have one direction sold more records than westlife?

zeebre12zeebre12 Posts: 1,167
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Have one direction passed westlifes albums and singles sales worldwide..and how many have each band sold?
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  • zeze88zeze88 Posts: 1,587
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    Definitely not with albums:

    Westlife:

    1st album: more than 5 million
    2nd: 7 million


    1D

    1st: 4.7 million
    2nd: 4.5 million

    I know that Westlife sold altogether 45 million records which includes albums, singles and DVDs. I don't think 1D reached that number yet even if they do sell a lot of singles thanks to advantage of digital download, but who knows.

    But I definitely know they haven't sold more albums.

    For Westlife, I also know they sold about 20 million records in UK alone: 12 million albums, 6.6 million singles and 1 million DVDs.

    While 1D albums haven't even reached 1 million mark yet.
  • annushkaannushka Posts: 3,959
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    Westlife have a career that spans over 14 years (I think), starting at a time when the sales were higher...
    1D can't have sold more with 2 albums, 1 DVD & 6 singles IMO! They are successfull, but let's not ask for the impossible ;)
  • ashtray88ashtray88 Posts: 1,531
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    I know One Direction have sold about 20 million records worldwide which surprisingly is the same amount as Leona Lewis..
  • big bro geekbig bro geek Posts: 18,268
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    I doubt they are even close
  • zeze88zeze88 Posts: 1,587
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    ashtray88 wrote: »
    I know One Direction have sold about 20 million records worldwide which surprisingly is the same amount as Leona Lewis..

    I bet this amount is mostly thanks to huge success of their debut single - the rest of the singles weren't exactly huge hits.

    I always wanted to find what were the Westlife album sales after the first two albums, but there is no info. Some say their 3rd sold around 6 million, but I don't know about the rest.

    I know Westlife were awarded back in 2006 for selling 7 million records in Asia, so I know they were huge there.
  • Smithy1204Smithy1204 Posts: 4,352
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    zeze88 wrote: »
    I bet this amount is mostly thanks to huge success of their debut single - the rest of the singles weren't exactly huge hits.

    I always wanted to find what were the Westlife album sales after the first two albums, but there is no info. Some say their 3rd sold around 6 million, but I don't know about the rest.

    I know Westlife were awarded back in 2006 for selling 7 million records in Asia, so I know they were huge there.

    They used to have it quite madly in Asia - hundreds of fans trying to get to them at airports. In one of the books it describes how their hotel floor became their 'prison wing', with 10 security guards constantly guarding them, and not allowed to go into any public areas in the hotel or shopping areas because it could have resulted in them or fans getting hurt. They had people dragging clothing and jewellery off them at airports apparently. They had a concert in Asia where 500 fans had to be lifted to safety at once point, and that is bearing in mind that there was the stampede in Jakarta around the time when four A1 fans were killed.

    Very lucky lifestyles, but I couldn't do it.

    I would be interested to know sales also. You can get a very basic idea from the certifications on the discography, but only very very basic from the countries where it went gold/platinum.
  • zeze88zeze88 Posts: 1,587
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    Smithy1204 wrote: »
    They used to have it quite madly in Asia - hundreds of fans trying to get to them at airports. In one of the books it describes how their hotel floor became their 'prison wing', with 10 security guards constantly guarding them, and not allowed to go into any public areas in the hotel or shopping areas because it could have resulted in them or fans getting hurt. They had people dragging clothing and jewellery off them at airports apparently. They had a concert in Asia where 500 fans had to be lifted to safety at once point, and that is bearing in mind that there was the stampede in Jakarta around the time when four A1 fans were killed.

    Very lucky lifestyles, but I couldn't do it.

    I would be interested to know sales also. You can get a very basic idea from the certifications on the discography, but only very very basic from the countries where it went gold/platinum.

    Wow, I had no idea it was THAT crazy in Asia:D

    How big they were there, also shows that they are the only foreign act that achieved diamond certification with 2 albums in Philippines: their debut album which achieved Double Diamond status (25x platinum) and their 2nd album “Coast to Coast" that reached Diamond (or 14x platinum).

    Yeah, you are right about certifications, but like you said, they give a little info because they are based on shipments and not the actual sales.
  • Dave0893Dave0893 Posts: 13,658
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    ashtray88 wrote: »
    I know One Direction have sold about 20 million records worldwide which surprisingly is the same amount as Leona Lewis..

    It is pretty surprising, Leona is close to 25 million sales which is amazing.

    One Direction will definitely over take her with their next release though.
  • zeebre12zeebre12 Posts: 1,167
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    I didn't know their first 2 albums sold that much..without us sales this is impressive..do u have record sales for boy zone also to compare thanks..although they weren't as popular
  • AKindSoulAKindSoul Posts: 177
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    zeebre12 wrote: »
    I didn't know their first 2 albums sold that much..without us sales this is impressive..do u have record sales for boy zone also to compare thanks..although they weren't as popular

    Do you think he magics these sales estimates from his rear end?

    He Googles them just like you are capable of doing.

    Don't be so lazy.
  • ashtray88ashtray88 Posts: 1,531
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    Dave0893 wrote: »
    It is pretty surprising, Leona is close to 25 million sales which is amazing.

    One Direction will definitely over take her with their next release though.

    Probably.. Although I'm still hoping Leona will make a comeback with her album due out this year, lol..
  • zeze88zeze88 Posts: 1,587
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    AKindSoul wrote: »
    Do you think he magics these sales estimates from his rear end?

    He Googles them just like you are capable of doing.

    Don't be so lazy.

    I'm a girl and it is no problem;)

    However, I don't know the sales as I was never a fan. But I do know it has been said that they sold 25 million records so far.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 103
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    From Buzzjack:

    Westlife: 1,445,000
    Coast to coast: 1,688,000
    World of our own: 1,165,000
    The Greatest Hits: 1,643,000
    Turnaround: 750,000
    Allow us to be frank: 650,000
    Face To face: 1,250,000
    The Love Album: 950.000
    Back Home: 970,000

    Total UK Album Sales: 10.511.000

    They'd also sold just shy of 6 million UK singles, but these figures were taken a couple of years ago. It's not unreasonable to assume they'd reached 17 million total sales in the UK.

    One Direction are nowhere near that in the UK. In fact, they're not even on half of that. However, given that their 2 albums and handful of singles have sold around 9 million just in the US, it's fair to assume that they will have sold more than Westlife on a worldwide basis.

    EDIT: In fact, One Direction's 2 albums have sold almost 10 million worldwide. You could easily add another 15 million single sales (and that's a conservative estimate) to give them around 25 million. However, Weslife are quite likely to have sold well upwards of 10 million records outside the UK, so they're maybe not that far apart at the moment. One Direction will easily outsell them when their next album comes out though.
  • zeze88zeze88 Posts: 1,587
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    PaulM1983 wrote: »
    EDIT: In fact, One Direction's 2 albums have sold almost 10 million worldwide. You could easily add another 15 million single sales (and that's a conservative estimate) to give them around 25 million. However, Weslife are quite likely to have sold well upwards of 10 million records outside the UK, so they're maybe not that far apart at the moment. One Direction will easily outsell them when their next album comes out though.

    I understand they will outsell Westlife at one point because they cracked America which is the huge advantage, but I do think you are jumping the gun a little bit if you think they will outsell them already once they release the 3rd album - do you honestly believe they will sell another 25 million records so quickly? I'm not so sure as they haven't had a huge hit single since their debut. I think they will overtake them with 4th album.
  • andi84andi84 Posts: 2,299
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    zeze88 wrote: »
    Definitely not with albums:

    Westlife:

    1st album: more than 5 million
    2nd: 7 million


    1D

    1st: 4.7 million
    2nd: 4.5 million

    I know that Westlife sold altogether 45 million records which includes albums, singles and DVDs. I don't think 1D reached that number yet even if they do sell a lot of singles thanks to advantage of digital download, but who knows.

    But I definitely know they haven't sold more albums.

    For Westlife, I also know they sold about 20 million records in UK alone: 12 million albums, 6.6 million singles and 1 million DVDs.

    While 1D albums haven't even reached 1 million mark yet.

    To be fair, those album sales are the year end numbers of 2012. Both albums have sold a considerable amount this year as well. They both should have passed the 5m mark by now.
    And your last sentence is only correct if you talk about the two albums separately. The first album is a little over 900k, the second one a little under 800k. So 1.7m in total in the UK alone.

    Their singles have only been minor hits in the US compared to WMYB. But any artist would be happy with sales of over 1m (platinum) for two more songs (One Thing, Live While We're Young --> 1.5m) and 3 more gold singles (Little Things: just under 1m; One Way Or Another and Kiss You: more than 500k).

    Apart from that, I agree with you, their sales are nowhere near Westlife's (yet?). They might never get there, as people don't buy music the same way they did years ago.
  • zeebre12zeebre12 Posts: 1,167
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    Why do one directions singles do so poorly in the us compared to the UK?I thought they were huge in the states..?
  • Dave0893Dave0893 Posts: 13,658
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    ashtray88 wrote: »
    Probably.. Although I'm still hoping Leona will make a comeback with her album due out this year, lol..

    I hope she can do, but it looks like her next album is a Christmas one and alot of people think that will flop and is career suicide. I think it has potential but I'd rather she was just doing a new normal album.
  • andi84andi84 Posts: 2,299
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    zeebre12 wrote: »
    Why do one directions singles do so poorly in the us compared to the UK?I thought they were huge in the states..?

    I think it's because the songs haven't really been played on the radio (apart from WMYB). Probably because they haven't been over there to tour and promote their material for almost a year.
    As I understand the mechanism of the US charts, you need to have radio airplay to climb up in the charts, which will then lead to more sales.
  • zeze88zeze88 Posts: 1,587
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    andi84 wrote: »
    To be fair, those album sales are the year end numbers of 2012. Both albums have sold a considerable amount this year as well. They both should have passed the 5m mark by now.
    And your last sentence is only correct if you talk about the two albums separately. The first album is a little over 900k, the second one a little under 800k. So 1.7m in total in the UK alone.

    Their singles have only been minor hits in the US compared to WMYB. But any artist would be happy with sales of over 1m (platinum) for two more songs (One Thing, Live While We're Young --> 1.5m) and 3 more gold singles (Little Things: just under 1m; One Way Or Another and Kiss You: more than 500k).

    Apart from that, I agree with you, their sales are nowhere near Westlife's (yet?). They might never get there, as people don't buy music the same way they did years ago.

    I have seen these worldwide figures at on music forum about 2-3 weeks ago, 1D fans posted this so I'm pretty sure they are correct. I know similar figures were posted at year end charts, but I think they were pretty inflated - I know many ignore Mediatraffic, but I think their estimate for the debut being 3.6 and 2nd being 2.9 is more accurate than both albums being at 4 million mark at the end of 2012. I don't think they went over 5 million mark as the sales are dripping slowly now.

    Of course I meant their albums separately in the UK - that is quite low in my opinion, they are definitely more successful elsewhere than in the UK.
  • ashtray88ashtray88 Posts: 1,531
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    Dave0893 wrote: »
    I hope she can do, but it looks like her next album is a Christmas one and alot of people think that will flop and is career suicide. I think it has potential but I'd rather she was just doing a new normal album.

    People would expect that sort of album from Leona though. It won't confuse casual listeners like Glassheart seemed to and will appeal to fans and the adult contemporary market too so I think it's a good move.
  • Dave0893Dave0893 Posts: 13,658
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    ashtray88 wrote: »
    People would expect that sort of album from Leona though. It won't confuse casual listeners like Glassheart seemed to and will appeal to fans and the adult contemporary market too so I think it's a good move.

    This is what I think too, this has the potential to appeal to those who bought Spirit, it is Leona's amazing voice on much loved classic Christmas songs and some new ones. I can't wait for the live performances, I love her O Holy Night performance.
  • coun3spicecoun3spice Posts: 671
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    as of now, how many does one direction sold??? is it getting closer to 45 million?
  • Blossom85Blossom85 Posts: 1,710
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    coun3spice wrote: »
    as of now, how many does one direction sold??? is it getting closer to 45 million?

    http://www.modestmanagement.com/one-direction/
  • andi84andi84 Posts: 2,299
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    coun3spice wrote: »
    as of now, how many does one direction sold??? is it getting closer to 45 million?

    Obviously, their sales ARE getting closer to 45 million, closer every day ;) But sales-wise, these last few months have been rather quiet for One Direction.

    Come back in a few months after the release of the next single (next week) and the new album (next month).

    According to their management (link above), they sold 32 million records in a little over 2 years (they wrote "almost 3 years" which is not actually true, as "What Makes You Beautiful" was only released in September 2011....). So it's going to take AT LEAST another 9-12 months to get to 45 million, which would be amazing though...
    Especially as they're not THAT big in the UK (sales-wise only, and compared to Westlife) and haven't had a huge hit song in the US since their debut.
  • Blossom85Blossom85 Posts: 1,710
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    Even if they surpass Westlife's tally it'll be some time before they pass the Backstreet Boys' total - over 130 million :eek:
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