List of best-selling sheet music

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"Old Folks at Home" (1851)

This list contains some of the best-selling songs in terms of sheet music sales in music publishing history with reportedly copies of over 3 million. Figures on sheet music —as with record sales— reported by publishing firms were not always reliable.[1]

In the United States, before "Oh! Susanna" (1848) no American song had sold more than five thousand copies of sheet music.[2] Stephen Foster's "Massa's in the Cold Ground" sales of 75,000 copies by 1852, was considered "phenomenal" since music publishers did not try to promote songs.[3] The first song to became "popular" through a national advertising campaign was "My Grandfather's Clock" in 1876.[3] Mass production of piano in the late-19th century helped boost sheet music sales.[3] Toward the end of the century, during the Tin Pan Alley era, sheet music was sold by dozens and even hundreds of publishing companies.[4][5][6] Sheet music industry also suffered of music piracy with pirated reprints,[7][8][9] as well various fake books rose considerable amount of copies sold.[5]

Reports widely vary to confirm the first million-seller song in sheet music; examples include "When This Cruel War Is Over" (1863),[10] "After the Ball" (by 1892 or 1893),[11][12][13][a] and "Funiculì, Funiculà" in 1880.[15][b] From 1900 to 1910, over one hundred songs sold more than a million copies.[5] Various "hit songs" sold as many as two or three million copies in print.[11][17] With the advent of the radio broadcasting, sheet music sales of popular songs decreased and print figures failed to make a significant recovery after the World War II (1940s).[11] Exact figures are lacking, but in the next decade, in the 1950s, sheet music sales averaged 300,000 annually.[18] By 1966, the United States House Committee on the Judiciary informed 100,000 copies of a title were "rares".[19] "(How Much Is) That Doggie in the Window?" (1953) is believed to be the last song to sell one million of sheet music,[20] from that era. American musicologist Barry Kernfeld, said that in the 1950s, "a million-selling sheet-music title was entirely a thing of the past".[9]

From the album era, "Stairway to Heaven" (1971) by Led Zeppelin is the biggest selling piece of sheet music in rock history, with over one million copies sold, selling 15,000 units per year at some point.[21] In the digital era, "My Immortal" became an early example of sizable sheet music downloads, becoming the all-time best-selling sheet music download at Musicnotes, with over 8,350 copies, outpacing "A Thousand Miles"'s 7,137 sales by 2004.[22] Occasionally, Billboard reported the best-selling folios and singles sheet yearly,[23] or by music publishing companies.[24][25]

Selected million-sellers print titles[edit]

Over 5 million
Year Composer / Lyricist Title Notable recording artist(s) Claimed sales
(in million)[c] 		Notes
1937 Harry Owens "Sweet Leilani" Bing Crosby 54[26]
1851 Stephen Foster "Old Folks at Home" 20[27] Reputed sales from 1851 to 1977.
1855 Septimus Winner
Richard Milburn 		"Listen to the Mocking Bird" 20[28]
1891 Charles K. Harris "After the Ball" Bing Crosby; various 10[5][12] Sales as of 1903.
1896 John Philip Sousa "The Stars and Stripes Forever" 10[29]
1901 Carrie Jacobs-Bond "I Love You Truly" 8[30]
1905 Beth Slater Whitson "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree" 8[31]
1910 Carrie Jacobs-Bond "A Perfect Day" 8[30]
1949 Johnny Marks "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" Gene Autry 8–7[32][33]
1910 Leo Friedman
Beth Slater Whitson 		"Let Me Call You Sweetheart" Bing Crosby; various 6[34]
1912 Tell Taylor "Down by the Old Mill Stream" Bing Crosby; various 6[34]
1942 Irving Berlin "White Christmas" Bing Crosby 6–5[35][36] 3 million (4–5 years sales[37])
1912 Jack Judge
Harry Williams 		"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" Various 6[38]
3–4.9 million
Year Composer / Lyricist Title Notable recording artist(s) Claimed sales
(in million)[c] 		Notes
1902 Paul Lincke
Heinz Bolten-Backers 		"The Glow-Worm" 4[39] Sales in Europe and the United States.
1917 Billy Baskette
Benny Davis 		"Good Bye Broadway, Hello France" Bing Crosby 4[40]
1914 James Royce Shannon
Lee Edgar Settle 		"Missouri Waltz" Various 3.5[41]
1918 Richard A. Whiting
Raymond B. Egan 		"Till We Meet Again" Various 3.5[42]
1871 William Shakespeare "Mollie Darling" 3[43]
1907 Gus Edwards
Will D. Cobb 		"School Days" 3[44]
1914 Harry Carroll
Harold R. Atteridge 		"By the Beautiful Sea" American Quartet 3[45]
1917 Lee S. Roberts
J. Will Callahan 		"Smiles" 3[46]
1917 George W. Meyer
Edgar Leslie
E. Ray Goetz 		"For Me and My Gal" 3[1]
1919 Worton David
Lawrence Wright 		"That Old-Fashioned Mother of Mine" 3[47]
1920 Lawrence Wright "Wyoming Lullaby" 3[48]

Best-selling individuals[edit]

Century Composer(s) Sales
(in million) 		Notes
20th Jay Livingston-Ray Evans 46[49] With eighteen songs
19th William Shakespeare Hays 25[50] Credited to 350 songs.
19th Carrie Jacobs-Bond 20[51] Credited to 200 songs.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ According to an author, it is "the first million seller to be conceived as a million seller, and marketed as a million seller.[14]
  2. ^ According to Howard Fishman, "Maple Leaf Rag" is often apocryphally cited as "the first song to sell a million copies".[16]
  3. ^ a b Based on estimated sales. Sources don't specify whether the sales are global or from a specific country.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Tyler, Don (2016). Music of the First World War. ABC-CLIO. p. 74. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  2. ^ Steyn, Mark (2014). The Undocumented Mark Steyn. Simon and Schuster. p. 236. Retrieved January 4, 2023.
  3. ^ a b c Furia, Philip (2016). The American Song Book: The Tin Pan Alley Era. Oxford University Press. p. 7. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  4. ^ Facts on File (2010). Careers in Focus. Infobase Publishing. p. 185. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d Axford, Elizabeth C. (2004). Song Sheets to Software: A Guide to Print Music, Software, and Web Sites for Musicians. Scarecrow Press. pp. 13, 29. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  6. ^ Tyler, Don (2016). Music of the First World War. ABC-CLIO. p. 4. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  7. ^ Hart, James David (1950). The Popular Book. University of California Press. p. 117. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  8. ^ Hardy, Phil (2014). Nickels & Dimes: Music Publishing & It's Administration in the Modern Age. Omnibus Press. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Kernfeld, Barry (2011). Pop Song Piracy: Disobedient Music Distribution Since 1929. University of Chicago Press. p. 78. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  10. ^ Orodenker, Maurie (June 6, 1970). "Computerized Sheet Music Library Will Bow in Phila". Billboard. Vol. 82, no. 23. p. 10. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c Hull, Geoffrey P. (2004). The Recording Industry. Psychology Press. p. 70. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  12. ^ a b Baskerville, David (2006). Music Business Handbook and Career Guide. SAGE Publications. p. 9. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  13. ^ Cryer, Max (2008). Love Me Tender: The Stories Behind the World's Favourite Songs. Exisle Publishing. p. 142. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  14. ^ Julien, Olivier (2018). Sgt. Pepper and the Beatles. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  15. ^ Plastino, Goffredo; Sciorra, Joseph (2016). Neapolitan Postcards: The Canzone Napoletana as Transnational Subject. Scarecrow Press. p. 2. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  16. ^ Fishman, Howard (2023). To Anyone Who Ever Asks. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 6. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  17. ^ Kohn (2019). Kohn on Music Licensing, 5th Edition (Plan IL). Wolters Kluwer. pp. 6–7. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  18. ^ Coleman, Ray (1996). McCartney: Yesterday-- and Today. Dove Books. p. 163. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  19. ^ United States House Committee on the Judiciary (1966). Copyright Law Revision: Hearings Before Subcommittee. United States Government Publishing Office. p. 278. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  20. ^ Humphries, Patrick (2012). Lonnie Donegan and the Birth of British Rock & Roll. Biteback Publishing. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  21. ^ "Led Zeppelin". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. July 12, 2000. Archived from the original on May 26, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  22. ^ Bessman, Jim (June 12, 2004). "Evanescence's Immortality". Billboard. Vol. 116, no. 24. p. 36. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  23. ^ "Best-Selling Folios, Single Sheets of 2000". Billboard. Vol. 112, no. 53. December 30, 2000. p. 53. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  24. ^ Lichtman, Irv (February 17, 1996). "Print on Print". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 7. p. 50. Retrieved November 10, 2022.
  25. ^ Lichtman, Irv (April 17, 1999). "Print on Print". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 16. p. 56. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
  26. ^ "Timeline: Hawaiian Entertainment Milestones". Billboard. Vol. 106, no. 18. April 30, 1994. p. 58. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  27. ^ Ewen, David (1977). All the Years of American Popular Music. Prentice Hall. p. 45. Retrieved April 8, 2023.
  28. ^ Bomberger, E. Douglas (1999). Brainard's Biographies of American Musicians. ABC-CLIO. p. 292. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  29. ^ "John Philip Sousa". Boys' Life. Vol. 6, no. 7. July 1966. p. 53. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  30. ^ a b Dotterer, Ronald L.; Bowers, Susan (1992). Politics, Gender, and the Arts: Women, the Arts, and Society. Susquehanna University Press. p. 199. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  31. ^ Batchelor, Bob (2002). The 1900s. Greenwood Press. p. 179. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  32. ^ Hardy, Phil; Laing, Dave (1995). The Da Capo Companion To 20th-century Popular Music. Da Capo Press. p. 616. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  33. ^ Jasen, David A. (2004). Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song. Taylor & Francis. p. 208. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  34. ^ a b Averill, Gage (2003). Four Parts, No Waiting. Oxford University Press. p. 74. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  35. ^ Johnson, Derric (2005). The Wonder of Christmas. Honor Books. p. 26. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  36. ^ "'White Christmas' Still a Winner". Billboard. Vol. 78, no. 48. November 26, 1966. p. 8. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  37. ^ Young, William H.; Young, Nancy K. (2010). World War II and the Postwar Years in America. ABC-CLIO. p. 775. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  38. ^ Smith, Kathleen E.R. (2021). God Bless America: Tin Pan Alley Goes to War. University Press of Kentucky. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  39. ^ Tyler, Don (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era. McFarland & Company. p. 40. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  40. ^ Tyler, Don (2007). Hit Songs, 1900-1955: American Popular Music of the Pre-Rock Era. McFarland & Company. p. 91. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  41. ^ Kohn (2019). Kohn on Music Licensing, 5th Edition (Plan IL). Wolters Kluwer. p. 14. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  42. ^ Dickinson, Kay (2003). Movie Music, the Film Reader. Psychology Press. p. 69. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  43. ^ Kleber, John E. (2014). The Kentucky Encyclopedia. University Press of Kentucky. p. 419. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  44. ^ Frank, Morgan Day (2023). Schools of Fiction. Oxford University Press. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  45. ^ Jasen, David A. (2004). Tin Pan Alley: An Encyclopedia of the Golden Age of American Song. Routledge. p. 194. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  46. ^ Jasen, David A. (2013). A Century of American Popular Music. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  47. ^ Nott, James J. (2002). Music for the People: Popular Music and Dance in Interwar Britain. Oxford University Press. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  48. ^ Napier-Bell, Simon (2014). Ta-Ra-Ra-Boom-De-Ay. Unbound. Retrieved September 10, 2023.
  49. ^ Weber, Bruce (December 21, 1968). "Livingston & Evans Leave Coast Clear for 'Mods', B' way Bound". Billboard. p. 68. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  50. ^ McFarland, Ron (2010). The Long Life of Evangeline. McFarland & Company. p. 161. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  51. ^ Wasser, Fred (August 29, 2009). "Remembering Composer Carrie Jacobs-Bond". NPR. Retrieved September 10, 2023.

Further reading[edit]

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