Not sure it is unwarranted. She has been critasized relentlessly in the media recently about her age etc. The point was she is the biggest selling female artist. How long she has been around doesn't mean she is bound to have the biggest sales. Blondie has been around longer, TinaTurner, Cher the list could go on and on. It does actually mean she has been the most popular female act consistently selling records over the past three decades and selling a lot of records.
Regardless of how many singles Rihanna puts out she is still in the top10 because people are buying them so you can't detract from the fact she sells records.
Have I hit a nerve with a Gaga brigade member don't worry she is number 28.
I've never been a member of a brigade. What do they do?
Yes Madonna's managed to remain popular in order to sustain sales, but the fact of the matter is that... Put it this way, if you're given 5 minutes to make as many paper planes as you can, and your opponent is given 20 minutes, does that say anything about the planes? No, it's all about how much time they've been given.
Plus Madonna has the advantage of being around when people paid for things as opposed to stealing from torrent sites.
I didn't even mention Lady Gaga, but seeing as you did, it's amusing to see that after 12 singles she's at 28. It is completely irrelevant, but nice enough if you're into all that.
How is rihanna so high? imo shes so untalented. Ive never really liked or disliked rihanna, but Ive seen her live because of my gf and the woman absolutely cannot sing at all, maybe she was having an off night but it was terrible, and its not like she writes any of her songs or plays any of the instruments, all she has to do is sing. So overrated. No doubt she uses enhancing to enhance her vocals in the studio,hardly talent, cause her normal singing voice is shockingly bad.
Dont think Beatles will ever be knocked off number 1 spot
I've never been a member of a brigade. What do they do?
Yes Madonna's managed to remain popular in order to sustain sales, but the fact of the matter is that... Put it this way, if you're given 5 minutes to make as many paper planes as you can, and your opponent is given 20 minutes, does that say anything about the planes? No, it's all about how much time they've been given.
Plus Madonna has the advantage of being around when people paid for things as opposed to stealing from torrent sites.
I didn't even mention Lady Gaga, but seeing as you did, it's amusing to see that after 12 singles she's at 28.
That has worked actually as an advantage to modern artists as downloaded singles generally sell for 79-89p. Older artists had to sell their format on average for 2.49 in today's economy that works out between £6-8 with inflation. Somehow I can't see many artists today being able to shift singles at that price.
Rihanna has benefitted most from downloads, followed by David Guetta (I couldn't guess he had many hits yet) and Lady Gaga. I observed the irony about Lady G so close to Status Quo, whose first hit was 40 years earlier.
That has worked actually as an advantage to modern artists as downloaded singles generally sell for 79-89p. Older artists had to sell their format on average for 2.49 in today's economy that works out between £6-8 with inflation. Somehow I can't see many artists today being able to shift singles at that price.
Wrong. Many downloaded songs go for 0 because they're from torrents etc. When there was no option but to purchase, of course they'd sell more.
Another thing about Madonna as a different angle to women around for as long as her (or longer) is that she regularly releases material, where as cher etc sometimes take 5 year + breaks between each album.
Rihanna has benefitted most from downloads, followed by David Guetta (I couldn't guess he had many hits yet) and Lady Gaga. I observed the irony about Lady G so close to Status Quo, whose first hit was 40 years earlier.
Lady Gaga has benefitted more because of downloads than anybody. Rihanna started in 2005, when sales were at an all time low, whilst Lady Gaga started in 2009, when sales were at an all time high.
If all artists had sales climates like 2009-2012 for their entire career, Lady Gaga wouldn't even be in the top 100 on this.
Even Rihanna's biggest hit, Umbrella, has sold less than What's My Name?, just because sales were so much lower in 2007 than in 2010.
Wrong. Many downloaded songs go for 0 because they're from torrents etc. When there was no option but to purchase, of course they'd sell more.
Another thing about Madonna as a different angle to women around for as long as her (or longer) is that she regularly releases material, where as cher etc sometimes take 5 year + breaks between each album.
Even back in the eighties piracy was a huge impact. Tons of people sat on a Sunday listening to Radio 1 recording on a tape recorder.
Where modern media has a huge advantage is cost, Just buying a single was more than most young persons pocket money. This meant most young people had to save up to buy one single. Nowadays at 89p most young people get more than that a day.
Also unless you lived in a city or larger town that had a record store you where stuffed. Anyone living in a rural area had no immediate way of getting records or cd's. Ordering online was non existent and nothing was delivered free of charge in fact it cost more to get the item delivered than what it cost to buy.
You also relied on Top of the pops 30 mins once a week to be able to hear a track. There was no instant way to listen to tracks to decide if you want to buy.
I do admit that piracy is a lot easier but also fans have much more available source to access and purchase music at a cheap cost.
I am not even going to comment on the Madonna thing. The facts speak for themselves.
It's a double edged sword. Piracy is easier, but so is purchasing, it's all very confusing.
I agree. One big difference is loyalty of fans has also changed. Modern artists have much more to compete with and what's popular today is forgotten by next year. Certain artists are very good at marketing themselves towards types of people.
Gaga has gone for the gay market along with the slightly different group out of the norm.
Rihanna has certainly gone for the hip trendy sexualised market.
Adele is all about her voice and lyrics have a meaning to touch the listeners.
But overall it's fan loyalty that will keep anyone popular.
Are these lists just UK sales? It looks like they are, and if they are just UK sales as it appears, then they only tell a small part of the story.
If you really want to know the all-time best sellers, the biggest acts on the planet, ever, it needs to be done worldwide, not just who has sold the most amongst these isles.
Some of the same big acts would be up there of course, but their relative positions might change quite a bit. Or actually .. quite a lot....
That just shows how MASSIVE The Spice Girls were in that they are Top 20 with like 10 singles where most of the other acts in that countdown have at least 30 singles.
Comments
I've never been a member of a brigade. What do they do?
Yes Madonna's managed to remain popular in order to sustain sales, but the fact of the matter is that... Put it this way, if you're given 5 minutes to make as many paper planes as you can, and your opponent is given 20 minutes, does that say anything about the planes? No, it's all about how much time they've been given.
Plus Madonna has the advantage of being around when people paid for things as opposed to stealing from torrent sites.
I didn't even mention Lady Gaga, but seeing as you did, it's amusing to see that after 12 singles she's at 28. It is completely irrelevant, but nice enough if you're into all that.
Dont think Beatles will ever be knocked off number 1 spot
That has worked actually as an advantage to modern artists as downloaded singles generally sell for 79-89p. Older artists had to sell their format on average for 2.49 in today's economy that works out between £6-8 with inflation. Somehow I can't see many artists today being able to shift singles at that price.
Wrong. Many downloaded songs go for 0 because they're from torrents etc. When there was no option but to purchase, of course they'd sell more.
Another thing about Madonna as a different angle to women around for as long as her (or longer) is that she regularly releases material, where as cher etc sometimes take 5 year + breaks between each album.
Lady Gaga has benefitted more because of downloads than anybody. Rihanna started in 2005, when sales were at an all time low, whilst Lady Gaga started in 2009, when sales were at an all time high.
If all artists had sales climates like 2009-2012 for their entire career, Lady Gaga wouldn't even be in the top 100 on this.
Even Rihanna's biggest hit, Umbrella, has sold less than What's My Name?, just because sales were so much lower in 2007 than in 2010.
Even back in the eighties piracy was a huge impact. Tons of people sat on a Sunday listening to Radio 1 recording on a tape recorder.
Where modern media has a huge advantage is cost, Just buying a single was more than most young persons pocket money. This meant most young people had to save up to buy one single. Nowadays at 89p most young people get more than that a day.
Also unless you lived in a city or larger town that had a record store you where stuffed. Anyone living in a rural area had no immediate way of getting records or cd's. Ordering online was non existent and nothing was delivered free of charge in fact it cost more to get the item delivered than what it cost to buy.
You also relied on Top of the pops 30 mins once a week to be able to hear a track. There was no instant way to listen to tracks to decide if you want to buy.
I do admit that piracy is a lot easier but also fans have much more available source to access and purchase music at a cheap cost.
I am not even going to comment on the Madonna thing. The facts speak for themselves.
I agree. One big difference is loyalty of fans has also changed. Modern artists have much more to compete with and what's popular today is forgotten by next year. Certain artists are very good at marketing themselves towards types of people.
Gaga has gone for the gay market along with the slightly different group out of the norm.
Rihanna has certainly gone for the hip trendy sexualised market.
Adele is all about her voice and lyrics have a meaning to touch the listeners.
But overall it's fan loyalty that will keep anyone popular.
Guess if they do a number of gigs and how many people seen them live they would be at the top
In her London home crying at the state in which her sophomore LP is doing.
If you really want to know the all-time best sellers, the biggest acts on the planet, ever, it needs to be done worldwide, not just who has sold the most amongst these isles.
Some of the same big acts would be up there of course, but their relative positions might change quite a bit. Or actually .. quite a lot....