UK Top Selling Album Artists 1987-2004

[XTZ1969]

[BlueSwan]

Though, in terms of Global album and single sales, it certainly is the Pet Shop Boys. Erasure are often quoted as having sold 15 million albums globally, wheras Pet Shop Boys are consistently quoted as having sold 35 million.

According to the 'Release' & 'Nightbird' press releases, the right figures are 30 & 25 millions respectively.
In the case of PSB it was 2002. Since then they've sold around 1.4 million copies worldwide:
'Release' - 750.000
'Disco 3' - ¿100.000?
'PopArt' - ¿500.000?

Hmmm... I doubt that Release has actually sold 750.000. I would think it would be around 500-600.000. I would also think that "PopArt" had outsold release. I'd readily believe that PopArt would be approaching a million sold. Disco 3 looks about right, I guess.

[jamie1978]

Yeah, PopArt has sold more than Release, for sure.

In the UK alone PopArt has sold well over 200,000 - whereas Release sold something like 30,000.

But Neil is quoted on 750,000 for Release globally. That much we do know.

Erasure would have been lucky to shift more than 100,000 copies of Nightbird.

[Vince]

[quote="jamie1978"]
But Neil is quoted on 750,000 for Release globally. That much we do know.
[quote]

I bought one.... LOL...

[but what about fans who bought those 10 or so differently covered copies?]

[Lush]

[quote="BlueSwan
Right. Just as Bananarama is wrongly cited as being the most succesful female band - again based solely on number of chart singles. But this is obviously a VERY poor measure. Bands like The Supremes and The Spice Girls (just to mention two very obvious ones) have clearly been FAR more succesful than Bananarama.[/quote]
I think it's actually debatle whether the number of chart hits is really such a poor measure. If you compare FGTH with PSB, FGTH have sold more singles, but the bulk of their sales occured within a very limited time frame and confined more or less to three singles, whereas PSB have managed to produce charting singles for a couple of decades. Which of the two is the more successful? It's difficult to say, really.

[jamie1978]

I think it's actually debatle whether the number of chart hits is really such a poor measure. If you compare FGTH with PSB, FGTH have sold more singles, but the bulk of their sales occured within a very limited time frame and confined more or less to three singles, whereas PSB have managed to produce charting singles for a couple of decades. Which of the two is the more successful? It's difficult to say, really.

I dont think its difficult to say that PSB's are more successful than FGTH, as by every single measure we have (worldwide sales, UK and global album sales, total global/European single sales, longevity, etc) PSB are more successful. FGTH were really a UK-only phenomenon. Though I believe Relax scraped into the lower reaches US top ten at some point.

[BlueSwan]

I think it's actually debatle whether the number of chart hits is really such a poor measure. If you compare FGTH with PSB, FGTH have sold more singles, but the bulk of their sales occured within a very limited time frame and confined more or less to three singles, whereas PSB have managed to produce charting singles for a couple of decades. Which of the two is the more successful? It's difficult to say, really.

Longevity is impressive, especially when you're talking a constant flow of top 20 hits and not just top 40 hits. But on the other hand, all it really takes is a hardcore fan base. Longevity in terms of constant top 40 success says little about a continued mainstream appeal.

I think PSB has a legitimate claim to the title of "most succesful duo", but I don't think Bananarama has a legitimate claim to the title of "most succesful female act" anymore than The Wedding Present has a claim to being the "biggest band of 1992" (where they had 12 chart singles, all charting for 1 or 2 weeks in the top 75, but all making the top 30 and most even the top 20).

[XTZ1969]

[lucienchardon]

PSB is the 61st best albums act.
Take a look at this chart:
http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=26161

It's interesting that Radiohead are below PSB and Blur quite higher than both. And I'm surprised that Depeche Mode and The Cure are not even on the list.

DM had released six albums before 1987 and The Cure even more, so this chart begins at exactly the point when the productivity of both bands was starting to wane, so that puts them both at a disadvantage. That said, both The Cure and DM have always been cult and fanbase bands in the UK and have had limited appeal for casual buyers, the tastes of whom usually define what ends up on lists like this.

That's true but the reason I'm surprised is because in the U.S. album sales of DM and The Cure between say 1987-1996 were far higher than anything previous to that but obviously the UK market is different. They both went from cult bands to playing huge stadiums after about 1987/88. It would be interesting to see figures for Europe.

[Lush]

Longevity is impressive, especially when you're talking a constant flow of top 20 hits and not just top 40 hits. But on the other hand, all it really takes is a hardcore fan base. Longevity in terms of constant top 40 success says little about a continued mainstream appeal.

I think PSB has a legitimate claim to the title of "most succesful duo", but I don't think Bananarama has a legitimate claim to the title of "most succesful female act" anymore than The Wedding Present has a claim to being the "biggest band of 1992" (where they had 12 chart singles, all charting for 1 or 2 weeks in the top 75, but all making the top 30 and most even the top 20).

Indeed. My point was that success is not that easy to define, and therefore a measure of success remains elusive.

[XTZ1969]