Talk:List of best-selling albums

Ace of Base's Happy Nation/The Sign

Is it possible to include Ace of Base's Happy Nation/The Sign into 30m-list based on this reference?. please advise . thanks

(http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a169980/michael-jackson-a-fan-of-ace-of-base.html) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Politsi (talk • contribs)

BSB Millennium sales

It has been claimed for years that Millennium sold 40 million copies. An unknown source has came along and claimed this, just as a random article claimed only 30 million and you published that. All the reliable sources (MTV, BBC, E News, Jive, Universal, CNN etc) had 40 million claimes, lets not forget the bands website.

It reached number 1 all around the world, broke numerous sales records, achieved platinum and diamond status. Looking at ir from a common sense perspective leads to the conclusion of the album selling at least 40 million. It needs changed back to the 40 million list.

http://www.mtv.com/artists/backstreet-boys/biography/

Bad's sales

Inaccurate number of albums sold.

Since 2005, the quantity of Bad albums sold by Michael Jackson has been inflated by several users without any proper reference, probably in an effort to promote the artist. As we can see in the article History the figure has been constantly modified ([1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], [21], [22], [23], [24]... etc, etc). If we analyze these sources (for example: [25]), it is more than evident that they were written by individuals that are not experts on the topic and probably are just music fans. Wikipedia is built with secondary sources and is our job as editors to prevent biases in the articles.

Therefore, I suggest using a more stable figure of albums sold, which are the 30-35 million copies, and that is supported by several reliable sources [in multiple languages] (english: MTV ASIA 30 million (2012), BBC News 30 million (2012), Los Angeles Times 30 million (2012)... etc. Additionally, I suggest adding a note indicating that according to ImpreMedia, the 40-45 million albums sold is an inflated figure. As we know, this is a usual practice in the music industry to promote artists (Billboard and Spin). Thanks and best regards, Chrishonduras (talk) 04:15, 27 February 2013 (UTC)

• The album was re-released in 2012 and all advertisements and press releases from Sony regarding it stated copies of the album had surpassed 45 million. While I don't doubt this number is probably inflated to generate higher back catalogue sales, it hardly seems fair to include outdated "reliable" references that demote sales down to a lower end 30 million and disregard the higher estimates above 35 million (especially when 30 million is in line with sales that have remained stagnant for the past decade and do not include post-humous sales). A range of figures is surely the only method of citing Bad's sales because of such discrepancies in the numbers present. Mc8755 (talk) 18:43, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

DANGEROUS

can someone please fix Michael Jackson Dangerous sales,,,,,,,,,,,,,they say 30,32,28 million ,,,,,,,,,leave it as ONE reliable source which the article referenced on the list as 32 millino,,,,,,thank you--65.8.190.28 (talk) 21:26, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

.

 Done I deleted all of Dangerous’ sales claims except for the lowest: 30 million. See here for why I chose the lowest.--Mαuri^’96 “...over the Borderline” 22:42, 3 March 2013 (UTC)

• Dangerous has had sales listed at 32 million since the start of the 2000's. Citing a sole figure of 30 is far more inaccurate than the 30-35 million range. Mc8755 (talk) 18:45, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Do not be silly!!

I can not believe I've editors so ignorant. Thriller sold over 104 million albums around the world according to Guinness World Records, Bad sold over 45 million units according to Sony, and MJ sold over 1 billion records worldwide. If they do it well edited. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 186.54.144.38 (talk) 11:55, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

Absolutely no. First: Thriller have only 42-45-50 million copies certified (Including the certifications after Jackson's death). Overall, it has sold 65 million (15 million more than the certified). And, no, according to Guinness World Records (2011) Thriller has sold 65 million copies. The 100 million figure or more is unrealistic, a marketing strategy, and Wikipedia ("Wikimagic") helped a lot in this case. Spend exactly the same case with "Bad" and overall sales of Mr. Jackson. And please, "Silly" is a bad word, you avoid this. Best Regards, Chrishonduras (talk) 22:07, 13 March 2013 (UTC)

Michael Jackson's HIStory Past Present and Future

This billboard article proves that HIStory was certified twice in the USA. [26] "See this talk [27]" Even if only the USA counts certifications twice, that would still leave that album with 9.1 certified sales, not enough for the 20 million claim. --Watquaza (talk) 02:37, 24 March 2013 (UTC)

Edited reply - just realized it's been removed already. Ray of Light is millions in sales behind HIStory and The Color of My Love (in certifications alone). Both History and TCOML should be included on this list provided reliable sources are present for both. XXL magazine denotes 4 million in re-release sales between 2001 and 2009 for HIStory (see the article where it's referenced in the album article here), combined with certified sales of other territories bring the total somewhere along the lines of:

USA - 7 million (as of 1999), EU - 6 million (dated, but all that exists for now). Other available certifications: Japan - 750K, Australia - 560K, Canada - 400K, New Zealand - 150K, Argentina - 40K, Brazil - 40K, Mexico - 30K.

• Roughly comes to 15 million

+ 4 million in re-release between 2001-2010: Approx. 250K certified in UK as of 2009 (Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/mar/16/features.musicmonthly20#article_continue) and approx 990K sold in USA as of 2009 (Source: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/photos/stylus/97334-michaeljackson_pp_03l.jpg coupled with: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1616273/michael-jackson-dominates-charts-third-week.jhtml). [Note these only include sales up to the third week following Jackson's death but are all that are available online as of now].

• Comes to approximately 19-20 million. HIStory (along with TCOML) should absolutely be included in list under the estimated sale tally of 20 million. Mc8755 (talk) 16:49, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

No, ROL is not millions behind, actually ROL have more certfied sales than HIStory. As I mention before, if you check THIS Billboard article, [28] you would realize that Michael's album was certified at that time 5 times platinum for sales of 2.5 millions. That means that in the USA at least, the album was certified TWICE. Ultimately, the album with 7 platinum certifications, suggest that it have shipped 3.5 million copies in America. While ROL is certified 4 times platinum (4 million shipped) and 7 million in Europe, hence, Ray of Light is more certified than HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. --Watquaza (talk) 17:24, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Yes, but still 7 million CDs sold, just as the re-release of the first disc alone is counted towards overall album sales too. So considering that, HIStory has shipped ballpark 8 million CDs/records in the USA, 6 million in EU (as of the end of 1996) and the other territories' sales. Pink Floyd's album The Wall is considered to have around 23 million in sales in USA, when it only sold 11.5 million copies of the two disc album - because it is two disc they're counted separately towards a sole total which in this case outranks Ray of Light and TCOML. Mc8755 (talk) 17:35, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Pink Floyd's The Wall considered US sales in this article are the actual ones, 11.5 million, not 23 million. Correct me if I'm wrong. And even counting units once and not twice, The Wall still have enough reported sales for the 30 million claim. Unlike HIStory, which with 4 million album units (not 8 million CD's) in the USA, +6 million in Europe, +500k in Canada, +560k in Australia, +60k in Argentina, 150k in New Zeland, 50k in Brazil and 100k in México it leaves a total of 11.420.000 shipped units . --Watquaza (talk) 18:05, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Yes but what I'm trying to say is that when HIStory was re-released in 2001, the first disc was packaged and sold and counts as units towards its total sales, therefore it would mean counting these as half sales of a unit by comparison, so if these are counted (with certifiable sales of the re-release alone at over 1.5 million and estimated sales by XXL of 4 million worldwide) alongside the original album release, the US certifications would count as over 4 million double-disc sets, but two records/CDs/units together selling over 8 million copies, plus the other certificates and re-release certs aforementioned bringing the total closer to 20 million. The Wall is listed in its article firstly in the album as having shipped 23 million units, then clarified by stating that these were in double-disc sales totaling 11.5 million sets. Since albums don't equate to units, each original HIStory sale is worth two units, while each re-release sale is worth one unit. By that reckoning HIStory's sales are higher than ROL and TCOML. Mc8755 (talk) 18:25, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

In "The Wall's" article yes, but not here. Please check the "Total Certified copies" of The Wall in this article. Actual sales are listed as 11.5 million in the US not as 23 million, and it should be the same with HIStory. We're not counting each CD as a unit or a record in this page. --Watquaza (talk) 20:31, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

argentina 60,000 australia 560,000 austria 100,000 brazil 100,000 canada 500,000 denmark 250,000 europe 6,000,000 finland 61,352 france 1,000,000 germany 1,500,000 japan 400,000 mexico 100,000 netherlands 300,000 new zealand 135,000 norway 50,000poland 100,000 sweden 100,000 switzerland 150,000 uk 1,200,000 us 7,000,000 Total: 14,855,000,,,,,,,,this is from the Wikipedia page on Mj History past, present, future,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,--Ozzie10aaaa (talk) 14:43, 27 March 2013 (UTC)

You will need a source that is not from Wikipedia.Moxy (talk) 14:27, 28 March 2013 (UTC)

.

http://fanofmusic.free.fr/index.php?m=Charts&s=BestSellers&p=BestSellers&Act=121 .... think this is good for citing,,that History past present and future has sold 20 million albums,,,,--65.8.188.55 (talk) 17:05, 30 March 2013 (UTC) http://avaxhome.bz/music/MJacksonHIStory.html this is another source that can be used,,,,,--65.8.188.32 (talk) 23:25, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

The fact that this source states 2.5 million in sales for HIStory: Past Present and Future in 1995 seems very confusing. The RIAA didn't have the rule of counting Double-CD albums twice in 1995. That rule was instituted in September 1996. HIStory: Past Present and Future album has been certified 5x Platinum in the U.S. in August 1995, which should be for a shipment of 5 million units since the rule of Counting each unit in the set towards certification is still 12 months away at that point. Even the 6x Platinum received in January 1996 is still eight months away from that amendment. I'm quite baffled by the 2.5 million when it's shipped 5 million CD cases in 1995. Now I wonder if that rule was really instituted in September 1996.--Harout72 (talk) 22:42, 30 March 2013 (UTC)

---

hi maybe this will help , I was looking at the archive 10 and found the below description which apparently solved the problem for History album ( I cut and paste it ) so that it can be useful in solving this same problem again I would have solved this but I (don't) cant edit semi protected page,,thank you,,,,,,,,,,--65.8.189.36 (talk) 11:54, 4 April 2013 (UTC)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ normally don't edit this list, but I came across this reverted edit by Watquaza. HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I was released in 1995 and needs the 20 million claim to be supported by 57.5% certified sales (or 11.5 million in certified units). The album, in fact, has 12.6 million in certified units available. 7x Platinum (or 7 million units) in USA 3x Platinum (or 1.5 million units) in Germany 4x Platinum (or 1.2 million units) in the UK Diamond (or 1 million) in France 5x Platinum (or 500,000 units) in Canada 8x Platinum (or 560,000 units) in Australia 3x Platinum (or 300,000 units) in Spain 3x Platinum (or 150,000 units) in Switzerland 2x Platinum (or 100,000 units) in Austria Platinum (or 100,000 units) in Sweden Platinum (or 100,000 units) in Poland 9x Platinum (or 135,000 units) in New Zealand

The total from the markets above comes down to 12.6. Actually, it's also gone 3x Platinum (300,000 units) in the Netherlands, and Gold in Mexico (100,000 units), neither one's database functions at the moment.--Harout72 (talk) 00:18, 6 January 2013 (UTC) _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dookie?

Dookie by Green Day sold over 26.000.000 copies worldwide — Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.91.71.39 (talk) 16:32, 29 March 2013 (UTC)

 Not done: Sources?--Mαuri^’96 “...over the Borderline” 04:53, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

what do you think about this source, 20m-claim (http://bothners.co.za/products/green-days-tre-cools-signature-series-zildjian-practice-pads/). thanks Politsi (talk) 05:18, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

The phrase "a slew of successful follow up albums developing a huge international following and selling over 20 million records worldwide" refers to the band's sales after they had their breakthrough with Dookie.--Mαuri^’96 “...over the Borderline” 07:31, 2 April 2013 (UTC)

Eagles's Hotel California

To other editor, perhaps especially to Mauri, i need your opinion. What do you think about Eagles's Hotel California 32m-claim from this source (http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110929/A_ENTERTAIN/109290308) is this reliable ?

Need Advice?. thanks Politsi (talk) 07:25, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

 Done: I don't think that that particular article is very reliable as it claims the album sold 32 million copies " in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom". The album was added with that source and [examiner.com/article/rock-hall-anniversary-the-eagles-hotel-california an additional article] claiming 32 million in worldwide sales.--Mαuri^’96 “...over the Borderline” 22:33, 31 March 2013 (UTC)

Who defines this article?

• "the album must have sold at least 20 million copies worldwide"

• "the highest sales figure reported for an album is added to the list"

• "All albums included on this list have their available claimed figure(s) supported by at least 20% in certified copies. The percentage amount of certified sales needed increases the newer the album is, so albums released before 1975 are only expected to have their claimed figures supported by at least 20% in certified copies. However, newer albums, such as 21 and Come Away with Me, are expected to have their claimed figures supported by at least 70% in certified copies. Certified copies are sourced from available online databases of local music industry associations"

Why?

There is no consensus for these opinions.

Why should Wikipedia conform to these artificial 'rules'? 88.104.28.176 (talk) 02:31, 5 April 2013 (UTC)