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Who were the most successful artists of each decade? |
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| 1900s | 1910s | 1920s | 1930s | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s |
Any analysis that attempts to compare one year with another has to take into account the different levels of charts for different eras. When examining the greatest song act, greatest songs and greatest album raw scores were adjusted to allow entries from the 1920s to be compared with those from the 1990s. This wide range of source dates meant that we could not combine information from the song and album charts.
When looking at the artists with most chart success in each decade this restriction can be relaxed. In this list we have combined song and album success, but only compared entries across a single decade. The album scores have been given twice the weight of the songs (for the decades where albums were being sold). Here we list the world's top 5 artists of each decade, a more extensive list can be seen on the individual decade pages.
This approach to calculate success has been selected because it is a relatively objective measure that can be used to compare and contrast acts from the 1930s and the 1990s. It ignores measures that can't be verified (like claimed sales and revenues), ones that vary systematically from one decade to the next (like tour sizes and movie/ pop video audiences), or measures that are impossible to obtain (like amount of media reporting). If your favourite artists are not as high up the list as their own publicity would suggest we see that is a problem with their hype, not with our measure.
We'd be interested to hear about any alternate measure of success that is both objective and applicable across the decades, especially if you've actually gathered any data and made it available anywhere. We'd also be interested if you can suggest ways that our measure could be improved, or ways that it systematically misrepresents particular acts. We're completely uninterested in hearing why your favourite act should be listed higher, once the rules are set the results are automatic, no-one gets to adjust them.
As with all the complex calculations described on the site you can decide to try a different approach, the available CSV File gives you all the data you need. If your analysis shows something interesting tell us about it.
Previous Comments (newest first)
28 Apr 2012
Divas
If I may add this, First Madonna is one of the most arrogant female artist... Not even MJ liked her, She think shes the best in everything, only what she can do is going naked in some magazines... <boring rant trimmed> You say only succes in the USA? You know how many people live in the USA? around the 350 million, thats almost whole Europe, Madonna is just a whore...
The population of Europe is more than 500 million. The population of the USA was estimated as 312 million in 2011. So success in Europe is just as important as success in the US.
24 Apr 2012
I am not surprsed Mariah Carey is the Most successful artist of the 90's. She sold loads and has had major success. Considering Madonna has been around a lot longer than Mariah, Mariah has made pretty amazing accomplishments and she has been a huge influence on many stars today, such as: Beyonce, Alexandra Burke, Christina Aguilera, Melanie Amaro, Leona Lewis, Kelly Rowland, Michael Buble, Justin Bieber, R Kelly, Usher. Michael Jackson has also expressed his absolute desire for Mariah Carey as have Whitney Houston, Simon Cowell,Cheryl Cole and more. She is considerd as one of the best voices on the planet.
23 Apr 2012
music question (that may not appear in the above)
I'm trying to get an answer to two questions. The first question is... whose (singer-artist-performer) first twelve albums all contained at least one top-10 hit on hot-100?
The second question is....what rapper with at least one top-40 hit on Billboard Hot 100 is named after a real drug kingpin who spent over 10yrs. in jail?
could you provide some assistance with these two...?thanks+
The obvious candidate for the first would be Elvis (or The Beatles)
We list chart hits, we have little interest in, or knowledge of, rapper's names.
14 Apr 2012
jimm382@googlemail.com
If you can't find any sources for Guinness world records why don't you buy the books on amazon so you can't get this chart sorted and I don't like mj or any of his music but even I know that bad was the second best selling album of the 80s and also why isn't adele in the chart she had massive success worldwide.
This website is dedicated to worldwide statistics. "Bad" may have been the second highest selling album of the 1980s in the UK (behind "Brothers in Arms" we would suspect) but it certainly wasn't the second in world sales (if RIAA is to be believed).
If someone claims that Thriller was the best selling album (which it was in the world, but not in the UK), they can't also claim that "Bad" was second (which it was in the UK but not in the world)
Adele's albums are too recent for the statistics to have settled down yet. The way we gather and analyse data delivers good results after about four years, so you shouldn't really trust our listings from years later than 2007 (as it explains at the top of those pages)
All data gathering techniques suffer from similar restrictions, we're just a bit more up front about explaining under which circumstances you can't trust our results.
3 Apr 2012
u2
Hi, I was wondering why U2 are #3 on the 80s chart. I like the band and all, but their hits only started coming around 1984-1985, halfway into the decade and before then they only had New Year's Day at #10 in 1983.
Since this chart is based on chart success, how did U2 beat out so many other artists with only about a handful of Top 10s?
Thanks
As it mentions in the text this ordering is by total success (not just songs), the album success has been given three times the weight of single success, so the top artists here are those with both albums and singles in the charts.
If you want to discover who we rate most highly based only on singles success you can download the CSV file (from the versions page). A quick session in a spreadsheet program reveals that based solely on singles success (as listed in version 2.1.12) the top 5 artists of the 1980s were: 1: Madonna; 2: Michael Jackson; 3: Prince; 4: Phil Collins; 5: U2.
Of course that is using our selected approach, you might want to try a different criteria, that is exactly why we make the CSV data available. If you find anything interesting we'd like to hear about it.
1 Apr 2012
Really interesting list!
I wonder if there is a way to include concert revenue / merchandise revenue as a way to further measure success. U2, for example, generated a ton of money (and publicity) through touring--and even today, they are regularly in the top 5 tours worldwide whenever they go on the road. If we look at merchandizing, it might propel a band like KISS much higher in these charts--their brand has enables them to make money in substantially more ways than just album sales. +It would even be possible to look at the revenue generated by films and music videos--The Beatles had a series of hit movies that are not measured simply in album sales, for example, and The Band's Last Waltz concert film has been highly successful in terms of sales as well.
Great work all around, I'm taking a History of Rock and Roll class, and I found looking at this list to be highly educational!
We would be interested in such a listing, but can't think of any reliable way to gather the basic data.
18 Mar 2012
Styx
I'm just curious where Styx fits in, as they are not listed at all in the top 50 for 70's or 80's. I recall hearing "first group with three consecutive triple platinum albums" or some such.
That is a good question, There are two different reasons why they don't get placed in the top 50s for the 1970s or the 1980s. First of all their peak was from 1975 to 1984, so when we look at either 1970-1979 or 1980-1989 the hits they have are split across the boundary.
One option is to download the CSV file (from the versions page) and try some analysis, lets total up scores for 1975-1984, mutiplying album scores by 3 to account for their higher value. Then we can sort by the results and we find that Styx is artist number... 59 (just after Rush).
And that leads to the second reason why they don't make the decade list, they didn't have much success outside North America.
Personally I (Steve) think this is a surprise, I think they are one of the best groups of their period and would have guessed that they "should" be in the decade list... but on this site us administrators don't get to pick, we just have to list the results that come out. Of course, as we keep saying, the listing here shows success in the charts, not how good an artist is.
8 Mar 2012
shit list
This list and the criteria is flawed from the start. To be an artist of a decade you just need to release two albums per year score a hit or two here and there and you are on the top. If you want people stop attacking the table, you should change the title from "Most successful artist of the decade" to "Artist with the most shit released and charted"
No artist managed to release two high charting albums a year for the whole 1980s, if any had they would deserve to be ranked highest (and would be top of this ranking).
Your approach seems to be to adjust the ranking criteria to make sure that the artist you want to be top arrives in the number one position. We don't think that is a good metric (to put it mildly). Your closed mindset is the opposite of the approach we have taken, we believe in listing actual verified evidence of success, without any regard of our personal tastes.
When criticism is based on verifiable evidence, or constructively suggests improvements to our sources or metrics we pay attention. When the stupid tell us what results we should have got and pepper their posts with swearing and insults we don't. We don't want to release a listing that panders to ignorant idiots.
3 Mar 2012
Shouldn't buddy holly be one of the top 5 in the 50s
Where an artist "should" be is often different from where the actual numbers place them. Buddy Holly had a very short career.
We would agree that the number of actual hits he had does not reflect his impact (and in my personal opinion the quality of his music). But on this site we process the chart numbers, we don't let anyone "adjust" the results (even us).
26 Feb 2012
Prince
Hi, nice to see Prince as #1. He deserves it.
I got a question though. A lot of websites claim Prince sold 80 million records worldwide, while others claim Prince sold 100 million records worldwide. I personally think its the latter, because Prince has been around forever, but could you clarify it the best you can?
Really appreciate it. Thanks.
(P.S. I'm the same guy who wrote the My Version of 80s List and Oh OK :)
As you will have seen elsewhere we have a lack of faith in all claimed sales numbers. We would guess that both numbers are wrong.
25 Feb 2012
BAD WAS THE SECOND BIGGEST SELLING ALBUM
I saw where you guys told someone that MJ's album BAD wasn't the second biggest selling album. During the 80's decade, it was said that BAD was the second biggest selling album right behind Thriller. Now it's not the second biggest selling album of all time, but during the 80's it was the second biggest selling album.
"Bad" was 8xPlatinum in the US in 1994. Eagles album "Eagles' Greatest Hits 1971-1975" was 29xPlatinum for an album released in 1976. The albums "Four Symbols (Led Zeppelin 4)", "The Wall" and "Rumours" were all released in the 1970s and have considerably higher overall sales than "Bad".
If you had misread the original claim and you thought that "Bad" was the second highest selling album of the 1980s then look at AC/DC's "Back In Black" released in 1980, 22xPlatinum in the US. Also "Brothers In Arms" and "Billy Joel's Greatest Hits, Volume I & Volume II" both released before "Bad" and have much higher overall sales.
These numbers are consistent across the whole world (we just used the US figures because they are easy to validate)
So sorry but the claim that "Bad" was ever the worlds second highest selling album is just wrong.
25 Feb 2012
Michael Jackson
I'm really starting to hate these Prince fans who think MJ didn't do anything... (long dissertation on Michael Jackson's genius deleted)
The one comment from a Prince fan doesn't quite yet match the volume of input from Jackson fans
16 Feb 2012
Prince
I love alot of MJ's music but I am really starting to hate these "MJ fans" they are everywhere and if their man is not #1 on every list they have aneurysms!!! Prince owned the 80s!!! get over it! he was waaay more prolific! Could play tons of instruments!! obviously had more hits in the 80s so naturally that means he made better music and he ACTUALLY MADE better music (wrote, composed and arranged all his songs) and didnt need no quincy jones to do it! Prince truly performed live, unlike mj who lip synched and just danced like a Las Vegas performer or imitator!! Prince is more talented and a waaaaaaaaaaay better musician. he invented his own musical genre (minneapolis sound) MJ invented nothing all his moves were rip offs and his # 1 song (Billie Jean) was admittedly ripped from Hall and Oates hit song "I can't go for that"
I dont hate MJ but when comparing him to my all time favorite artist MJ is getting tossed under the bus!!
15 Feb 2012
United Kingdom
Wow Mariah Carey is the second biggest selling artist of the 90's in U.K behind only madonna!
Wow... Thats realy true... But Mariah +Rules the U.S and Japan/Asia during the 90's...
Very nice thread... I like it...
15 Feb 2012
Madonna
Madona Rules the music and world...
15 Feb 2012
WORLD MUSIC AWARD & BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARD
WORLD MUSIC AWARD - State Mariah Carey is the biggest selling music artist of the 1990's ...(long rant making various unsourced assertions removed)...
Your statistic is wronged biased favor to your favorite artist, this is 100% inaccurate and its clearly shows your ignorat in music industry, you dont know calculate!
You don't know who our favourite artists are, we might be "ignorat in music industry" (we don't know what that means) but we do "know calculate".
If you can't quote reliable sources, make reasoned (and reasonable) suggestions, and avoid personal attacks please go and participate in a forum that better matches your biases.
3 Feb 2012
Madonna
The Biggest Selling female artist of all time is Madonna - doubt any female artist is ever going to beat Madonna.
Mariah has about 200 million to go to beat Madonna
3 Feb 2012
me
I think you need to more clearly articulate the name of the list ... As far as I understand it is based solely on the success in the charts and only in the United Kingdom, because if you take into account all the factors: the success of the charts, album sales, the impact and popularity, it is it is clear that Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd should be on the list
Robbie Williams Number 2 in the world in the 00's ..... you're kidding? He does not interest anyone outside of UK
Sorry, but you do not know anything about music.
The lists are indeed based solely on success in the charts, but not in the UK. As you would have seen if you had bothered to look at the FAQ page that answers "Why are there so many/ so few USA based charts?" the UK provides about 20% of the source data.
The page about the 2000s says quite clearly "the results presented here should be treated with some caution, there are other sites that focus on the more recent information, their data is probably better".
However your suggestion that Robbie Williams did not have any success outside the UK is wrong. He had number ones in Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, Holland, Switzerland and Germany. Again if you had looked at the page you would have seen those entries.
3 Feb 2012
Tom
Wow/ You really hate MJ with passion
30 Jan 2012
Mimmi
I know that Madonna and Prince had more album released in the 80s but MJs 2 albums had monstersales, Thriller with 30 million and Bad became the second bestselling album of all time, both Madonna and Prince had great sales but none of their albums sold like MJs. MJ did became the artist of that decade because of his huge album sales so i dont know, yes Madonna and Prince had more hits but MJs songs spent more at the top, either way MJ already owned that decade so none of this matters really
The purpose of this site is to inject a more objective note into these types of discussion. For example while we don't place much faith in estimates of album sales your suggestion that "Bad" was, at any point, "the second best selling album of all time" is clearly wrong.
We understand that our asking fans (any fans) to restrict their web comments to provable sources is unlikely to have much impact. if you don't like our way of estimating overall success then don't use it.
26 Jan 2012
Marie
And please, Michael Jackson was the mos successful artist of the 80's, not Prince neither Madonna ! With just his 2 best selling albums released in the 80's ,Michael surpaseed Madonna and Prince in the 80's !Wake up,people !
...and "Candle in the Wind '97" sold more copies than any other single so Elton John was the most successful artist of the 1990s
26 Jan 2012
Marie
Mariah Carey was the most successful artist of the 1990's worldwide... ...The 1998 Guiness Book of World Record ...mentions clearly that Mariah Carey is the most successful artist of the 1990's.
We doubt that the Guiness Book of World Records said any such thing. Firstly we've seen that type of claim before (but usually for different artists). Where is a source we can check?
Secondly, any claim for "success in the 1990s" made in 1998 has to be at least a bit suspect
Finally it doesn't matter anyway, we claim here that by our metrics of success she wasn't, and your opinion doesn't alter that (and of course nor indeed does ours). Extra data, a reason for rejecting existing data, or a suggestion for how to tune the metrics might change the results. Unsourced opinions won't.
18 Jan 2012
Zeppelin & Floyd
I am somewhat surprised to find that Led Zeppelin wasn't on the 70's list. They were huge back then, along with Pink Floyd. 2 of the greatest and most well known bands of all time not even up there...
We think you have misread the list. Led Zeppelin is the 7th artist entry of the 1970s (Pink Floyd are number 8).
Of course you have to remember that Led Zeppelin decided to not release singles in the UK (which was almost 15% of the world's music market), and despite that still made number 7
15 Jan 2012
1990's
Mariah Carey followed by Janet was the best selling artist of the 1990's
...and of course that must be true because anonymous sources on the internet that don't mention where they obtained their data are never wrong
9 Dec 2011
Didn't achieve nothing
I'm not trying to start an argument I have another question. So MJ didn't achieve anything on both the U.S. and U.K. charts or is that he just had more success with the U.S. charts, then what he had with the U.K. charts.
9 Dec 2011
Artist of 1980's
I like MJ, but I'm not an obsessed fan. Guinness Book of World Records listed MJ as the Most Successful Entertainer of all time. You that they go by facts, so if he was listed as that why is he number 4 on you guys list.
We think you have misquoted, he is listed as the highest earner after his own death, but given inflation that is not too surprising. We can't find any reputable source that states Guinness have claimed he was the "Most Successful Entertainer" of all time.
11 Nov 2011
Oh OK
After I posted my comment up, "My Version of the List", I realized I sounded kind of stupid and misinformed. You're right. Although Michael Jackson was very popular and Thriller is the best-selling album of all time, Prince definitely had more albums, and together, their sales probably beat MJ's by some. Prince is very well as #1, and Madonna is undoubtedly #2.
Sorry guys. I understand your list now that I've opened my mind to statistics rather than global opinion. And your list didn't say, "Most Popular Artists of Each Decade". It said "Most Successful", so... big difference...
But I was wondering... how come Prince is #5 in the 1990s? Wasn't that his harder period when his music barely went gold? I was just wondering. One more thing. I saw a list of best-selling artists worldwide, and it listed Beatles as #1, Elvis as #2, and Michael Jackson at #3. MJ has sold about 700 million, and Prince 80 million. Of course, I could be wrong, so could you explain?
Thanks.
It is a pleasure to have users with such a constructive and open attitude.
If you look at Prince's page, at the "Artist Profile" picture in the top right, you will see that he continued to have some success every year in the 1990s. Contrast that with, for example, Michael Jackson's profile you will see that he tended to release albums every two or three years (rather than every year). Also Prince's solo career was fairly "focused" between 1980 and 1998 (or so), while Jackson's started earlier and finished later.
There are two things to say about comparison with "global sales" sites. Firstly as you mentioned our goal is to list success in charts round the world, not to estimate global sales. Otherwise we'd ignore acts from the 1930s whose careers were over by the time record sales started to become important. That is exactly why we list "Most Successful" rather than "Biggest Sellers", or "Most Popular", or even "Best".
The second thing is that we don't believe that anyone really knows how many records The Beatles, Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson really sold. If there were statistics that we found even close to believable we'd use them. That is exactly why we restrict ourselves to "Most Successful in the Charts". We have never found a "global sales" site that we find convincing (of course your milage may vary).
We would claim that the listing on this site should help inform discussion about music. If this listing suggests that, for example, your 1987 retro playlist should include Rick Astley its up to you to realise that you really dislike his music and cut out his songs. If someone is claiming that The Doors were the fifth most successful group of the 1960s we provide suggestions for 20 bigger groups. If someone claims that "Eternal Flame" was a bigger hit that "Poker Face" this site provides some evidence to help with that discussion.
There are some things we would happily claim, for example that The Beatles were clearly the overall most successful act of all time. That result seems to come out whatever reasonable measure we use. We'd also happily state, for example, that Roxette were not amoung the 50 most successful musical acts of all time but they were in the top 500. But we wouldn't want to be much more precise than that, their exact position depends too much on the particular scoring method.
We are always looking for ways to improve our listing, from discovereing new source charts, tuning the scoring approach or doing extra analysis. Anywhere that we can't defend our approach or results to honest questions should be reviewed and revised (that's exactly why the version 2.0 listing has such a radically different scoring). We always welcome input from those willing to have an open mind and look forward to any other questions or suggestions you can provide.
7 Nov 2011
Can anybody tell me who mariah carey is??
Hello! I'm from Rio da Janero, Brasil and I've got tired of reading of the "fight" between mariah carey(??) and madonna. Nobody here knows her, that's why I can't understand why the comparation. And Just for the record i'm not a madonna fan, I'm a huge fan of Michael Jackson and the beatles I was just wondering who the hell is that woman, is she from the states?
14 Oct 2011
why was led zeppelin not in 1970 list
Led Zeppelin are in the 1970s list, they were the 7th highest placed artists of the decade. They released no singles in the UK during the 1970s, that was enough to ensure they didn't make the global top 5.
27 Sep 2011
Marcus
This site really sent some fans into a frenzy, but facts are facts. For anyone who wants to find out the real figures and truths about chart/sales fact then visit The United World Chart, Billboard Top 50 Hot 100 Artist of all time and the Guinness Book Of World Records.
No, Michael Jackson is not more successful then Elvis, The king is still the King in the US and Charts all over the world. The Beatles are in a category by themselves, no band comes even close to their achievements. And as far as Female Singers, the ONLY name on top is Madonna.
Even Billboard placed Madonna ahead of Elvis in their Top 50 Artist of all time, she was second only to the Beatles. In the United World Chart, as far as number one/top 10 singles she's even ahead of the Beatles. Sorry for all the fans, but Celine, Mariah, Britney, Janet are not even mentioned in the top 10 world-wide sales artist of all time. The facts are the facts, so accept them!
27 Sep 2011
My Version of 80s List
At #1 would probably be Michael Jackson. You are absolutely correct in saying he has only 2 albums out in the decade, but maybe u are forgetting that they were HUGE. After Thriller, he was the biggest icon on earth, he made girls' hearts melt, he had the hottest music... In the 1984-1985 era he was so famous for his hospital and charity and acknowledged by Ronald Reagan himself. Everyone loved him and went crazy. In the 1986 period, he was number-one Mr. Talked-About when he got paler and had rumors. And, in the late 80s, Bad was about one of the biggest decade hits, with 5 NUMBER ONE HITS, and a great new fashion. He was indisputably the biggest star of the 80s, anyone u ask will tell you. And if he was only #4, then how come the ENTIRE FRIKKIN world, from children to adults, know and cherish his name???? "Billie Jean","Thriller", "Beat It", "Bad", "Dirty Diana", "Smooth Criminal", and "Man in the Mirror" are legendary!
Prince, in my opinion, was amazing too. He was the biggest, hottest bad boy for most of the mid-80s, and really had some sparkling hits on the charts. His hair was amazing, and his driven lyrics amazed and caused controversy. "Little Red Corvette", "Let's Go Crazy", "When Doves Cry", "Raspberry Beret", "Kiss", and "Batdance" were his biggest hits in the decade, and he made girls go nuts with his revolutionary music. I really love Prince. But... on a scale of Most Popular 80s Artists, Prince would definitely rank #2 after Michael Jackson. Yeah, he had a lot of music, but hell, only the adult population have fond memories of him. And though he had about 11 #1 hits worldwide, he only had 5 in the U.S. Michael Jackson had #13 worldwide. And I think Prince's symbol-era really hurt his starpower bad.
Madonna would definitely be #2 or #3, somewhere with Prince and Jackson. She was the biggest, most beautiful woman in the 80s teenage boys had posters and girls were so inspired! she had great music and she totally was the Queen. Her many hits are still, to this day, not forgotten. If anyone were to be higher than Michael Jackson, it would be Madonna.
And where the hell is George Michael on this chart??? he was huge too for his voice and looks in the mid-to-late 80s! He was so famous!
And, concluding this, Michael Jackson had the most starpower, is recognized by the Guiness World Record Book as the Most Successful Performer Ever, and has sold copies so high that only Elvis and the Beatles shunted him to #3.
He deserves to be #1, Madonna #2, and Prince #3. ...and somehow u2 is higher than michael jackson...
A well reasoned description of your personal picks. Of course our listing only relies on chart success, not notoriety nor "fame". We don't place acts by where they "deserve to be" but by their actual success in the charts. On this site no-one gets to vote, not even us administrators.
You claim that Michael Jackson was "indisputably the biggest star of the 80s", that is clearly not correct, there are people who disagree with your opinion. Given that U2 had 8 albums that were international hits in the 1980s, and during the same period Michael Jackson had 2, there are at least grounds for discussion.
George Michael's ranking (at 48th) suffers from two facts, first many of his hits are credited to Wham! (at 34th), secondly the fact that his first success was in 1984, almost half way through the decade. If a listing of success for 1985-1995 were calculated he would, no doubt, be much higher.
If you want to try doing that analysis the CSV file (on the "Versions" page) contains all the information you would need.
21 Sep 2011
Phil Collins
Surprised no one mentioned Phil Collins on here as one of the most successful of the 1980s. I am a little shocked he doesn't land in the Top 5. Where does he land according to your data? He had 7 number one singles in the 80s (the same amount as Madonna and 3 more than Prince), and sold 24 million certified albums in the US. Where does he stand then? And just curious, but if you factored in his work with Genesis would he place as number 1? Becuase I believe the 2 combined would give him the most top 40 hits of the decade.
If you look at the list on the 1980s page you will see that using our metric we calculate he was the 7th artist of that decade.
Of course our calculations don't include his participation in Genesis
2 Sep 2011
Well Done
Ha Ha, I bet you feel like a stuck record don't you, trying to get it into peoples heads that this list is based on FACTS OF SALES and not fans fantisies. Brilliant list, thank you. I too was suprised by some of the results... But I don't dispute them. A fact is a fact whether people wish to believe it or not !!!! Unfortunately, MJ fans seem to "twist" the facts slightly to suit themselves. He was big (huge infact) for 2 out of 10 years in the 80's ..... Get over it.
27 Aug 2011
Great but wish I saw Cher+
The list is great I guess it depends on the definition of successful. Would have liked to have seen Cher. Obviously when people think of 60s they think of Beatles and when the think 80s they think Michael Jackson. But the 90s make me think Cher.
As you say it depends on the definition of success. By our calculation Cher was the 33rd highest rated artist of the 1990s
Our calculations suggest Madonna, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion were more significant. And personally I'd have picked one of those three before Cher, but obviously that's not your experience. It would be a boring world if we all agreed
20 Aug 2011
mc
no, mariah has been named the most successful and biggest selling female artist in the 90s!, she has sold 120 million albums, and over 20 million singles in the 90s alone, selling 40 million more albums and 10 million singles than madonna.
mariah is the biggest selling non asian artist in japan, selling 18 million albums there, twice as much as madonna.
"has been named", by who? We generally don't believe sales figures, especially when no source is given.
Mariah was most successful in the US, but Madonna outsold her in the rest of the world. In our opinion the balance of evidence is that Madonna had more global success in 1990s.
14 Aug 2011
nothing wrong with the list
I'm a fan of Michael Jackson but I do believe that he wasn't the biggest seller of the 80s, Madonna definetely sold more albums worldwide than Mariah Carey and Eminem was by far the most successful singer or rapper of the 00s
8 Aug 2011
Get over MJ
wow, people on here really need to stop obsessing over Michael Jackson. it has been two years since he died, and people are still angrily defending him whenever someone says he was not the best-selling artist or all-around greatest musical artist of all-time. I bet most of these assumed young defenders didn't even care about him before he died.
25 Jul 2011
Love it!!!
Amazing list. And the Beatles are my favorite band, so I'm glad to see it at the top of the 60's column. :)
14 Mar 2011
Whitney, Janet and Michael
Both these artists were huge in the 80s and most of the 90s, but I guest they didn't make the 80s list because they started out in the mid-80s.
Just curious where they ranked on the list of the 80s and 90s. Whitney probably ranked higher because she is more successful on the charts and in record sales.
PS I agree, Michael is probably the most successful artists of all time but he didn't top the 80s list because he only released 2 albums. In the years he did release an album, he was the top artists of that years. If he had released one album almost every year, then that would keep his momentum going pushing him to the top no doubt.
The rankings by our criteria are already shown here. You could try out various other comparisons using the spreadsheet of data that we provide on the versions page.
For example how about scatter plotting year v score for albums by those three artists from 1980 to 2005?
We'd be interested to see any results that provide insight
3 Mar 2011
The beatles
They are the most suuccessful artists of the 60s and i would say are the mostsuccessful artists ever. Yes jacko fans the beatles are more successful than you're boy toy
23 Feb 2011
some of the greatest rock bands like nirvana, guns and roses, bonjovi, ledzelpein, the who, black sabbath is not included in this list anywhere. also what about linkin park or metallica, it looks like this list is dominated by few particular forms of music like pop, rhythm and blues, funk. why didnt one of theses bands at least make it to the list?
This is a listing of the bands that were successful in the most charts, so it will be dominated by music that has a wide audience across many countries. As you say it is dominated by "pop".
Notice that the title of the page talks about "success" not about "quality". I'm sure we can all list artists that have been successful without ever being "good".
Speaking personally I would agree with many of the choices you list, however on this site personal opinion is ignored (even our own). We actually work quite hard to ensure that the only thing that counts is the source chart data and all personal bias is removed.
So don't use this for your personal playlists, although it might remind you of a few forgotten gems. However, if you're creating a playlist for lots of people (especially if they come from a wide variety of places) it might be a good place to start.
17 Feb 2011
Eminem
Pleased to see a rapper, especially Eminem, on this list, with such music legends :)
17 Feb 2011
wheres cher!
By our metrics she was the 33rd most successful artist of the 1990s. She just didn't have enough entries to make the top 5 in any decade.
30 Jan 2011
Ok ...yeah he only released two albulms always preffer qaulity over quanity and he had 8+ number one singles in the 80s plus did prince Madonna ect embark on a 125 million dollar world tour ?!!! NO therefore how the hell is prince more succesful than MJ ?!! I mean thriller was flying off the shelves same with bad and he was also in the victory tour so .... I don't know how you can come up with MJ being in 4th place that's just ridiculous !
13 Jan 2011
The Beatles
I think your assessment is fair and accurate. I find it amusing that MichaelJackson fans think the hype they read about him being the king of pop makes him the biggest selling artist of all time. It would appear that he has to sell a lot more records to catch up with Elvis and the Beatles. And based on the sales of his new album 'Michael' I do not think he will ever outsell the Beatles.
3 Dec 2010
WORNG
CELINE DION is the most successful artist of the 2000s
No, clearly she isn't.
24 Sep 2010
Madonna/Michael Jackson/Prince/U2/Mariah
It seems to me that people checking out this website expect to see a "Most Famous or Well Known Artist Countdown" instead of a statistically correct chart success countdowns, even if in your country people know more one artist, which makes you think he/she should be more successful than other artists don't forget there are almost 200 more countries in the world that may have a different favorite artist, which that doesn't matter anyways because what counts is how high the artists charted in all those countries.
Most of the time people don't even recognize the artist when he/she has a big hit in their country because they only listen to them on the radio, they may not have TV, even if they have TV is hard to recognize an artist more if they tremendously change their appearance, for example, Madonna tends to do so a lot. Also keep in mind that when an artist is able to have a hit in a country is because radio airplay, sales and currently digital downloads contribute in placing a single in the chart. So even though, there is no "Best Selling Singles/Albums of All Time" there are "Best Charting Singles/Albums of All Time" where you can indeed find the best charting singles and albums. Radio airplay, sales, digital downloads and also individual statistics that each country may use to contribute to a single/album placement in their popularity chart is what makes a single/album become a top 20, top ten, top 5 or a number 1.
Everyone who visits this website, please realize it is not "Sales Countdowns", "Popularity Countdowns" nor "Quantity of Awards Won by Artist Countdowns", it is "Singles and Albums Charting Success Countdowns" that are presented to you here. It is not this website's fault that Michael Jackson charted more poorly than other artists like Madonna, not only in the world, but even in the U.S.A. alone Madonna is more successful than Michael Jackson when it comes to chart success, although that doesn't take away the fact that Michael Jackson is in more tabloids, newspapers and articles because of his media invaded life.
For all of those non-believers for this website's credibility please check out The United World Chart website, which is a statistically correct (without public vote) world chart countdown website since the creation of their music charts, but they are still compiling all their charts to fill in the gaps, if you go to http://unitedworldchart.de/ you'll see what I'm talking about. If you do go to the United World Chart website make sure to click on the STATISTICS link, which you'll find in the left hand side under TRACKS, once you've clicked on STATISTICS make sure to click on ARTIST SECTION link so it'll list every single artist that has made it to the top ten in the United World Chart with a list of their respective songs that made it to the top ten or you can also go to this link http://www.mediatraffic.de/track-artists.htm to check that out as well.
If you are just looking for a statistically correct "Most Successful Artist of All Time Countdown", this website will offer it to you in three different approaches, which have been created directly from correct factual information. It is the closest to the "Most Successful Artist of All Time Countdown" and I can support that since all their sources are legitimate. To also contribute to the fact that Michael Jackson is not the best charts act you can check out The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists, although keep in mind it's ONLY U.S.A. statistics, NOT World statistics, and it's only from 1958 to present, so it's not even near to this website countdowns that offer chart historical information since the 1900's, but if you want to check out The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists go to the following link http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-artists-20.shtml
Going back to the United World Chart subject, once you get to the United World Chart's STATISTICS link and click on the ARTIST SECTION link it's easy to tell that Madonna outnumbers everyone else having the most hits so far in the United World Chart, but there are still years that have not been put out of the archives so she's still not officially the best or most successful artist of all time, although there is a big possibility for her to be, since in the U.S. she's the second best act, just after the Beatles. But please remember, that does not mean she is the most talented, nor the most loved, nor the most creative, nor the most impacting artist of all time, it just emphasizes her success in the charts around the world. It is up to every single one of us to decide who is our favorite artist, and no one can take that away from us, but let's not try to implement our fanatic beliefs in this statistically correct website, this is all about numbers, not favoritism nor opinion. Also Madonna has been around for almost 30 years, whereas the Beatles were around for about a decade. Since the last single from Michael Jackson's Thriller, Michael Jackson was absent from the music scene in 1985, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 until his death, which contributes to the fact that he has not have as much chart success as Madonna, Prince, U2 or Mariah. Since her debut in 1982, Madonna has only been absent from the music scene in 2010 so far. Since his 1978 debut, Prince has only been absent from the music scene in 2000, 2003, 2008 and 2010 so far. Since their debut in 1980, U2 has been absent from the music scene in 1986, 1990, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2010 so far. And last, since her debut in 1990, Mariah has only been absent from the music scene in 2007. So all of those aforementioned acts certainly have less years of absence from the music scene than the late Michael Jackson.
As a last thought, PLEASE do not "attack" these people that are doing us a favor by really representing the world wide factual music charts information. They go as far back as the 1900's, what other website or book has been able to put all this information for everyone to see free of charge. So be grateful and appreciate all the facts and success of the music history that this website has to offer.
15 Sep 2010
michael jackson
It seems according to you ,michael jackson achieved nothing in his life... (followed by 50 more lines of justification for why Michael Jackson's entries should be ranked higher)
I think that being classified as one of the 20 greatest artists of all time is hardly claiming that he achieved nothing.
Quoting Michael Jackson fan sites, and sites that rely on the unsupported opinions of users with such fan based names as "MJDangerous" is hardly helping your case.
However none of that matters anyway, we have an automatic process for calculating worldwide success. That says that an artist with 43 hit songs in the 1980s had more success than one with 26. It doesn't matter how much you write to say differently (or indeed what anyone's opinion including our own says) 43 is larger than 26, by any reasonable metric Madonna had more worldwide success in the 1980s than Michael Jackson.
27 Aug 2010
michael jackson
okay,i want to give a rebuttal to the mj rebuttal.first of all,over his entire career,michael jackson has sold more than prince,madonna,mariah carey,and u2.according to all records,the lowest estimate of sales of mj is 300 million,and the highest is 750 million.i think the figure of 750 million is not the correct one,because its impoosible.but taking his lowest estimated career sale of over 300 million indicates one thing only,poeple loved mj while he was there ,more than they have loved prince,madonna,u2 or mariah carey.then how come,for christs he has sold more than this list of musical legends.how come a man who has sold this many albums be degraded in this way.prince havent reached the 100 million mark in terms of album sales whie madonna,mariahand u2 have estimates ranging from 200 to 250 million albums.also he has 372 major music awards,where is prince in the picture now.i am from the indian sub continent and from a third world country.here people +make less than 50 dollars a month,but still if you have a chance,come to this region and tell them"do you know michael jackson"and they would say yes.and followed by praises and applauses.do you think princes music could get the attention of this poor people.the people in this region cant even get food for a meal,leave alone hear music.my question to you is that,can you give a reason why this millions of poor people try to buy a mj cd instead of the listed artists i have mentioned.i am a local so you cant question the verification of the question.just answer it.also,ther arent any sources in the whole world which would say mj has sold less than madona,or prince or u2 or mariah carey.insted the RIAA itself puts mj in 11th position in the list of highest selling artists in the usa with a toal sales of 69 million in his whole career.this number is more than u2,madonna,prince or mariah carey.in terms of awards mj have won 372 major awards.among them he has 23 american music awrards and 13 grammys.only u2 has got more grammys than michael jackom from that list.michael jackson has 28 top ten hits,only madonna .beatles and elvis has more.michael jackson has 13 number one hits only mariah carey has more from that list.what do you think know,where is prince and the other artists.prince is not even in the list of the singers with most top ten hits.wow i wonder how can aperson who cranked out hits everyyear throughout 1980s and the 1990s could give 28 top ten hits.madonna i believe placed with 37 top ten hits and jusstifies the statement made in the mj rebuttle,marih carey record also signifies everything said in the mj rebuttls 21 july 2010,but u2 and prince.come on mj beats them hands down.let me tell you u2 and prince is not even on thelist of artist with most hundered entries and most top forty hits,so how come if they had a hit every year in the two decades of the 80s and 90s and they still dont make the list.i am saying again madonna and mariah both have more than 25 top ten hits and more than 12 no1 singles,so taking these two in consideration its justified.also mj had 13 number ones and 28 top ten hits right,so howcome according to you he was a jerk whos album output as low and didnt give enough hits.in the early 200s mj record saales were estimated to be more than 200 to 250 million albums,he got a world music award in the year 2000 for being artist of the millineum,in addition him getting this award was facilatated by the fact that estimates aroung that time pionetd that mj sold over 250 million records.look even madonna havent reched that mark in 2010,prince is miles away,while u2 and mariah linger in the 200 million mark in 2010.even if you consider 20 years in the music business,from 1979 to 2000,mj sold 200 to 250 million albums,which is more than what maiah,or u2 or prince has ever achieved.even more mj is the most downloaded artist in the internet according to nokia novi music store.i can just go on and on and tell you i how many ways mj is atlesat better than prince mariah carey and u2.madonna is parallel to him.another thing is that,i aam good in maths and i understand how complex calculations of these record sales can show a totally diiferent picture.please RIAA,do not consider just hits,consider sales and effect and everything that makes music so wonderful.in addition,dangerous sold over 32 million,pirince has very few albums whuch sold over 20 million,and the doudle disc cd sold 20 million.prince selling 20 million +copies of his album is the most rare thing in the whole world.prince accordinr to all estimates tough i am qouting wikipedia has sold over only"88 million albums" from the 1980s +till 2010.u2 has sold over 150 million and mariah over 175 million albums.evaluate on everything and then make alist.you can use math and do anything with it to show the false,but facts are facts deal with it.leave with it.oh,however didnt michael jackson sell over hundred million albums from 1990 to 2000.since his death he has sold over 30 million and counting.please evaluate on that and think.especially the RIAA
We get it, you prefer Michael Jackson to Prince, U2 and Madonna.
This site lists success in the charts, that's all it is based on. We employ a simple calculation to combine individual chart entries that is described in detail. There are no numbers to adjust, there are no factors to estimate, everything is driven by the chart data we have. Here no one gets to vote.
Doing that calculation leads to the results shown. If you can explain how the current calculation is unfair, or you can tell us which source charts discriminate against a particular artist we will listen to what you say.
However until you do that we have to continue to conclude that Michael Jackson did not have the largest number of chart hits in the 1980s.
We are not claiming in any way that U2 is better than Michael Jackson, that has to be a personal viewpoint. We don't believe claimed sales figures, and you acknowledge that claims for Jackson's sales range from 300 to an "imposible" 750 million. We don't even believe our own rough estimates of album sales.
You ask us to "do not consider just hits", well we don't know how to measure "sales and effect and everything that makes music so wonderful".
If you think that measuring an artist's success requires a consideration of things other than entries in the music charts then set up your own site. We happen to think that our metric comes closer to reflecting real historical trends, rather than being a subjective view dictated by more recent events.
22 Aug 2010
List is incorrect in so many ways
There are artists missing and invalid sources. Please recheck your facts esp. in the year 2000
What an incredibly unhelpful message. Which artists do you think are missing? Which sources would you prefer? What facts should be checked?
21 Jul 2010
MJ rebuttal
I'm surprised at how many people have been so defensive about Michael Jackson, saying that he should have been the number 1 artist of the 80s. However, people forget that MJ only released two, yes, only two, albums in the 80s, while the other four artists, Prince, Madonna, U2 and Queen released several throughout the decade. I think Prince even released an album during every year of the 80s. so, while those other four artists were all cranking out hits for almost every year of the 80s, Michael only really had hits in '83 and '88, due to his low album output. Of course he was going to be outnumbered in the hit song department. For those who think he should have been on the 90s list, news flash, MJ released only one hit album in the early 90s before fading off the pop music map. And I remember no one cared about the double album he released in the mid or late 90s.
21 Jul 2010
Wrong
michael jackson is the most sucessful artist of the 80s thriller has sold 100 million copies was the best selling album in the world two years in a row bad sold 30 million he should also be included in the 90s for 31 million copies for dangerous and fourty million for history correct your list
You provide no source for these assertions, every one of which is at least questionable. For example Thriller sold more like 65 million copies, the claim of 100 million is completely unbelievable and not supported by any credible source.
Where we have sources we have included them, that is why "Thriller" does top our list of albums, however the fact is that Jackson had 2 major hit albums in the 1980s, while Prince had 7. Under the criteria used to assemble this list that puts Prince above Jackson.
This is a list of success in charts, and Jackson didn't have as much real success as you clearly think he did. We won't change the data to suit your opinion, indeed we won't change it to support anyone's opinion, even our own.
If you want to suggest sources that support your viewpoint we'd be happy to consider them, unsupported assertions will always be ignored.
25 Apr 2010
1980
not being funny but michael jackson would be no.1 in 1980s. r u seriously saying u2 r higher than michael jackson. fuck the statitics
It seems to us that you have a choice:
Use objective metrics to measure worldwide success, in which case Michael Jackson is beaten by U2's more consistent and sustained list of hits.
Alternately express a personal opinion, in which case you are free to believe Michael Jackson was the best artist of the decade, and your opinion is just as valid as someone else who prefers Hall & Oates.
We believe in basing conclusions on actual evidence, and the evidence demonstrates that Michael Jackson was not the most successful artist of the 1980s, whatever you or any other fans claim.
If you want to be constructive you could suggest alternate ways to measure success or you could point out any of our data sources that are systematically biased against your favourite artist in some way. An unsupported, obscenity rich rant from a biased fan is not constructive and makes us less liable to take your comment seriously.
21 Apr 2010
Most Successful
Thanks for your hard work, I just wonder how huge Billy Murray would have been if he lived in more recent times. According to Joel Whitburn he had 169 indivdual hits, from 1903 - 1927. Finished first on your list in 1900s as a solo artist and 3rd as a member of the Haydn Barbershop Quartet (total 62 hits). Finished 2nd in the 1910s, as part of the American Barbershop Quartet (66 hits) and 5th as a solo artist. As well as being a duet with Ada Jones (the Sonny & Cher of the 1910s) (44 hits). The official interpreter of George M.Cohan e.g. Yankee Doodle Dandy etc. and this is not his complete hit list.
His hit's featured in movies from Doris Day's On Moonlight Bay - The Titanic. So its great to see him rewarded on a list, and we can now download his hits all over again. thank you for going back to the 1900s. Just for the record, including all, he had 48 N0.1 hits, 18 as a solo, 24 with the duets and 5 with Ada Jones. Where is he on your all time list, if you add the Quartets, his duets and solo hits all together?
Thanks again from Adelaide, South Australia sixtiesdj Johnny K.
You seem to have a pretty good set of numbers about his impact yourself.
Of course there are many different ways to compare artists from the early 20th century with those of more recent times, unfortunately they all suffer from different shortcomings. As you will have seen our all time artists list he was between David Bowie and Queen, and that is without taking into account his duets and group contributions.
Given the shortage of suitable charts, especially for locations outside North America, it has to be acknowledged that the potential margin of error for any entries from before 1920 is rather large.
As you say the joy of these early lists is their potential to give us songs and artists to check out. If that leads to some great finds then fantastic. When we discover huge hits that don't match today's tastes, well I'm sure the success of "Crazy Frog" will baffle our descendants just as much.
Thank you for the encouragement
10 Apr 2010
Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson was undeniably the biggest and most successful artist of the 80s! Why is he at #4?? His album Thriller sold 100 million copies and become the biggest selling album of all time! He also won 8 Grammy awards in a single night. Also he released Bad in '87 which was very successful. And I think he should have been mentioned in the 90s section. This is the most ridiculously stupid list I've ever seen. It was made by someone that knows nothing about this.
No, despite your outburst, by our metrics Michael Jackson was not the most successful artist of the 1980s. While he had some years of enormous success he failed to sustain it, for example he had no solo hits in 1985.
In our lists Michael Jackson is the 9th placed artist of the 1990s, we feel that qualifies as "being mentioned".
Thriller may have been the biggest selling album of all time, however quoting the widely discredited 100 million sales claim just confirms that are not being objective in your comments.
On this site actual facts are more important than mere opinion, and by that we mean anyone's opinion including our own.
The decade rankings were calculated with data from external sources that can be easily verified and the metrics used are clearly described. The calculation is automated and cannot be "adjusted" for any reason.
If you disagree with the result you either feel that the data is in some way invalid or that the metrics are unfairly emphasising particular acts. Tell us which data is wrong or which alternate metric should be used, then we'll take your comments seriously.
Saying this is the "most ridiculously stupid list I've ever seen" just makes you sound like a petulant teenager (except of course few modern teenagers are Michael Jackson fans)
6 Mar 2010
michael jackson
see the problem is your looking at it from a points stnadard. We all knowMichael Jackson is the biggest artist of the last three decades. In a span of eight years 82-90 the man literaly became the third most popular face on earth after jesus and ronald mcdonald. He literaly holds the guiness record for having the most records! the only reason he doesnt have any more albums in the top 100 is cus he only released 2!. which at the time of 88 were the top two selling albums of all timeeee. prince literaly till this day releases an album every year. He never misses a beat. Yes Prince is a genius i am a hugeeee fan believe me. but when mike walks into a room the cameras rush to him more then prince and madona. Madonas affect in the 80s lasted but not like michael jacksons. madona invented sex in music. michael invented everythign else.
Clearly your opinion of Michael Jackson is not going to be moderated by anything as inconvenient as actual facts.
1 Jan 2010
Mariah vs. Madonna
Up to this point Madonna is still more successful around the world than she isin the U.S., and Mariah is still somewhat more successful in the U.S. than she is around the world.
Madonna continuously keeps making top ten hits even number 1's around Europe, Latin America, Canada, Australia and Asia. It's easy to prove that Madonna has had at least 2 top tens from each one of her albums in the UK, Canada, Australia and many more countries.
She also has scored at least 1 top ten from every of her albums in the U.S. except for her Celebration (2009), You Can Dance (1987), Remixed and Revisited (2004) and GHV2 (2001) albums, all of them are compilation albums and the last three didn't even had new world wide single releases made. Even her three soundtracks were able to spawn at least 1 top 10 each one. Madonna also has the most number ones and top ten's in the United World Chart, 29 top ten's and out of those 15 are number 1's and there is still more number ones and top tens to come, because United World Chart week by week keeps posting past charts.
On the other hand Mariah only has 18 top tens and out of those only 2 are number 1's in the United World Chart. Madonna managed to make her latest single Celebration to peak at No. 6 in the United World Chart where Mariah's not latest single but latest moderate successful single Obsessed peaked at No. 14. This shows how much of an impact charting in the U.S. and in the rest of the world does. This is why I respect and honor the methodologies that they used for these "countdowns".
18 Dec 2009
lol, you dont know mariah carey? words from an idiot are not taken into consideration
You know I think that user comment was maybe not quite serious. Your life would be easier if you moderated your responses a bit.
I'm surprised, most people I have met in Malaysia have a sense of humour.
14 Dec 2009
Totally true! Madonna is the most successful artist of the 90`s. I love Celine Dion, REM, and Prince, Who is Mariah Carey?
24 Nov 2009
Michael Jackson
Am I seeing something wrong? I count 4 Jackson albums in your top 100. I don't see that many from any other artist, of course I just tabbed thru quickly.
You raise an interesting point. We feel that the "standard" list is too heavily dependant on the input charts that are available. There are about 4 times as many entries for the 1980s as there are for the 1960s, so more recent music is scored too highly.
So when contrasting acts and releases across the years we feel that it is better to compensate for this modern bias. The "real list" of top albums adjusts the scores to give what we feel is a better comparison across the years. In this list Michael Jackson has an entry at number 2, his next album is at number 47.
There are some good reasons for not adopting this approach for the standard lists. The way this adjustment is made works well for acts and releases that are at the top of the list. But it is not clear that it works so well for later, less widely supported, entries. In addition the simplicity of the standard score makes the standard list more transparent. Also it could be argued that the larger number of entries after 1980 reflect the fact that more people are interested in that era, hence music from then should be over emphasised.
In the standard list Michael Jackson does have four albums in the top 100, however The Beatles, Madonna and U2 all have six. If we were to believe that this list was a good measure of success then "REM" (with two entries) would have to rate better than The Rolling Stones, Elton John, Radiohead, Dire Straits and Guns & Roses (who all have just one). We suspect there are few people that would be prepared to argue for that view.
Of course you are free to disagree with our analysis, that is why we make the standard data available in CSV form. If you have a different way to summarise the data that illustrates an alternate view we would be interested to hear from you.
11 Nov 2009
RE: mariah vs madonna
ok.. so with ur computation.. u actually weighed north america and europe equally... and in fact according to your reply they are not equal and also aside from europe and north america, there are also other large markets like Japan where 7 of mariah's 90s album amassed million/s of sales each... and all other female intl artist that follows sell less than half of Mariah's... mariah's singles are also very successful in Japan...
so i kinda doubt the quoted statement below..
"So no, sorry even if the scores are adjusted according to the size of themarket Mariah doesn't beat Madonna. We've tried a variety of different ways to look at the data and they all result in Madonna being above Mariah. Your intuition was just plain wrong. Of course this tells us that Madonna was more successful round the world in the 1990s, it does not prove that her music was in any way better."
No you're wrong we didn't weigh them equally, Europe got a weight of 9.01 and North America got 15.14 (based on the sales numbers).
So lets look at Japan. In Japan Madonna had 28 hit songs in the 1990s and Mariah had 25. Mariah's hits were slightly higher in the charts so her total score was 22.47 while Madonna's was 21.67. In other words Madonna scored 96% of Mariah's score. Now, in fact the sales of "International" music in Japan is only about 10% of the market, so Japan's factor should be 0.643, but lets be generous to Mariah and pretend that all $6.43B was "International" music.
If we add these results into the mix we get:
Madonna: 0.94*15.14 + 1*9.01 + 0.96*6.43 = 29.41 Mariah: 1*15.14 + 0.53*9.01 + 1*6.43 = 26.34
...and Madonna *still* beats Mariah.
It is possible that Mariah's albums outsold Madonna's in Japan in the 1990s. We have no reliable data that supports that, but it is possible. If the low percentage of "International" music is taken into account then Madonna could have sold absolutly nothing in Japan in the 1990s and her global total would still beat Mariah.
It doesn't matter how much you "doubt the quoted statement", it remains true even with the scores weighed by sales and with Japan included. Mariah was beaten by Madonna in the 1990s. As we said, we tried a variety of ways of looking at the data and Madonna wins every time.
The problem is that you clearly don't appreciate just how much more popular Madonna was in Europe in the 1990s.
Speaking personally (SH) I don't understand *why* she was so popular, her 1990s material doesn't sound good to me. But that's exactly the point, on this site no-one gets to vote the data determines the outcome, personal opinion doesn't have any influence. If the data didn't sometimes tell us something that is against initial expectation then we wouldn't have created the site.
16 Oct 2009
Mariah v Madonna in the 1990s
This site treats all the charts in the world equally... thats why, they comeup with Madonna no.1 and Mariah no.2.. if they would give higher regard to bigger markets like USA... Mariah wud take the top spot easily...
Your first comment is exactly right, all the charts are weighed equally in the standard calculation. If only the North American charts were counted Mariah would be the number 1, but of course that would hardly give us a reasonable view of the world's music.
You are also correct that the number of chart entries does over emphasise the European nations since each one of them contributes more entries than can be justified by their share of the world music market. This is a side effect of the fact that each European country has people who want to publish their particular national chart, while there is less incentive for the inhabitants of, for example, Wyoming to publish their own weekly state chart for the 1990s.
However those two facts don't necessarily mean that Mariah would take the top slot in any properly weighed summary, and certainly not "easily".
Since we have data immediately available for the success of songs in North America and Europe let's try a quick test with that. In North America Mariah Carey's total score for the 1990s was 84.75, Madonna's was 79.97 of course the absolute values are meaningless, but the relative difference gives us a measure of their performance, Madonna has 94% of Mariah's score.
In Europe Mariah Carey's total score for the 1990s was 90.35, Madonna's was 169.88 Mariah has 53% of Madonna's score.
According to the IFPI the biggest 10 music markets in 1999 were: USA $14.25B, Japan $6.43B, UK $2.91B, Germany $2.83B, France $1.98B, Canada $0.88B, Brazil $0.67B, Australia $0.66B, Spain $0.64B, Italy $0.64B Which gives North America $15.14B and Europe $9.01B (we'll ignore the smaller countries that would bring the Europe total to more than $14B).
If we give the top artist 1 and the lower one a proportional score and then scale by the number of billion dollars in each region Mariah gets 1*15.14 + 0.53*9.01 => 19.93 and Madonna gets 0.94*15.14 + 1*9.01 => 23.29
So no, sorry even if the scores are adjusted according to the size of the market Mariah doesn't beat Madonna. We've tried a variety of different ways to look at the data and they all result in Madonna being above Mariah. Your intuition was just plain wrong.
Of course this tells us that Madonna was more successful round the world in the 1990s, it does not prove that her music was in any way better.
5 Sep 2009
Artist of 1980.
Michael Jackson should be the most successful artist of the 1980s having produced the most successful albums of all time. He also holds a record in the Guinness Book of World Records as The Most Successful of All Time.
First of all by any reasonable criteria Michael Jackson certainly didn't produce more than one album in the all time top 10, so the when you say "albums" you should rather use the word "album".
Secondly having the most successful album of an era is just one of the measures that are used here. Michael Jackson had 2 songs in the "1980s 100 songs" list, against Madonna's 5. He had 2 albums in the "1980s 100 albums" list, against Madonna's 3.
Finally even if we agreed that Michael Jackson's position in the "top artists of the 1980s" was too low we couldn't directly do anything about it within the rules of the website. The way that "success" is measured here is clearly defined and strictly follows a mechanical process, no-one gets to "adjust" the values later whatever their opinions. Even if one of the administrators wanted to boost his rating they couldn't, the best they could do would be to change the scoring mechanism. Prince, Madonna and U2 all had more number 1s in more countries than Michael Jackson in the 1980s, that is why they end up higher.
31 Jul 2009
mariah carey is the most successful artist
i totally agreed with RIA subsmition that m c is the most successful artist of 90's. she has most highest number of sales so she deserve s to be the most successful
There are a number of issues with your assertion. First we still don't know who (or what "RIA" is). Secondly we have no evidence that she has the highest number of worldwide sales in the 1990s, we don't even know where we would find trustworthy numbers for that. Next even if she had the highest number of total sales in the 1990s that wouldn't place her top of the list, this list reflects chart success, not sales.
Finally the fact that you think she "deserves" to be top of the list is unimportant. Your opinion about a particular act has no influence, indeed our opinion about the merits of any act are also irrelevant. The final results are generated directly and automatically from the chart positions, no-one, not even the administrators get to "adjust" them.
13 Apr 2009
Artist of 1990
RIA has stated that Mariah Carey is the most successful artist of the 1990's
We don't know who the "RIA" are. If you mean the "RIAA" (The Record Industry Association of America) then of course they list success in the USA while this page lists worldwide chart success. It is easy to see how Mariah Carey can have been the most successful artist of the 1990s in the USA while Madonna had more chart success throughout the rest of the world, remember that the USA while it is the single largest music market accounts for less than 35% of the world's music revenue.