. But someone marked Taylor Hicks album at 701K sales as platinum. Why? It should be listed as Gold, unless someone got the info from some other certified source. Tedying (talk) 21:02, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

The certifications are based on shipments, not sales. From Music recording sales certification: "Like many record industry awards and rankings, the measurement is usually based on wholesale shipments to all types of retail outlets, not actual retail sales or financial transactions. This means that an early award or ranking for a new release reflects a distributor's expectations for the album and their market power." and from RIAA certification: "In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. (Some other countries have similar schemes. See Music recording sales certification.) Certification is not automatic; for an award to be made, the record label must pay a fee to have the sales of the recording audited. The audit is conducted against unit shipments (most often an artist's royalty statement is used), which includes albums sold directly to retailers and one-stops, direct to consumer sales (music clubs and mail order) and other outlets. Shipments that could potentially be returned to the label can not be counted."

Unless otherwise sourced all the certifications on this page (and others revolving around American Idol) can be found on RIAA's searchable database [1]. Aspects (talk) 21:15, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Okay--I see that that RIAA site does have Taylor Hicks album certified as GOLD and PLATINUM. Now the questions is, why is Jordin Sparks album listed as GOLD when the RIAA site does not have her listed in the searchable database, i.e. they have not yet certified the album, but this Wiki page has it listed as Gold. Tedying (talk) 18:00, 24 March 2008 (UTC)

Since 2006 and possibly earlier, RCA has referred to Clay Aiken's Measure of a Man as "triple platinum and counting" That statement is also included in Clay's BIO on the RCA website. I believe that RCA is a reliable and legitimate source for information about their own artists. Clay should have 3x platinum on his sales summary for MOAM.

A THOUSAND DIFFERENT WAYS is bound to please the millions of fans who loved 2003's MEASURE OF MAN (triple platinum and counting)

[2] Artists/Clay Aiken/Read Bio

AllDone (talk) 08:22, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

There is a new Bio for Clay Aiken on his artist page at RCA Records. The new one says his debut CD is double platinum so the earlier reference I cited above is no longer there or accurate.

AllDone (talk) 23:12, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Fourth Album

Clay Aiken's 4th album " On My Way Here" is officially on its way, Due May 6th, per Reuters and Billboard.com [3]

AllDone (talk) 08:46, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Unsourced

In addition to giving no sources for any info, this article is prone to being out-of-date frequently and being a non-encyclopedic topic. Unless there is substantial change in the near future, or reasonable discussion, I'm going to redirect this page. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 15:41, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Well, ok. I'm going to go through and copy any sourced info from the album articles. Unsourced info will disappear from the album articles and here. Any future unsourced info will be reverted. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 19:23, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm done Kelly Clarkson, and it is not going well. - Mdsummermsw (talk) 20:09, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

I notice that we've had a lot of anonymous updates to this without any source materials and that it has had to be reverted several times in the last couple of weeks. Does anyone think that this page should be restricted to logged in users? It might help stop the random unattributed updates to the numbers. Tedying (talk) 20:56, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

One thing that might help make it more encyclopedic is to put reference dates for when the information was last updated. That in addition to the referenced footnotes should help make the information better. Tedying (talk) 21:42, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Brooke White

Should her album, Songs from the Attic, go on here? I think its sold something like 16,000 copies already. icelandic hurricane #12_(talk) 14:35, 18 May 2008 (UTC)

No, at the top, it clearly identifies that the list does not include any pre-Idol recordings. Tedying (talk) 02:33, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Correct; while it can generally be assumed that their appearance helped boost sales of pre-Idol albums (relatively speaking), the production and early sales of those albums were not impacted in any way by them appearing on Idol (since they hadn't even auditioned for the show yet!). As a result, it is probably not fair to compare pre-Idol albums to the chart, since all the chart albums were released knowing they had exposure from the show. CrazyC83 (talk) 17:54, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Well this was rereleased. so... i didn't know if that made a difference. icelandic hurricane #12_(talk) 02:13, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

jordin sparks is the 7th best selling american idol not kellie pickler, can you change that?? because jordin sold around 800k while kellie just sold around 700k —Preceding unsigned comment added by Hungry03 (talk • contribs) 07:58, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Jordin Sparks sales have not been RIAA certified. Until they are, she remains on the uncertified list. The list at the top is for RIAA certified sales. Tedying (talk) 17:25, 23 June 2008 (UTC)

BROOKE WHITE "SONGS FROM THE ATTIC" SOLD 22,000 COPIES--RPaulley24 (talk) 16:13, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Jordin Sparks

Jordin Sparks fans are over-anxious to record her sales figures on Wikipedia. Unfortunately, as of 7/28/2008, she is still not certified by RIAA. Billboard lists and Idol Chatter lists are not independently certified lists. Wikipedia (and the top-AI alumni page) explicitly use the RIAA certifications. As of 7/28/2008, the RIAA searchable database (which can be found at www.riaa.com) lists the following for artist Jordin Sparks. So, only her singles have been certified by RIAA. As soon as RIAA certifies the shipment/sales, it can updated on this page.

Search Results

SPARKS, JORDIN Title TATTOO Certification Date 02/13/2008 Label JIVE Award Description GOLD Format SINGLE

SPARKS, JORDIN Title TATTOO Certification Date 02/13/2008 Label JIVE Award Description PLATINUM Format SINGLE

SPARKS, JORDIN Title NO AIR Certification Date 04/10/2008 Label ZOMBA Award Description GOLD Format SINGLE

SPARKS, JORDIN Title NO AIR Certification Date 04/10/2008 Label ZOMBA Award Description PLATINUM Format SINGLE

Tedying (talk) 15:29, 28 July 2008 (UTC)

Yep, I believe certifications are optional as well. I think they are waiting for the album to go platinum, which at the current pace should happen early this fall. Also any albums without a confirmed release date should be removed from lists. The confirmed albums are:

• Taylor Hicks - "Early Works", August 12
• Brooke Barrettsmith (Season 5, Top 44) - "Brooke Barrettsmith", August 19
• Kristy Lee Cook (Season 7, 7th Place) - "Plant The Seed", September 16
• Jennifer Hudson (Season 3, 7th Place) - "Jennifer Hudson", September 30
• Kellie Pickler - "Kellie Pickler", September 30
• Mandisa - "It's Christmas", September 30
• LaKisha Jones (Season 6, 4th Place) - name TBA, October 28
• Kelly Clarkson - name TBA, November 18

There are many others planned and to be released, but those are the only ones with confirmed dates. CrazyC83 (talk) 20:55, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Finally certified platinum. I guess Jive decided to wait until then to submit the paperwork and then do a 2-for-1? CrazyC83 (talk) 02:44, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

Format of Table

so ugh, i changed the table but i guess i need to discuss it. basically, this view i feel works better, saying 1st album 2nd album 3 album doesnt really work well becuase these albums are released after different seasons. so that effects album sales since people like kelly clarkson have had a 5 year headstart against like Jordin Sparks. so if you display it in a chart with each year you can understand the album sales better. if that makes sense. just my opinion. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.214.162.171 (talk) 03:28, 23 December 2008 (UTC)

David Cook

I was watching Fox's New Year's Eve coverage and on the show David Cook was given his first platinum record, so should he be put on the first table now? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.222.193.229 (talk) 18:58, 2 January 2009 (UTC)

yOU NEED TO ADD "ANALOG HEART" TO DAVIDS SECTION AND HE SOLD 2,000 COPIES. HE SAID IT HIMSELF ON TV LAST NIGHT —Preceding unsigned comment added by RPaulley24 (talk • contribs) 16:07, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Another Table

Hey, shouldn't there be another table wherein the albums themselves are sorted and not the contestants. Having the contestants ranked isn't much of a fair play since Kelly Clarkson has been in the business since her win 8 or 7 years ago.

We can see, if the albums are sorted, who was the best-selling AI alumni by album, who isn't Clarkson.

--Ja 1207 (talk) 06:09, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

NIKKI MCKIBBIN "UNLEASHED" AMANDA OVERMYER "SOLIDIFY" BRANDON ROGERS "AUTOMATIC" CLAY AIKEN "ALL IS WELL" CARMEN RASMUSEN "CARMEN" GEORGE HUFF "GEORGE HUFF," "GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN" DIANA DEGARMO "UNPLUGGED IN NASHVILLE" SANJAYA MALAKAR "DANCING TO THE MUSIC IN MY HEAD" DAVID COOK "ANAGLOG HEART" CARLY SMITHSON "ULTIMATE HIGH" BROOKE WHITE "SONGS FROM THE ATTIC" JORDIN SPARKS "FROM NOW" KRISTY LEE COOK "DEVOTED" MATT GIRAUD "MIND, BODY, SOUL," "MY PRESPECTIVE" SCOTT MACINTYRE "THE GUARANTEE"

YOUR MISSING SO MANY ALBUMS FROM THE LIST....................... —Preceding unsigned comment added by RPaulley24 (talk • contribs) 16:11, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Colon Usage

Colons have been added to, "First Album," "Second Album," "Third Album," "Fourth Album," and "Fifth Album"; Obviously, after a colon numerous things can be listed, but without the usage of the colon, english grammer is wrong indicated by numerous grammatical sites.

Thanks.

74.184.100.154 (talk) 00:07, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Edited March 16, 2009. == Colons Usage == corrected to == Colon Usage==

Thanks.

74.184.100.154 (talk) 00:11, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

George Huff/Amanda Overmyer

Why is his new album "George Huff" which I bought from Best buy not included, as well as Amanda Overmyers "Solidify"--RPaulley24 (talk) 16:15, 17 April 2009 (UTC)

Clay Aiken

He has sold 53,000 copies of "All IS Well" which is the album in between "On My Way" and "A Thousand Days"