The Best Selling Albums released after January 1, 2000 WORLDWIDE!

[STING2]

Here are the best selling albums released after January 1, 2000 on a worldwide basis. It is July 2002, so this time frame represents the first 1/4 decade of the 21st century. I only counted albums that had reached 10 million copies or more in global sales. My info comes from the RIAA, the IFPI, and various year end articles from Billboard magazine on Global sales for the year.

Beatles : 1 : 23,000,000
Eminem : The Marshall Mathers LP : 16,000,000
Britney Spears : OOPS! I Did It Again : 15,000,000
Linkin Park : Hybrid Theory : 13,000,000
N'Sync : No Strings Attached : 13,000,000
Madonna : Music : 12,500,000
Limp Bizkit : Chocolate Starfish...... : 11,000,000
Dido : No Angel : 11,000,000
U2 : ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND : 11,000,000
Enya : A Day Without Rain : 10,500,000
Shaggy : Hotshot : 10,500,000

If anyone has questions about albums that did not make the list(meaning they did not sell 10 million copies, having been released in the time frame mentioned above) let me know and I should be able to tell you what it has sold with the info from the sources above.

[adamswildhoney]

Awesome our Boys are on the list, but its to bad that Britney beat them.

[STING2]

Notice though that Britney's latest album titled "Britney" did not make the list. That album is stalled at 7 million worldwide.

[verte76]

Originally posted by STING2 Notice though that Britney's latest album titled "Britney" did not make the list. That album is stalled at 7 million worldwide.

What does that tell you? That even though the press--some of it, anyway--is claiming that she's the biggest star in the world, chances are that this state of affairs is transient. So I'm not concerned about "Oops" outselling ATYCLB.

[mayflower]

That shit(Britney Spears) aint so transient.Her latest album,In The Zone's already a No.1.
I seriously don't think U2's new album(scheduled for 2004) will be able to get anywhere near that!

[STING2]

Spears album that came after Oops only sold 7 million copies worldwide and I doubt In the Zone will sell more than that. ATYCLB by U2 hit #1 in over 30 countries, far more than any Britney Album. U2s new album will probably have global sales double of Britney's "in the Zone". Being #1 for a week or two in the USA does not mean an album is going to be a top seller worldwide. The biggest selling albums have strong steady sales over time in all markets, not super high sales in a couple of markets for one or two weeks.

Britney's selling power is a small fraction of what it once was. The Boyband era is over. She will still sell reasonably well, but nearly as much as she once did. In addition, this artist still has trouble selling out 17,000 seat Arena's in the largest markets in the USA like Los Angeles.

[mayflower]

That just goes to show her "star-power".

I can't beleive she even sells as much as the media claim.

An artist who can't even fill an arena,can't truly be the biggest album seller!

I wonder who signed her up anyway!

Geez!

[mayflower]

It also shows how intense marketing got her album where it is even today!

I mean if she and Madonna hadn't kissed at the MTV VMAs,do u seriously think anyone would even bother about Britney Spears or her shit albums?

[STING2]

Its been almost 2 years since this list was first put up so I thought it was time for an update. Were also about 9 months from the halfway point of this new decade. Here are the top selling albums worldwide that have sold 10 million or more copies since being released after January 1, 2000.

1. Beatles: 1 : 24,000,000
2. Norah Jones: Come Away With Me : 18,000,000
3. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP : 17,000,000
4. Eminem: The Eminem Show : 16,000,000
5. Britney Spears: Oops!....I Did It Again : 15,000,000
6. Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory : 14,000,000
7. Shania Twain: UP! : 14,000,000
8. N'Sync: No Strings Attached : 13,000,000
9. Madonna: Music : 12,500,000
10. Avril Lavigne: Let Go : 11,800,000
11. U2: ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND : 11,500,000
12. Dido: No Angel : 11,000,000
13. Limp Bizkit: Chocolate Starfish : 11,000,000
14. Shakira: Laundry Service : 11,000,000
15. Pink: M!SSUNDAZTOOD : 11,000,000
16. Enya: A Day Without Rain : 10,500,000
17. Shaggy: Hotshot : 10,500,000
18. Moby: Play : 10,000,000
19. Robbie Williams: Escapology : 10,000,000


Increases in album sales by albums that were on the first list were based on a confirmed rise in sales from RIAA, IFPI or another source. Albums on the previous list without any confirmed new sales level are listed at the same sales level as before.

It is interesting to note, that there are still only 4 bands or groups that have sold 10 million copies or more of a single album of new original songs released since January 1, 2000. Those are:

Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory : 14,000,000
N'SYNC: No Strings Attached : 13,000,000
U2: ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND : 11,500,000
Limp Bizkit: Chocolate Starfish : 11,000,000

[Popmartijn]

Hello,

I suspect that this list was made prior to the re-certification of ATYCLB in the USA. You see the difference between the two lists is just 500,000 copies. When only 'certified' sources are used, then this rise cannot be attributed to the RIAA. So I guess that U2 would enter the top 10 again with 12,500,000 confirmed sales.

C ya!

Marty

[STING2]

Popmartijn,

Actually, I just made this list this weekend. I used the same sources that I used to make the first list. For ATYCLB on the first list, I went with the Soundscan numbers at that time which had ATYCLB at 3.9 million in the USA in July 2002. Today, ATYCLB is around 4.2 million roughly. I took the 300,000 extra in USA sales from July 2002 to now, plus an estimate guess of sales outside the USA to come to the 11.5 million figure for ATYCLB.

There are several albums in the new list that may be 1 million or 2 million in sales less than what is listed. This is a rough estimate and I often would use IFPI numbers and extrapolate them to represent the 1/3 of the music market not represented by IFPI for Europe or RIAA for the USA. If an album sold 4 million in the USA and 4 million in Europe, I gave it 4 million in sales for the other area's of the world for a combined total of 12 million, unless I had exact info from the record company giving the real total. The first list was based on a lot on information posted by the record companies and matched very well with the formula I used for estimating the sales of other albums that I had less info for.

I'd say ATYCLB is most likely still below the 12 million level at around 11,500,000.

[STING2]

There is a new member to the 10,000,000 plus club of albums released after January 2000 that have reached that sales level worldwide:

Evanescence - Fallen : has now sold 12 million copies worldwide according to the global album chart. I know of confirmed sales of 3 million in Europe, 5 million in sales in the USA, 400.000 in Canada, over 400,000 in Brazil, 400,000 in Australia. Thats 9.2 million leaving the rest of the world to account for the other 2.8 million.

New Chart:

1. Beatles: 1 : 24,000,000
2. Norah Jones: Come Away With Me : 18,000,000
3. Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP : 17,000,000
4. Eminem: The Eminem Show : 16,000,000
5. Britney Spears: Oops!....I Did It Again : 15,000,000
6. Linkin Park: Hybrid Theory : 14,000,000
7. Shania Twain: UP! : 14,000,000
8. N'Sync: No Strings Attached : 13,000,000
9. Madonna: Music : 12,500,000
10. Evanescence : Fallen : 12,000,000
11. Avril Lavigne: Let Go : 11,800,000
12. U2: ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND : 11,500,000
13. Dido: No Angel : 11,000,000
14. Limp Bizkit: Chocolate Starfish : 11,000,000
15. Shakira: Laundry Service : 11,000,000
16. Pink: M!SSUNDAZTOOD : 11,000,000
17. Enya: A Day Without Rain : 10,500,000
18. Shaggy: Hotshot : 10,500,000
19. Moby: Play : 10,000,000
20. Robbie Williams: Escapology : 10,000,000

[mikeuk]

I do recall some time ago that a record company spokesperson in the UK was quoted as saying sales of ATYCLB outside the UK had reached 11 million - indeed I posted about this (then as mike63).

With sales in the UK at that time of just over 1 million I wouldn't be suprised if the total was now around 12.5 million worldwide.

Mike

[STING2]

Interesting. It is possible that could be the case.

[Flaming Friar Sr]

besides u2 i only own the two eminem cds of this list