The 50 biggest singles artists in the digital era | mcarchives.com

Thursday 21 June 2018

The 50 biggest singles artists in the digital era

At the beginning of this year, Cardi B made chart history by becoming the first woman to have five singles in the Top 10 of Billboard's R&B chart, surpassing Beyoncé's record. The Bronx rapper has since had a string of hits, including a feature on a Maroon 5 track.

But Cardi still has a long way to go if she wants to join the all-time big hitters on the digital sales chart. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has tracked the artists who have sold the most digital singles since sales began.

The number one artist has shifted an impressive 124 million singles, far surpassing the person in second place. Contrary to the list of top album sales, which heavily features men, the list is dominated by young women, who have harnessed the power of the internet.

Rap also does far better in this digital singles list (which includes downloads and streaming equivalents) - Kendrick Lamar, Kanye West and Drake all rank highly.

A few older artists have also done well in digital sales. Elvis Presley comes in at 10th place, despite having died long before the world wide web was even in existence. It seems his musical themes of heartbreak and loss have never grown old.

Country music hasn't been quite so successful in crossing over into digital. Aside from Taylor Swift, who is more of a straightforwardly mainstream pop star these days, country doesn't make an appearance until Luke Bryan in 13th.

It remains to be seen if Cardi's meteoric rise will push her up the ranks of the best-selling digital artists - but on a list which favors the young, women and hip-hop artists, it looks like she might have a very good chance indeed.

01. Rihanna: 124 million units
02. Taylor Swift: 108.5 million units
03. Eminem: 107.5 million units
04. Katy Perry: 98 million units
05. Justin Bieber: 68.5 million units
06. Drake: 68 million units
07. Kanye West: 62 million units
08. Lady Gaga: 61 million units
09. Bruno Mars: 53.5 million units
10. Elvis Presley: 50.5 million units
41. Mariah Carey: 23 million units

Mariah Carey
Gold: 24
Platinum: 12
Multi-Platinum: 4

Top singles
1. We Belong Together (3 million)
2. Fantasy (2 million)
3. Beautiful (2 million)
4. One Sweet Day (2 million)

(Newsweek)



COMMENTS
Matty from Vancouver Canada wrote:
This is a great cross section of Mimi's 28 year career. I've heard some say they feel like "One Sweet Day" doesn't hold up in 2018... apparently it still does.
(Friday 22 June 2018; 16:07)

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