The top selling albums worldwide of 2009!

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Maoilbheannacht

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THE TOP SELLING ALBUMS WORLDWIDE OF 2009!

01. Susan Boyle - I Dreamed A Dream - 6,0 million copies
02. Lady GaGa - The Fame (Monster) - 5,9 million copies
03. Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D. - 4,6 million copies
04. Taylor Swift - Fearless - 4,2 million copies
05. Michael Jackson - Thriller (25th Anniversary Reissue) - 4,0 million copies
06. Michael Jackson - Number Ones - 3,6 million copies
07. U2 - No Line On The Horizon - 3,5 million copies
08. Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night - 3,5 million copies
09. Michael Bublé - Crazy Love - 3,3 million copies
10. Beyoncé - I Am... Sasha Fierce - 3,2 million copies
11. Michael Jackson - This Is It - 3,1 million copies
12. Michael Jackson - The Essential - 2,9 million copies
13. Soundtrack - Hannah Montana: The Movie - 2,9 million copies
14. Andrea Bocelli - My Christmas - 2,9 million copies
15. Eminem - Relapse - 2,9 million copies
16. Green Day - 21st Century Breakdown - 2,6 million copies
17. Pink - Funhouse - 2,6 million copies
18. Soundtrack - Twilight - 2,4 million copies
19. Michael Jackson - King Of Pop - 2,0 million copies
20. Michael Jackson - Bad - 2,0 million copies
21. Jay-Z - Blueprint 3 - 1,9 million copies
22. Nickelback - Dark Horse - 1,9 million copies
23. Lily Allen - It's Not Me, It's You - 1,7 million copies
24. Michael Jackson - Dangerous - 1,7 million copies
25. Michael Jackson - Off The Wall - 1,7 million copies
26. Muse - The Resistance - 1,6 million copies
27. Whitney Houston - I Look To You - 1,6 million copies
28. Bruce Springsteen - Working On A Dream - 1,6 million copies
29. Jason Mraz - We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. - 1,6 million copies
30. Miley Cyrus - The Time Of Our Lives - 1,5 million copies
31. Coldplay - Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends - 1,5 million copies
32. Robbie Williams - Reality Killed The Video Star - 1,5 million copies
33. Arashi - All The Best! (1999-2009) - 1,5 million copies
34. Soundtrack - The Twilight Saga: New Moon - 1,5 million copies
35. Madonna - Celebration - 1,4 million copies
36. Britney Spears - Circus - 1,3 million copies
37. Soundtrack - Mamma Mia! - 1,3 million copies
38. Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted - 1,3 million copies
39. Beatles - Abbey Road - 1,3 million copies
40. Katy Perry - One Of The Boys - 1,3 million copies

http://www.mediatraffic.de/albums-2009.htm
 
It's important to remember here that had Michael Jackson not died, U2 would be in 5th place. Still... wow! 3.5 Million...I definitely didn't see that coming! Who knows how much more they would have sold if they would've had a hit, if Bono wouldn't have worn eyeliner, if everyone didn't hate Bono, etc. While these numbers are fairly impressive for the current times, I really think U2's PR team really screwed up this year.

Impressive for Kings of Leon as well... definitely was their year! Glad to see a CURRENT rock band getting some recognition. I hope they can sustain this for awhile.
 
Her meteoric rise is incredible, I just hope she and producers can come up with some more engaging material in the future, she's got an incredible voice, but I don't really need an oldies mixtape from her, although I'm fine with the fact that she made it, they're all songs she said meant a lot to her.
 
Laura Flynn Boyle has come a long way since Twin Peaks.

U2.....what a failure. they should retire.
 
How long is Susan Boyle's album out. A few weeks? 6 million is unbelievable now. :ohmy:
 
powerhour24 said:
Her meteoric rise is incredible, I just hope she and producers can come up with some more engaging material in the future, she's got an incredible voice, but I don't really need an oldies mixtape from her, although I'm fine with the fact that she made it, they're all songs she said meant a lot to her.
Click to expand...

she has a good voice yes. But nothing special. There are thousands of people with her voice or better. The reason she did so well is the incredible hype around her. The old ugly housewife who won that competition. Oh look, ugly women can also sing. wwooooooow, incredible. It's a crazy world.
 
I compared the top selling lists from 2004 till 2009:

2004: 144 M
2005: 128 M (-11%)
2006: 110 M (-14%)
2007: 102 M (-7%)
2008: 102 M
2009: 95 M (-7%)

I think 3,5 million for NLOTH is a great number for an album less accessible as other U2 albums. It could have been more with hit singles. However I like the album as it is. Why does U2 need to have a best selling album always? This is not an album for that.

There are many albums below NLOTH who sold more, since they also appeared in the 2008 list:

KOL: 5,6 M
Beyonce: 5.5 M
Taylor Swift 7,1 M
Pink: 5.1
Coldplay 8.1 M

Although they could advantage from xmas selling, the first 4 sold more in 2009 than in 2008.

Furthermore, I made a comparison between HTDAAB and NLOTH. I agree it's done in a very rough way, but I think it's not far from the truth.

-HTDAAB sold in 2004 and 2005. In that year an average of 136 million (144+128/2) albums were sold by the top 40. U2 sold 8,2 million albums of HTDAAB over those 2 years. 8,2/136*100 = ~6%
-NLOTH sold in 2009 3,5 million albums. 3,5/95 = ~3,7%

this proves that NLOTH is less succesfull than HTDAAB, 'corrected for the present market'

So if U2 was as succesfull in the present market compared to 2004/2005 it should have sold 95*0,06 = ~5,7 million albums. Around the number of Kings of Leon. The difference is a lack of hit singles.

As I said, I don't care about how much U2 sells, as long as I love the album myself. It's just that I don't believe in all the arguments that it's only due to the present CD selling market that they did not sell more.
 
phommel said:
she has a good voice yes. But nothing special. There are thousands of people with her voice or better. The reason she did so well is the incredible hype around her. The old ugly housewife who won that competition. Oh look, ugly women can also sing. wwooooooow, incredible. It's a crazy world.
Click to expand...

Thats not very nice you know. By the way, she is not any older than U2 and I don't think she is married. She is certainly better at singing than Britney Spears, Madonna or Lady Gaga.
 
phommel said:
I compared the top selling lists from 2004 till 2009:

2004: 144 M
2005: 128 M (-11%)
2006: 110 M (-14%)
2007: 102 M (-7%)
2008: 102 M
2009: 95 M (-7%)

I think 3,5 million for NLOTH is a great number for an album less accessible as other U2 albums. It could have been more with hit singles. However I like the album as it is. Why does U2 need to have a best selling album always? This is not an album for that.

There are many albums below NLOTH who sold more, since they also appeared in the 2008 list:

KOL: 5,6 M
Beyonce: 5.5 M
Taylor Swift 7,1 M
Pink: 5.1
Coldplay 8.1 M

Although they could advantage from xmas selling, the first 4 sold more in 2009 than in 2008.

Furthermore, I made a comparison between HTDAAB and NLOTH. I agree it's done in a very rough way, but I think it's not far from the truth.

-HTDAAB sold in 2004 and 2005. In that year an average of 136 million (144+128/2) albums were sold by the top 40. U2 sold 8,2 million albums of HTDAAB over those 2 years. 8,2/136*100 = ~6%
-NLOTH sold in 2009 3,5 million albums. 3,5/95 = ~3,7%

this proves that NLOTH is less succesfull than HTDAAB, 'corrected for the present market'

So if U2 was as succesfull in the present market compared to 2004/2005 it should have sold 95*0,06 = ~5,7 million albums. Around the number of Kings of Leon. The difference is a lack of hit singles.

As I said, I don't care about how much U2 sells, as long as I love the album myself. It's just that I don't believe in all the arguments that it's only due to the present CD selling market that they did not sell more.
Click to expand...

The numbers don't fully take into account the impact on the top selling albums. Again, think about what selling 5.7 million copies in 2009 would mean based on the top 40 chart above. Your essentially saying that the only way for U2 to match their previous success is to have the biggest selling album around the world which they only clearly did once with Joshua Tree.

The whole accessiblility thing is often a myth. POP was clearly a more accessible album than ATYCLB or HTDAAB given the fact that it received much stronger radio airplay than either of those albums.

U2 has strived with every album since BOY to have the top selling album. The bands formula for making great music and doing well on the business side has not changed since day 1.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
U2 has strived with every album since BOY to have the top selling album. The bands formula for making great music and doing well on the business side has not changed since day 1.
Click to expand...

This is exactly what makes U2 so bland and predictable these days. Even a supposed shift to "experimentalism" is contrived and uninspiring for a band that used to do experimentalism well.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
The numbers don't fully take into account the impact on the top selling albums. Again, think about what selling 5.7 million copies in 2009 would mean based on the top 40 chart above. Your essentially saying that the only way for U2 to match their previous success is to have the biggest selling album around the world which they only clearly did once with Joshua Tree.
Click to expand...
yes but you have to keep in mind that in earlier lists sales of U2 albums almost always spread over two years. Adding 2004 and 2005 sales of HTDAAB would make them a/the top seller of 2004/2005.

The whole accessiblility thing is often a myth. POP was clearly a more accessible album than ATYCLB or HTDAAB given the fact that it received much stronger radio airplay than either of those albums.
Click to expand...
I completely disagree. strong radio airplay is not the same as accessibility. Almost everybody would agree on the fact that ATYCLB and HTDAAB are more accessible than POP. And NLOTH is an album without the easy (quickly boring) hits and it needs more listening and patience (esp for people who are not a big U2 fan) to get into the album.
 
phommel said:
I completely disagree. strong radio airplay is not the same as accessibility. Almost everybody would agree on the fact that ATYCLB and HTDAAB are more accessible than POP.
Click to expand...

I can objectively show you the difference in airplay. But you cannot objectively claim that ATYCLB and HTDAAB are more accessible than POP. The Fact is, radio attempts to play what people will listen too. They played POP more than ATYCLB and HTDAAB. That is an objective fact!

And NLOTH is an album without the easy (quickly boring) hits and it needs more listening and patience (esp for people who are not a big U2 fan) to get into the album
Click to expand...

So what U2 songs do you consider to be "easy (quickly boring) hits"? In this day and age, you either buy the album or obtain it free. The whole listening thing and getting into it is something that happens after the fact.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
I can objectively show you the difference in airplay. But you cannot objectively claim that ATYCLB and HTDAAB are more accessible than POP. The Fact is, radio attempts to play what people will listen too. They played POP more than ATYCLB and HTDAAB. That is an objective fact!
Click to expand...

Yes, maybe the radio played POP more than ATYCLB and HTDAAB (however, about which country you are talking, cause for Netherlands I am not so sure about this...), and that might be an objective fact (do you have numbers?). But the amount of times a song is played has not always something to do with the accessibility of a song. I know many accessible songs that are never played on the radio...

And I indeed cannot objectively claim that ATYCLB and HTDAAB are more accessible than POP and NLOTH. (It would be possible with a survey). But it's the general opinion among music critics, U2 fans. Even U2 band members mentioned this about NLOTH in recent interviews...


So what U2 songs do you consider to be "easy (quickly boring) hits"? In this day and age, you either buy the album or obtain it free. The whole listening thing and getting into it is something that happens after the fact.
Click to expand...

What I wanted to make clear is that a big hit single (Vertigo for example) can make people buy the album, while an album that doesn't have big hit singles will draw less attention to the general public and will not push them to buy the album and listen to the rest...
 
phommel said:
Yes, maybe the radio played POP more than ATYCLB and HTDAAB (however, about which country you are talking, cause for Netherlands I am not so sure about this...), and that might be an objective fact (do you have numbers?). But the amount of times a song is played has not always something to do with the accessibility of a song. I know many accessible songs that are never played on the radio...
Click to expand...

Here are the singles from POP, ATYCLB, and HTDAAB that succeeded in getting played enough on the radio to make the HOT 100 AIRPLAY ONLY chart in the United States:

POP:
Discotheque #22
Staring At The Sun #16
Last Night On Earth #74

ATYCLB:
Beautiful Day #19
Stuck In A Moment... #56

HTDAAB:
Vertigo #30


As you can see POP had 3 songs that were able to crack the airplay chart in the United States. ATYCLB only had two, and HTDAAB just had one.

But the amount of times a song is played has not always something to do with the accessibility of a song. I know many accessible songs that are never played on the radio...
Click to expand...

But how do you KNOW they are accessible?

But it's the general opinion among music critics, U2 fans. Even U2 band members mentioned this about NLOTH in recent interviews...
Click to expand...

Yes, the general opinion of music journalist, and U2 fans that post on the web, but their in the minority, compared to the majority of U2 fans, and of course the general public.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
THE TOP SELLING ALBUMS WORLDWIDE OF 2009!

01. Susan Boyle - I Dreamed A Dream - 6,0 million copies
02. Lady GaGa - The Fame (Monster) - 5,9 million copies
03. Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D. - 4,6 million copies
04. Taylor Swift - Fearless - 4,2 million copies
05. Michael Jackson - Thriller (25th Anniversary Reissue) - 4,0 million copies
06. Michael Jackson - Number Ones - 3,6 million copies
07. U2 - No Line On The Horizon - 3,5 million copies
08. Kings Of Leon - Only By The Night - 3,5 million copies
Click to expand...

Yeah, Michael Jackson's death definitely skewed these numbers in his favor. And those albums are many years old. And Taylor's Fearless was released in November of 2008. So, if you take away the two MJ albums and Taylor's country-pop masterpiece, NLOTH was actually the fourth highest seller of all albums originally released in 2009. Not bad. Not bad at all.

And, indeed, a very impressive showing for the Kings of Leon. That album was released in September of 2008, and it had the staying power to thrive throughout the entire next calender year.
 
GirlsAloudFan said:
So, if you take away the two MJ albums and Taylor's country-pop masterpiece, NLOTH was actually the fourth highest seller of all albums originally released in 2009. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Click to expand...

NLOTH was actually the 3rd highest seller of all albums released in 2009. Lady GaGa's The Fame came out in 2008.
 
Maoilbheannacht said:
Here are the singles from POP, ATYCLB, and HTDAAB that succeeded in getting played enough on the radio to make the HOT 100 AIRPLAY ONLY chart in the United States:

POP:
Discotheque #22
Staring At The Sun #16
Last Night On Earth #74

ATYCLB:
Beautiful Day #19
Stuck In A Moment... #56

HTDAAB:
Vertigo #30


As you can see POP had 3 songs that were able to crack the airplay chart in the United States. ATYCLB only had two, and HTDAAB just had one.



But how do you KNOW they are accessible?



Yes, the general opinion of music journalist, and U2 fans that post on the web, but their in the minority, compared to the majority of U2 fans, and of course the general public.
Click to expand...

Hey Maoilbheannacht.

We can keep on argueing on this. But I have the feeling we will never agree on this. Which doesn't matter of course. But it doesn't make sense I react again...
 
This "dream" thing is getting tiresome. Obama, Bruce now Susan and I've heard of more in past couple of years.
 
Because The Fame Monster is just the deluxe edition of The Fame. It's The Fame with some extra tracks.
 
Popmartijn said:
Because The Fame Monster is just the deluxe edition of The Fame. It's The Fame with some extra tracks.
Click to expand...

No, The Fame Monster is a separate album. There ARE special editions of the Fame that include both, but The Fame Monster is its own album.
 
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