Talk:List of best-selling albums by women

To add

• Up! by Shania Twain (not a reliable source found)
• Anti by Rihanna (but incredibly inflated, despite is Billboard and citing equivalent-units) | Note: actually an album with heavy-streaming figures oriented
• Under My Skin by Avril Lavigne (maybe)
• Loose by Nelly Furtado (maybe)

--Apoxyomenus (talk) 14:44, 12 July 2021 (UTC)

Some estimations. Bluesatellite (talk) 00:46, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

Enya should have got 4 albums on this list.[1] Watermark (13m) and The Memory of Trees (10m) are missing. Bluesatellite (talk) 01:16, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

ABBA and Blondie

Do you think artists like ABBA and Blondie should be included? Their lead singles are women.--88marcus (talk) 02:37, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

I think we should not include them, they are mix gender groups. Their male members have huge roles in those groups. We should only stick to female solo artist and all-female group. Bluesatellite (talk) 03:57, 25 July 2021 (UTC)

10 Million sales of I Am... Sasha Fierce

Isn't the 10 Million claimed sales of a 2008 album I Am... Sasha Fierce a bit inflated? The certified sales of the album are only at 5.53M per the article's certification table and it is only around 55% of her 10M claimed sales. I don’t believe that this is enough for an album released in 2008. pinging 88marcus and Apoxyomenus for their opinion.— TheWikiholic (talk) 15:05, 24 December 2021 (UTC)

TheWikiholic I included that album in this list. But I feel you'r right, based on tier and available sales/certifications, the 10 million figure seems a bit inflated. I don't have problem to remove it and then we change the main article with the previous figure (8 million). Let see 88marcus thoughts. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 16:04, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

The 8 million claim is perfect! More accurate. Change it!--88marcus (talk) 23:18, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

13 million for Aaliyah's "Aaliyah" album

Hey you guys, so I believe that Aaliyah's self titled album claim number is very inflated. If you add up the certifications, they come up to about 3 million. With these certifications there is no way that the album sold 13 million worldwide. I think we need to find a smaller claim. pinging User:TheWikiholic and User:88marcus for opinions.. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Miaxh (talk • contribs) 23:41, 15 January 2022 (UTC)

@Miaxh: Totally inflated that album and all her albums in their articles. She's more like an American act, performance in Europe and Asia is poorly.--88marcus (talk) 00:20, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

@Miaxh: I tried to change those inflate sales in her articles but a (probable) fan reverted it and I don't want to begun an edit war.--88marcus (talk) 05:26, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

@88marcus: Thanks anyways. I wish people would learn to grow up. --- Miaxh

Agree with you guys. Also, don't know if anyone is interested in revisiting sales for Roxette discography; they don't fit for an inclusion here, but are led by a women. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 16:59, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

@Apoxyomenus:Wow. Roxette sales are pretty inflated. When I can, I will look for information about their sales. From what I've seen, only one site which is in Swedish is taken as a reference for all these numbers. I hope we don't have a fanatic like the Aalliyah fan running her articles. It's so tiring keep saying the same thing all the time, citing the discrepancy in sales in relation to certificates, that here on Wikipedia we use the most accurate and so on...--88marcus (talk) 03:50, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

To do-list

Next to the club

• Tuesday Night Music Club by Sheryl Crow  Done

--Apoxyomenus (talk) 21:16, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

Downgrade or increase available sales

• The Dutchess (currently with 12 million)
• She's So Unusual (currently with 16 million)

Nearly close

• Loose by Nelly Furtado  Done (note; search available sales would be better)

Keep in mind

(not ready; search for missing sales or wait for updated certs, etc)

• In the Zone by Britney Spears
• 19 by Adele
• Born to Die by Lana del Rey
• Good Girl Gone Bad by Rihanna
• Never Say Never by Brandy
• Love. Angel. Music. Baby. by Gwen Stefani
• Teenage Dream by Katy Perry

Others

• Guilty by Barbra Streisand (15M)

--Apoxyomenus (talk) 02:11, 24 March 2022 (UTC)

Since the list is prepared on the basis of total available certifications, I oppose adding both In the Zone and 19 to this list. We have albums like Invincible, having more available certifications and released two years prior to "In the Zone" yet to be 10M club. And even though Adele's 19 was released in 2009 it wasn't a success in the US then. And keep in mind the album was last certified there in 2016 since RIAA added streams and audio downloads to album certifications. TheWikiholic (talk) 19:20, 7 May 2022 (UTC)

@TheWikiholic: Sure, I agree with you they aren't ready to be added. I moved them into a sub-title of keep in mind. Invincible has about 4.4M available sales, close to be the double of its claimed sales actually, and a bit less than the two mentoned albums. It was me that already increased time ago its sales from 6 to 8 million, considering the gap of missing sales/updates along his chart performance. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 19:49, 7 May 2022 (UTC)

When I calculated (taking the IFPI Europe figure instead of taking each European country separately) the total available certification of In the Zone is just above 3.8M only. I never said Invincible have more certifications than 19. What I was trying to say is that the total available certification of 19 is still not enough for an album released in 2008. TheWikiholic (talk) 02:01, 8 May 2022 (UTC)

Disputed albums

Apparently, there are 3 albums that are currently listed as "disputed" on this list in which they are:

• She's So Unusual (1983)
• The Dutchess (2006)
• Physical (1981)

After checking their certified sales, and given the percentage criteria for albums based on their release dates, it's safe to say that She's So Unusual can stay on the list since it's certified sales are well enough to support the 16m figure, but The Dutchess and Physical should be removed from the list since their certified sales can't support their claimed figures, if there's a claimed sales figure of 10 million for The Dutchess then I guess it could stay too. Moh8213 (talk) 15:25, 1 July 2022 (UTC)

Moh8213 She's So Unusual definitely can stay on the list. The dispute for this album came from the figures given of 16 million, as seems to be a bit higher based on the chart performance/certifications (about 8.1M with method available sales/certifications). Contemporary releases like Private Dancer and Madonna to mention few examples, have lowered sales, and even there exists sources to increase their sales, as well both have more listed countries with certifications (or claimed sales) than Lauper herself, eg. I've tried to search sales for the album with no results (yet)

Regarding The Dutchess and Physical, I mostly support to remove them. Or at least The Dutchess lowered to 10 million. The problem, is the tireless work of dealing with users that at least a template like the current one, could show a "concern" here. And/or someone could help with this, finding sales by territory for them. Regards, --Apoxyomenus (talk) 04:49, 24 July 2022 (UTC)

Guinness World Records: janet.

How is it possible, that the Guinness World Records lists Janet Jackson's record "janet." as the best-selling album of the 1990s, if she isn't even in the top 20? 82.128.232.16 (talk) 12:58, 5 December 2022 (UTC)

Hi. Perhaps, that was misleading/misinterpreted. Would be interesting in what conditions GWR listed the album as such, considering that based on certifications and claimed sales from both worldwide/US, other female albums sold more than janet. Even from this decade came the all-time two best-selling albums by women, The Bodyguard and Come on Over. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 16:52, 11 January 2023 (UTC)

Albums to add on the list

I think the albums Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) and Love. Angel. Music. Baby (2004) have enough certifications for them to be included on the list with 10 million sales claim each. Especially for GGGB, I think the only thing needed rn is to look for sources that would back up their sales. Moh8213 (talk) 16:47, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

Moh8213 Sorry for the late response from my side. Idk about what others think. In my perspective, Gwen's album can fit for an addition, the problem is find a source. Rihanna's album seems to be a bit "inflated" by the moment, considering post-streaming certs are double that those from pure sales, including latest retrospectively given figure. See USA, for instance. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 00:06, 24 January 2024 (UTC)

Hi, it’s okay, yeah I do agree finding a source is very difficult, especially if the album isn’t that popular, though I strongly support the inclusion of GGGB, it’s by far Rihanna’s best-selling album, and it’s definitely a one that sold over 10 million copies. Yes, her certs might be inflated but that album is definitely an exception (mainly because it was released before the streaming era by almost 10 years. And it’s only her US cert that seem inflated. Her sales on other territories are impressive considering the albums age, also not to mention the album received 3x Plat. for selling 3 million in continental Europe in 2007 alone. So yeah I think it’s fair for it to be considered for inclusion. Moh8213 (talk) 20:36, 27 January 2024 (UTC)

Ok. I can help to find a RS once I have time. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 21:00, 27 January 2024 (UTC)

Pinging Markus WikiEditor Would you like to help to find sources for these albums? I tried sources in French/Italian/Spanish/Portuguese, aside English, but no results. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 21:01, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

@Apoxyomenus: I also didn't find anything regarding the 10 million copies sold. But, as a last resort, we can add a note: "The album sold 8 million copies by 2016. From that date until 2021, two million more were sold, which led to the album being certified with two more platinum records in the USA, by the RIAA." That's the most I could think of.--Markus WikiEditor (talk) 01:38, 17 February 2024 (UTC)

I see. I think Wikipedia have used similar examples in the past. See the article "remix album" where some are sorted with certifications only; or even more similar, WP:CALC, used in examples like South Korea (cumulative known sales from Gaon/Circle Chart), or IFPI World Report, for two years in a row if sales were given. Although here, there is no a successive report/tracking by one single publication. Also, the remix format still very minimal, for instance. Don't know what the others think and I don't have a crystal ball, but I think this can trigger to other users using the same path to other albums approaching the 10M mark, from today's "divas" to older ones. Take as a related example smash records like "Despacito" and Adele's 21 as both have sub-sections of commercial performance by continents —both set/broke various record— and since these examples primarily, appears that every single popular artist have these kind of subs in their releases, no matter if they set a record or not; seems like WP:Record/chart trajectory. No even all-time sellers like Thriller have such details, even, if the data exists. We're from one click to have a devoted article discussing why a Taylor Swift's album flopped, if this happen, as per today's standards with Wikipedia's music articles; things seems to spin around and benefit of the news cycle/circular reporting, "the moment" and the "now". We might have a sub-section here, with albums of streaming-oriented sales, like Rihanna's Anti with a claim sales of over 10 million (Billboard), maybe. I'll take another tour to see if I can find sources. Still doing the same with the others with lower sales/certs already included here. Cheers, --Apoxyomenus (talk) 23:24, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

Moh8213 I still trying find a source indicating 10 million copies for Rihanna's album, in different languages to have better results. I found this from a Spanish-language radio station. Not the best source, but wonder if this can help. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 18:09, 11 June 2024 (UTC)

Hi Apoxyomenus, hope you're doing well, I'm sorry for not contributing that much to the search, I've been slowly stepping away from wiki ever since I've started working, in fact I'm writing this while I'm at work rn. So yeah, I've seen the source and tbh it seems reliable to me, they even acknowledged the fact that the album sold 2 million copies in the US even though it's certified 6x Plat. I don't think we are in a hurry so we can wait until we find a more reliable source. Cheers. Moh8213 (talk) 14:02, 13 June 2024 (UTC)

Hi Moh8213, thanks I hope too you're doing well. Not the best source, but I don't have problem to include it, or wait. Let's see what others peeps can add. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 21:39, 13 June 2024 (UTC)

Couldn't find nothing in Brazilian Portuguese.--Markus WikiEditor (talk) 21:59, 13 June 2024 (UTC)

This article isn’t accurate.

Alanis Morissette had the best selling international debut by a female artist ever. It sold more copies than Whitney Houston’s first album. Jagged Little pill sold 33 million copies, so why don’t I see her here? Whitney was amazing and I love her, but she doesn’t hold the place for best selling debut. Do the research. 2600:6C40:43F0:9570:890B:44EC:1A10:7587 (talk) 12:49, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Alanis' Jagged Little Pill is her first worldwide release, but not her debut album. --Apoxyomenus (talk) 21:38, 14 September 2024 (UTC)