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Hello Chart fans!

Good day to you all- well here’s a big spring countdown to keep you all entertained! Yes in an attempt to answer that age old question of just who the biggest popstars on the planet are we’re taking a look back over the past 35 years to bring you the Top 200 biggest popstars since 1980.

So how does this work?

Well there are two parts to the calculation which gives the list its form, the first part is easy enough and the second part attempts to take into consideration the change in market sizes over the various years.

Part one- all the acts who have sold a combined total of 1.5 million albums and singles in a calendar year combined were totted up. Naturally there are some acts who have achieved this in multiple years these will be dealt with as below.

Part two- In order to level the playing field and to show that to sell a million singles in say 2003 was a greater achievement than selling a million in 2011 given the comparative market size the following formula was taken into account:

Total single sales in the year by an act divided by total singles sold in that year= X
Total Album sales in that year by an act divided by total albums sold in that year=Y

Then add x & y together and get an overall percentage of all singles/albums sold by an act in a year. This percentage forms the basis of the list.

Multiple Years

When an act does this multiple years and the above formula is applied it is possible that though they may “sell” more in one year, their market percentage will be bigger in another, and indeed in 14 instances on this list this is exactly what happens, I’ll try to make this very clear as we’re going along.

In short then this is a list reflective of firstly market dominance then sales which will hopefully make it a bit more interesting I will however note in brackets their position on a "sales" only basis.

Any questions then just let me know I know it isn’t the easiest thread I’ve ever done and it took months to compile. I’ll do a sample post to illustrate how it will look using the lovely Cher Lloyd (and why not) as I’m afraid she hasn’t made it (spoiler). The figures incidentally are made up and for illustration only.

The return of the Gezza countdown, yessss. :wub:

 

Majorly hyped for Oasis, Gaga and Spice Girls alone.

SAMPLE POST

 

200. (176) CHER LLOYD (2,364,000) 2011 (BEST SELLING ACT OF 2011) 1.4594

 

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Admin/BkFill/Default_image_group/2011/11/2/1320244217080/cher-lloyd-pop-singer-007.jpg

 

Position on this rundown>position on a sales only rundown>artist name>biggest sales total>year they sold the greatest percentage (not necessarily the same as biggest sales year- see below)>This will appear if they were the biggest selling act of a year>percentage of all singles/albums sold by them in this year

 

BEST SELLING YEAR: 2009

 

The above will show on 14 entries which will indicate that the pure sales tally given will be for this year (2009) and not the year given on the first line as they “sold” more in 2009 but their percentage of all sales was higher in 2011.

 

[bLURB]

 

ALSO BIG IN: 2010

This will indicate any other years when they sold over 1.5 million combined but is neither their best year for sales or for % of the market.

 

Part two- In order to level the playing field and to show that to sell a million singles in say 2003 was a greater achievement than selling a million in 2011 given the comparative market size the following formula was taken into account:

 

Total single sales in the year by an act divided by total singles sold in that year= X

Total Album sales in that year by an act divided by total albums sold in that year=Y

 

Then add x & y together and get an overall percentage of all singles/albums sold by an act in a year. This percentage forms the basis of the list.

*Finds pedant's hat in Buzzjack cupboard*

 

No it doesn't. It is a perfectly legitimate (ingenious even) way of compiling this list. However, you cannot add two percentages to get "an overall percentage". Neither can you divide this total by two to achieve an "overall percentage".

 

*Returns hat to cupboard for Bre's future use*

As usual I will be holding out for entries by Les Maniques, L'Erazure and Les Petit Shop Boys.

 

 

Now that I've read the stuff at the top about having to sell 1.5 million units in a year I feel that this chart will be overrun by flashes in pans and not by longevitudinous acts.

Edited April 26, 201510 yr by AntoineTTe

As usual I will be holding out for entries by Les Maniques, L'Erazure and Les Petit Shop Boys.

Now that I've read the stuff at the top about having to sell 1.5 million units in a year I feel that this chart will be overrun by flashes in pans and not by longevitudinous acts.

I can tell you that not all your wishes have been granted! :(

I can tell you that not all your wishes have been granted! :(

 

 

I'd be very surprised if any of those three sold the 1.5 million in a calender year to qualify - not even PSB in 1987.

Edited April 26, 201510 yr by AntoineTTe

Looking forward to this :heart:

Hoping Taylor swift and Lana del Rey can make it onto this

hopefully Rihanna, David Guetta and Calvin Harris are very high up and I also think Avicii will make an appearance slightly lower down mostly thanks to those massive Wake Me Up sales!

First two tonight as they're related- kinda....

200. (176) ROBIN THICKE (1,616,000) 2013 0.8936

 

http://panicdots.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/robin-thicke-blurred-lines.jpg

 

Thicke was first in the top 10 way back in 1999 as a co-writer on Jordan Knight’s “Give It To You” but prior to 2013 his only appearance on the UK charts had been with 2007’s “Lost Without You” which just missed the top 10. Little indication then in 2013 he would hit it BIG with the lyrically questionable “Blurred Lines” which spent 12 weeks at No 1 in the US and topped the charts here for 5 weeks and taking just 50 days to sell a million and over 1.4 million by year end, though of course after that law suit decision he might be a bit lighter in the pocket.

 

199. (170) T.I (1,632,000) 2013 0.9080

 

http://skeudsleblog.20minutes-blogs.fr/files/Janvier2013/ti-3-skeuds.jpg

 

And here’s his partner in crime. OK so fair enough he’s only here thanks to “Blurred Lines” but at the end of 2013 he’s outstripped Robin Thicke thanks to scoring another top 10 hit with Iggy Azalea on top of that mega seller. His chart career dates back to 2005 and a guest rap on Destiny’s Child “Soldier” though his biggest hit prior to 2013 was 2008’s “Live Your Life” with Rihanna, wonder where she’ll end up?

 

Interesting - I'd have thought that Robin Thicke's other 2013 hit (Give It 2 U) would have sold more than Change Your Life.

 

Looking forward to the rest of the list!

This thread is super interesting, thanks in advance Gezza!

Really looking forward to seeing how this list turns out.

 

I have one question out of curiosity, does Shakira feature at all? I know she had a good 2006 and 2002, but not sure if she ever sifted 1.5 million units of singles/albums within one year (assuming I have understood the concept correctly). Not asking where she is, just if she is present.

 

Excited to see where Leona lands after her huge success in 2007 and 2008.

Really looking forward to seeing how this list turns out.

 

I have one question out of curiosity, does Shakira feature at all? I know she had a good 2006 and 2002, but not sure if she ever sifted 1.5 million units of singles/albums within one year (assuming I have understood the concept correctly). Not asking where she is, just if she is present.

 

Excited to see where Leona lands after her huge success in 2007 and 2008.

 

Afraid not- she did 1.4 million in 2002 but that's as good as she got :(

198. (173) MOBY (1,627,000) 2000 0.9560

 

http://www.mtv.com/onair/vma/2005/flipbooks/fashion_flipbook/moby_getty.jpg

 

Who would have thought that a dance hit sampling the theme from “Twin Peaks” in 1991 would be a precursor to the success of Moby in 2000. Yes, all the way back in 91 he made No 10 with “Go” which remained his only top 20 hit for 6 years after until a remix of the James Bond Theme went top 10 in late 97, his first album after this “Play” got off to a fairly lukewarm start peaking at No 33 and selling just 58,000 copies by the end of 1999. By the end of 2000 he had sold a million more of the album through cleverly licensing every track on his album for a commercial somewhere in the world and releasing 6 tracks as singles.

 

197 (196) KAISER CHIEFS (1,532,000) 2005 0.9814

 

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/arts/2005/09/22/GetDaveHogan_kaisers3.jpg

 

With the album “Employment” shifting 1.3 million in just 10 months it proved the perfect launch pad for Ricky Wilson and the boys. It’s home to four top 11 hits all of which added 200,000 to their 2005 total, not bad given the state of the market at the time, and though they went off the boil, a stint as a judge on “The Voice” reminded the public of their existence and saw them score another No 1 in 2014.

 

196 (187) GOTYE (1,572,000) 2012 0.9933

 

http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/wp-content/uploads/vgotye.jpg

 

Talking of briefly popular acts Gotye remain a one hit wonder in this country, but when that song sells 1.5 million in 12 months you can perhaps forgive that fact. Wouter Andre "Wally" De Backer to give him his proper name had been making music for 11 years before international fame came, the track that broke him “Somebody That I Used To Know” topped his native Australian charts in 2011 and was making significant waves in the US when it hit the top here for 5 weeks becoming the biggest selling single of the year!

 

I'm still trying to figure it all out but it's been a great read so far!

 

If T.I. gets to feature separately from Robin Thicke, I assume Kimbra should feature separately from Gotye. Does this mean she fell just short of the top 200 (with essentially the same total as Gotye minus his album sales)?