I presume that considering this is a pure sales only list that nobody is likely to ever get another album into this top 30?

Even Adele's 30 surely isn't going to have 2m+ pure sales in today's streaming climate is it?

It will certainly be the test. This is probably going to be as big as we're ever going to see again.

This list is pure sales only whereas BPI certifications include streaming equivalent sales.

I’m surprised Kylie’s first album isn’t included. Glad to see Emeli Sande, Madonna and Celine Dion!

Spirit really was a huge album for Leona Lewis wasn't it.

 

Not being from the UK is that mainly due to Bleeding Love being so huge?

9. Lady Gaga - The Fame (2009)

The album that brought pop back to the scene :clap:

Using pure sales is a nonsense these days, it favours artists from a certain era, and thats reflected in the included albums.

 

Too old and the population wasn't big enough or sales weren't tracked properly, too recent and someone who listens to your album once is now a fraction of sale rather than a full sale.

too recent and someone who listens to your album once is now a fraction of sale rather than a full sale.

And what's the point in thinking that listening to an album just once (and that if you didn't listen to the album induced or randomly) should translate into a sale? :unsure:

And what's the point in thinking that listening to an album just once (and that if you didn't listen to the album induced or randomly) should translate into a sale? :unsure:

 

It shouldn't, but by changing that it makes the comparison unfair with historic records so you end up with nonsense lists like the OP.

 

 

Edited October 21, 20213 yr by chartfridays

I could be wrong, but I have a theory that the list considers sales from 1994 onwards (when the current chart compilers took over) and the few pre-1994 albums that are included are there because they've estimated their sales for when they've published all-time lists. 'Whitney' must have been the last female album before the cut-off point.

 

In fact, the BPI updated a lot of certifications for big selling albums in February 2016, with 'Whitney' being the lowest of them with a 7x Platinum certification for sales of 2.1m+. 'True Blue' by Madonna is on 2m sales so below 'Whitney' and released before 1994 therefore not included on this list.

 

In short, I think the criteria for this list is albums released post-1994 or, for pre-1994 albums, have a certification of 7x Platinum or higher.

It shouldn't, but by changing that it makes the comparison unfair with historic records so you end up with nonsense lists like the OP.

It's a list of best selling albums, not the most consumed albums, stream is not a sale and never will be.

I don’t think including streaming would mean that newer albums were included on the list anyway. When was the last time a female artist did 2million sales even with streaming included?

Edited October 21, 20213 yr by iain

It feels odd that True Blue isn't on this list; and I have so little faith in BPI's calculations, recalculations, recalibration of rules and so on......

I don’t think including streaming would mean that newer albums were included on the list anyway. When was the last time a female artist did 2million sales even with streaming included?

Yep, the last 2 female albums to sell 2M in the UK were Adele's 25 and Emeli Sande's album, and the last two female albums by international artists to hit the mark were Rihanna's Loud and Gaga's The Fame. Adele's new album will be the last female album to reach that mark from now on.

KYLIE is certified Platinum x 6 so at least 1.8 million

which seems to be the cut-off from the list as Pink, Avril and Ray of Light are all on 1.8 million

 

That album has sold 2,120,000 as of October last year, but I suppose it stands to reason if they're only considering sales from 1994 onwards.

Actually I'm surprised that Ray of Light is on there and not True Blue, I always thought that was Madonna's biggest selling studio album

 

 

It is. 2.1 million in the UK alone. A mistake there I think.