Nielsen Soundscan Music Industry Report 2015

[Gary]

First of several, I'm sure until the annual Soundscan report is released

U.S. Recording Industry 2015: Streams Double, Adele Dominates

1/5/2016 by Ed Christman  

www.billboard.com/biz/articles/6835219/us-recording-industry-2015-streams-double-adele-dominates

DIGITAL

Streaming continued to overtake the American recorded music industry last year. In fact, it doubled -- from 164.5 billion songs streamed in 2014 to 317.2 billion last year, according to Nielsen Music.

That increase translates into 211.5 million stream equivalent albums -- whereby 1,500 song streams equal one album -- up from 109.7 million in 2014. That's an increase of nearly 93 percent.

Because of streaming's ascent, the record business experienced an overall growth of 15.2 percent, from 476.9 million album consumption units in 2014 to to 549.4 million in 2015. (Album consumption units tally both physical and digital sales; So, 241.4 million album units were sold last year, while 96.5 million track equivalent albums -- whereby 10 track sales equal one album -- were downloaded.)

But, as streaming rises, digital sales continue to fall. Overall digital track sales declined a striking 12.5 percent, moving 964.8 million units last year compared to 2014's 1.1 billion. (Same as the 12.5 percent decline in track sales that occurred between 2013 and 2014.)

The decline in digital album sales slowed considerably however, dropping just 2.9 percent -- to 103.3 million in total, from 106.5 million in 2014. (The decrease between 2013 and 2014 was a lot steeper, when digital album scans fell 9.4 percent.)

BEST-SELLERS

Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” featuring Bruno Mars was the top-scanning song at 5.53 million units, Adele’s 25 was the best-selling album, moving 7.44 million units. Taylor Swift's 1989 came in second with 1.99 million units moved. (That record has sold 5.65 million in total since its Oct., 2014 release.)

Music sales and physical albums went out on a high at the end of the year, powered by the 7.4 million total units that 25 has sold. (Breaking down 25: CD sales accounted for 5 million units, digital 2.3 million units and vinyl nearly 116,000 units.)

By herself, Adele accounted for three percent of total album sales in the U.S.

Seven albums sold more than a million units last year -- four hit the same landmark in 2014.

LABELS

Universal Music Group, the industry's largest label by a wide margin, was down slightly to 38.5 percent of album-plus-TEA market share, from 38.7 percent.

Sony Music’s share jumped relatively sharply, to 29.5 percent, up from 28.5 percent, on the strength of Adele and 25.

Warner Music Group, which bills itself as the "major indie," grabbed an 18.7 percent market share.

Independent labels were 12.6 of the market.

(It's important to note that if market share is looked at by whole label ownership, as opposed to who owns those labels' distribution companies, than the indie sector collectively has the largest slice of the pie, accounting for 34.4 percent of the business.)

PHYSICAL

Despite Adele's record-breaking success physical albums continued their downward spiral, dropping to 137.5 million sales, from 150 million, or 8.3 percent.

That overall physical decline didn't affect the resurgence of vinyl however, which ballooned by 29.8 percent and moved 11.9 million slabs (9.2 million units in 2014). Including Adele, who dominated vinyl sales (in addition to almost everything else), 14 titles surpassed the 40,000 unit sales mark in vinyl for the year. Only three albums accomplished the same feat in 2014.

The only retail sector which saw growth was the non-traditional merchant -- such as online stores, concert halls and retailers like Urban Outfitters -- who accounted for 40.9 million scans, an increase of 6.2 percent. Independents saw a 5 percent decline in sales.

GENRE BREAKDOWN

Pop and R&B were the only categories that posted an increase in 2015. Pop grew a whopping 22.7 percent -- to nearly 34 million units from 2014’s 27.7 million units. R&B increased a modest 1.7 percent -- to 36.3 million units from 35.7 million units the prior year.

Latin, dance and country meanwhile experienced a double-digit dropoffs. Country, still a huge seller, closed the year with 27 million units moved, down from 30.5 million units. Latin shed 1.35 million in sales, dropping to 4.95 million, a decline of 20.9 percent. Dance, anecdotally considered an extremely strong genre, saw an alarming dip 16.4 percent dip in sales, to 4.4 million units from 5.3 million units.

In track sales, all large genres were down but pop had the smallest decline at 6.4 percent to 218 million units down from 232.75 million units.

[Gary]

Stats dated last year but posted for comparison


Music Sales Over the Years: 2014 Year-End Soundscan Data

January 5, 2015 Jake Brown 8 Comments


In last year’s wrap up I wrote, “I wouldn’t be surprised if within a few years Billboard starts incorporating streams into their year-end charts somehow.” In fact, they started doing it in November. Which proves that actual sales of albums are becoming irrelevant as more and more people turn to streaming instead of purchasing.

Personally, I still like physical media. I found a dope old school integrated amplifier for $20 at a garage sale this summer and after some minor repairs it’s powering my main system that I’ve been putting together over the years. I upgraded the cartridge on my turntable and I’ve finally got a setup I’m pretty happy with. I wish new vinyl sounded better, but I’ve been having fine luck in the used bins. It’s a great time to buy used CDs too. Neil Young might be crazy and crotchedly (and Pono was doomed from the start) but he’s right about the difference between lossy sound files and high fidelity recordings: the average listener might not be able to consciously hear the difference, but you can certainly FEEL it.

That said, my favorite album of the year is one that I downloaded for 99 cents via the Microsoft Music Deals app: Taylor Swift’s 1989. Even as crappy old MP3s it’s still totally infectious. I also just ordered it on vinyl, allegedly for my 8 year old who got his own record player from Santa. Other highlights for me this year were Run the Jewels 2, the CSNY 1974 box, Spoon’s They Want My Soul, Tweedy’s Sukierae (which I wasn’t really expecting to like as much as I do), Jenny Lewis’ The Voyager, and Conor Oberst’s Upside Down Mountain. And I was super excited that Tim Warren and Crypt Records resurrected Back from the Grave for Volume 9 of the ultimate sixties punk compilation series 18 years after the release of Volume 8.

So anyway, here’s the Soundscan data for 2014 compared to as much prior history as I could scrape off the internet. If you can help me fill in any gaps (especially 1991-1995, the early Soundscan era), I would certainly appreciate it.

Total U.S. Album sales (physical + digital in millions)

Total Album Sales (physical + digital albums)

2014: 257 million
2013: 289.41 million
2012: 315.96 million
2011: 330.57 million
2010: 326.15 million
2009: 373.9 million
2008: 428.4 million
2007: 500.5 million
2006: 542.4 million
2005: 618.9 million
2004: 667 million
2003: 687 million
2002: 681 million
2001: 763 million
2000: 785 million
1999: 754.8 million
1998: 711 million
1997: 651.8 million
1996: 616.6 million

Compact Discs

2014: 140.9 million
2013: 165.4 million
2012: 193.4 million
2011: 223.5 million
2010: 239.9 million
2009: 294.9 million
2008: 360.6 million
2007: 449.2 million
2006: 553.4 million
2005: 598.9 million
2004: 651.1 million
2003: 635.8 million
2002: 649.5 million
2001: 712.0 million
2000: 730.0 million
1999: 648.1 million
1998: ~578 million*
1997: 504.6 million
1996: 448.4 million
1995: 368 million

Digital Albums

2014: 106.5 million
2013: 117.58 million
2012: 117.68 million
2011: 103.1 million
2010: 86.3 million
2009: 76.4 million
2008: 65.8 million
2007: 50 million
2006: 16.2 million
2005: 5.5 million

Vinyl albums

2014: 9.2 million
2013: 6.1 million
2012: 4.55 million
2011: 3.9 million
2010: 2.8 million
2009: 2.5 million
2008: 1,877,000
2007: 990,000
2006: 858,000
2005: 857,000
2004: 1,187,000
2003: 1,404,000
2002: 1,339,000
2001: 1,246,000
2000: 1,533,000
1999: 1,405,000
1998: 1,376,000
1997: 1,092,000
1996: 1,145,000
1995: 794,000
1994: 625,000

Cassette albums

2009: 34,000
…
2007: 274,000
…
2004: 8.6 million
…
2002: 29.8 million
2001: 49.4 million
2000: 77.2 million
1999: 105.5 million
1998: ~130.8 million
1997: 146 million
1996: 166.7 million

Digital tracks

Digital Track Sales (in millions)

2014: 1.1 billion
2013: 1.26 billion
2012: 1.336 billion
2011: 1.27 billion
2010: 1.17 billion
2009: 1.16 billion
2008: 1.07 billion
2007: 844.1 million
2006: 582 million
2005: 353 million
2004: 141 million
2003: 19.2 million (SoundScan monitored them only during the year’s second half)

Track equivalent albums (where 10 track downloads equal one album)

2014: 367.3 million
2013: 415.3 million
2012: 449.5 million
2011: 457.7 million
2010: 443.4 million
2009: 489.8 million
2008: 535.4 million
2007: 585 million
2006: 646.3 million
2005: 654.1 million
2004: 680.7 million

Streams *

2014: 164 billion
2013: 118.1 billion
2012: ~89.5 billion (calculated on reports that 2013 was up 32%)

* Non-interactive digital services like Pandora and Sirius XM are not included in the streams tracked by Nielsen Music.

Streaming equivalent albums (SEA)

2014: 109.3 million (1,500 streams equal one album)
2013: 53 million units (2,000 streams equal one album)

* “The industry calculates that a stream equivalent album (SEA) equals 1,500 streams. (That’s an average payout of half a cent per stream, totaling $7.50. In 2013, the average payout per stream was $.0.00375, thus in that year 2,000 streams equaled one SEA unit.)” – Ed Christman.

Total Album + TEA + SEA

2014: 476.5 million
2013: 486.1 million

[Gary]

For fun 2014 Sales + TEA-SEA

Rank Artist Title Total

Volume


1 VARIOUS ARTISTS FROZEN 4,471,000
2 TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 4,399,000
3 SAM SMITH IN THE LONELY HOUR 2,075,000
4 ARIANA GRANDE MY EVERYTHING 1,514,000
5 KATY PERRY PRISM 1,503,000
6 LORDE PURE HEROINE 1,481,000
7 BEYONCE BEYONCE 1,469,000
8 ED SHEERAN X 1,396,000
9 PHARRELL WILLIAMS G I R L 1,390,000
10 LUKE BRYAN CRASH MY PARTY 1,341,000


Album sales 2014

2014 TOP ALBUMS (Based on U.S. Sales)
Rank Artist Title Sales
1 TAYLOR SWIFT 1989 3,661,000
2 VARIOUS ARTISTS FROZEN 3,527,000
3 SAM SMITH IN THE LONELY HOUR 1,207,000
4 PENTATONIX THAT'S CHRISTMAS TO ME 1,139,000
5 SOUNDTRACK GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 898,000
6 BEYONCE BEYONCE 878,000
7 BARBRA STREISAND PARTNERS 856,000
8 LORDE PURE HEROINE 841,000
9 ONE DIRECTION FOUR 814,000
10 ERIC CHURCH OUTSIDERS 811,000

[Gary]

2013 YEAR END TOP SELLING ALBUMS

Rank - Sales - TITLE - Artist
01 - 2,427,000 - THE 20/20 EXPERIENCE - Justin Timberlake
02 - 1,727,000 - THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP 2 - Eminem
03 - 1,521,000 - CRASH MY PARTY - Luke Bryan
04 - 1,402,000 - NIGHT VISIONS - Imagine Dragons
05 - 1,399,000 - UNORTHODOX JUKEBOX - Bruno Mars
06 - 1,350,000 - HERE'S TO THE GOOD TIMES - Florida Georgia Line
07 - 1,344,000 - NOTHING WAS THE SAME - Drake
08 - 1,301,000 - BEYONCÉ - Beyoncé
09 - 1,109,000 - BASED ON A TRUE STORY - Blake Shelton
10 - 1,099,000 - MAGNA CARTA...HOLY GRAIL - Jay-Z

[Gary]

2012 Top Ten Selling Albums

Title/Artist Units Sold
1 21 / ADELE 4,414,000
2 RED / TAYLOR SWIFT 3,107,000
3 UP ALL NIGHT / ONE DIRECTION 1,616,000
4 BABEL / MUMFORD & SONS 1,463,000
5 TAKE ME HOME / ONE DIRECTION 1,340,000
6 BELIEVE / JUSTIN BIEBER 1,324,000
7 BLOWN AWAY / CARRIE UNDERWOOD 1,203,000
8 TAILGATES & TANLINES / LUKE BRYAN 1,105,000
9 TUSKEGEE / LIONEL RICHIE 1,071,000
10 NIGHT TRAIN / JASON ALDEAN 1,024,000

[Gary]

2011 TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS
(1/3/2011-1/1/2012)

Title/Artist Units Sold
1 21/ Adele 5,824,000
2 Christmas/ Michael Buble 2,452,000
3 Born This Way/ Lady Gaga 2,101,000
4 Tha Carter IV/ Lil’ Wayne 1,917,000
5 My Kinda Party/ Jason Aldean 1,576,000
6 Sigh No More/ Mumford & Sons 1,420,000
7 Take Care/ Drake 1,247,000
8 Under The Mistletoe/ Justin Bieber 1,245,000
9 Watch The Throne/ Jay Z & Kanye West 1,232,000
10 Own The Night/ Lady Antebellum 1,204,000

[Gary]

2010 TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS
(1/04/2010-1/02/2011)

Title/Artist Units Sold
1 Recovery/ Eminem 3,415,000
2 Need You Now/ Lady Antebellum 3,089,000
3 Speak Now/ Taylor Swift 2,960,000
4 My World 2.0/ Justin Bieber 2,319,000
5 The Gift/ Susan Boyle 1,852,000
6 Fame/ Lady Gaga 1,591,000
7 Soldier Of Love/ Sade 1,300,000
8 Thank Me Later/ Drake 1,269,000
9 Raymond V Raymond/ Usher 1,183,000
10 Animal/ Ke$ha 1,143,000

[Gary]

2009 TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS

(12/29/2008-1/3/2010)

Title/Artist Units Sold
1 Fearless/ Taylor Swift 3217000
2 I Dreamed A Dream/ Susan Boyle 3104000
3 Number Ones/ Michael Jackson 2355000
4 Fame/ Lady Gaga 2238000
5 My Christmas/ Andrea Bocelli 2207000
6 Hannah Movie Sndtrk/ Hannah Montana 1823000
7 E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies)/ Black Eyed Peas 1787000
8 Relapse/ Eminem 1735000
9 Blueprint 3/ Jay-Z 1515000
10 Only By the Night/ Kings of Leon 1398000

[Gary]

2008


1 Tha Carter III/ Lil Wayne 2,874,000
2 Viva La Vida/ Coldplay 2,144,000
3 Fearless/Taylor Swift 2,112,000
4 Rock N Roll Jesus/ Kid Rock 2,018,000
5 Black Ice/ AC/DC 1,915,000
6 Taylor Swift/Taylor Swift 1,597,000
7 Death Magnetic/ Metallica 1,565,000
8 Paper Trail/ T.I. 1,522,000
9 Sleep Through the Static/ Jack Johnson 1,492,000
10 I Am…Sasha Fierce/ Beyonce 1,459,000

[Gary]

2007 TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS
(01/01/2007-12/30/2007)

Title/Artist Units Sold
1 Noel / Josh Groban 3,699,000
2 Soundtrack / High School Musical 2 2,957,000
3 Long Road Out of Eden / Eagles 2,608,000
4 As I Am / Alicia Keys 2,543,000
5 Daughtry / Daughtry 2,497,000
6 Soundtrack/ Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley 2,489,000
7 Minutes To Midnight / Linkin Park 2,099,000
8 Dutchess / Fergie 2,064,000
9 Taylor Swift / Taylor Swift 1,951,000
10 Graduation / Kanye West 1,892,000

[Gary]

2006 TOP TEN SELLING ALBUMS
----------------------------------- ----------------------------------
(01/02/2006-12/31/2006)

       Title/Artist Units Sold Artist Units Sold
------------------------------- ------------------------------
1 Soundtrack / High 3,719,071
    ------------------
2 Me and My Gang / 3,479,994 
     Rascal Flatts
------------------
3 Some Hearts / 3,015,950 
     Carrie Underwood
------------------
4 All the Right 2,688,166 
     Reasons/
Nickelback
------------------
5 Futuresex/Love ... 2,377,127 
     / Justin
Timberlake
------------------
6 Back to Bedlam / 2,137,142 
     James Blunt
------------------
7 B'day / Beyonce 2,010,311 
    ------------------
8 Soundtrack/ Hannah 1,987,681 
     Montana
------------------
9 Taking the Long 1,856,284
     Way/ Dixie Chicks
------------------
10. Extreme Behavior/ 1,817,350 
     Hinder
------------------

[Gary]

2005

1 THE EMANCIPATION OF MIMI MARIAH CAREY 5,000,000
2 THE MASSACRE 50 CENT 4,900,000
3 BREAKAWAY KELLY CLARKSON 3,500,000
4 AMERICAN IDIOT GREEN DAY 3,400,000
5 MONKEY BUSINESS BLACK EYED PEAS 3,000,000
6 X&Y COLDPLAY 2,600,000
7 FEELS LIKE TODAY RASCAL FLATTS 2,500,000
8 LOVE ANGEL MUSIC BABY GWEN STEFANI 2,500,000
9 LATE REGISTRATION KANYE WEST 2,400,000
10 DOCUMENTARY THE GAME 2,300,000

[Gary]

2004
1 CONFESSIONS USHER 8,000,000
2 FEELS LIKE HOME JONES, HORAH 3,800,000
3 ENCORE EMINEM 3,500,000
4 WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN CHESNEY, KENNY 3,100,000
5 HERE FOR THE PARTY WILSON, GRETCHEN 2,900,000
6 LIVE LIKE YOU WERE DYING MCGRAW, TIM 2,800,000
7 SONGS ABOUT JANE MAROON5 2,700,000
8 FALLEN EVANESCENCE 2,600,000
9 AUTOBIOGRAPHY SIMPSON, ASHLEE 2,600,000
10 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC! 16 VARIOUS ARTISTS 2,600,000

[Gary]

1991-2003

Year-End Soundscan

1991

4.0 Garth Brooks - Ropin' the Wind
3.4 Metallica - Metallica
3.2 Natalie Cole - Unforgettable
2.8 Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion II
2.2 Guns N' Roses - Use Your Illusion I
2.7 Michael Bolton - Time, Love and Tenderness
1.8 Hammer - Too Legit to Quit
1.6 Nirvana - Nevermind
1.4 U2 - Achtung Baby
1.8 Michael Jackson - Dangerous
1992

4.7 Billy Ray Cyrus - Some Gave All
4.0 Garth Brooks - Ropin' the Wind
3.4 Pearl Jam - Ten
3.3 The Bodyguard soundtrack
3.2 Kris Kross - Totally Krossed Out
3.1 Garth Brooks - No Fences
3.1 Garth Brooks - The Chase
2.7 Nirvana - Nevermind
2.7 Def Leppard - Adrenalized
2.6 Metallica - Metallica
1993

5.5 Soundtrack - The Bodyguard
4.3 Janet Jackson - janet
3.8 Pearl Jam - Vs.
3.8 Kenny G - Breathless
3.3 Mariah Carey - Music Box
2.9 Eric Clapton - Unplugged
2.9 Dr. Dre - The Chronic
2.8 Stone Temple Pilots - Core
2.8 Garth Brooks - In Pieces
2.6 Meatloaf - Bat Out Of Hell II : Back Into Hell
2.6 Billy Joel - River Of Dreams

1994
1 THE LION KING Soundtrack 4.9m
2 THE SIGN Ace Of Base 4.9m
3 II Boyz II Men 4.3m
4 AUGUST AND EVERYTHING AFTER Counting Crows 3.8m
5 DOOKIE Green Day 3.4m
6 NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON Tim McGraw 3.2m
7 PURPLE Stone Temple Pilots 3.1m
8 MIRACLES:THE HOLIDAY ALBUM Kenny G 3.0m
9 SMASH Offspring 2.9m
10 MUSIC BOX Mariah Carey 2.7m
1995
01) [7.0] Cracked Rear View/Hootie & The Blowfish
02) [4.8] CrazySexyCool/TLC
03) [4.2] Jagged Little Pill/Alanis Morissette
04) [3.9] Daydream/Mariah Carey
05) [3.8] The Hits/Garth Brooks
06) [3.5] Throwing Cooper/Live
07) [3.4] II/Boyz II Men
08) [2.9] Anthology 1/The Beatles
09) [2.8] Hell Freezes Over/Eagles
10) [2.8] The Woman In Me/Shania Twain
1996
01) [7.4] Jagged Little Pill/Alanis Morissette
02) [6.0] Falling Into You/Celine Dion
03) [4.5] The Score/Fugees
04) [4.4] Tragic Kingdom/No Doubt
05) [3.0] Daydream/Mariah Carey
06) [3.0] All Eyez On Me/2 Pac
07) [3.0] Load/Metallica
08) [2.9] Secrets/Toni Braxton
09) [2.8] The Woman In Me/Shania Twain
10) [2.6] (What's The Story) Morning Glory/Oasis
1997
01) [5.3] Spice/Spice Girls
02) [4.3] Pieces Of You/Jewel
03) [3.4] No Way Out/Puff Daddy & The Family
04) [3.3] Sevens/Garth Brooks
05) [3.2] Middle Of Nowhere/Hanson
06) [3.1] Life After Death/The Notorious B.I.G.
07) [3.1] Bringing Down The Horse/The Wallflowers
08) [3.0] Falling Into You/Celine Dion
09) [2.9] Space Jam/Soundtrack
10) [2.9] You Light Up My Life-Inspirational Songs/LeAnn Rimes
1998
01) [9.3] Titanic/Soundtrack
02) [5.9] Let's Talk About Love/Celine Dion
03) [5.7] Backstreet Boys/Backstreet Boys
04) [4.9] Come On Over/Shania Twain
05) [4.4] 'N Sync/'N Sync
06) [4.1] City Of Angels/Soundtrack
07) [3.9] Double Live/Garth Brooks
08) [3.7] Big Willie Style/Will Smith
09) [3.2] Savage Garden/Savage Garden
10) [3.2] Armageddon/Soundtrack
1999
01) [9.4] Millennium/Backstreet Boys
02) [8.4] ...Baby One More Time/Britney Spears
03) [6.0] Ricky Martin/Ricky Martin
04) [5.6] Come On Over/Shania Twain
05) [5.0] Significant Other/Limp Bizkit
06) [4.7] Supernatural/Santana
07) [4.3] Devil Without A Cause/Kid Rock
08) [4.2] Fanmail/TLC
09) [3.7] Christina Aguilera/Christina Aguilera
10) [3.5] Wide Open Spaces/Dixie Chicks

2000
01) [9.9] No Strings Attached/'N Sync
02) [7.9] The Marshall Mathers LP/Eminem
03) [7.9] Oops!...I Did It Again/Britney Spears
04) [6.6] Human Clay/Creed
05) [5.9] Supernatural/Santana
06) [5.1] 1/The Beatles
07) [5.1] Country Grammar/Nelly
08) [4.3] Black & Blue/Backstreet Boys
09) [4.0] 2001/Dr. Dre
10) [3.8] The Writing's On The Wall/Destiny's Child

2001
01) [4.81] Hybrid Theory/Linkin Park
02) [4.52] Hotshot/Shaggy
03) [4.42] Celebrity/'N Sync
04) [4.41] A Day Without Rain/Enya
05) [4.24] Break The Cycle/Staind
06) [4.10] Songs In A Minor/Alicia Keys
07) [3.72] Survivor/Destiny's Child
08) [3.58] Weathered/Creed
09) [3.46] O Brother, WHere Art Thou?/Soundtrack
10) [3.13] Now That's What I Call Music!6/Various Artists
2002
01) [7.608] The Eminem Show/Eminem
02) [4.916] Nellyville/Nelly
03) [4.121] Let Go/Avril Lavigne
04) [3.690] Home/Dixie Chicks
05) [3.498] 8 Mile/Soundtrack
06) [3.145] M!ssundaztood/Pink
07) [3.100] Ashanti/Ashanti
08) [3.055] Drive/Alan Jackson
09) [2.909] Up!/Shania Twain
10) [2.736] O Brother, Where Art Thou?/Soundtrakc
2003
01) [6.536] Get Rich Of Die Tryin'/50 Cents
02) [5.137] Come Away With Me/Norah Jones
03) [3.478] Meteora/Linkin Park
04) [3.365] Fallen/Evanescence
05) [3.090] Speakerboxxx/The Love Below/OutKast
06) [2.527] Dangerously In Love/Beyonce
07) [2.440] Chocolate Factory/R. Kelly
08) [2.406] Metamorphosis/Hilary Duff
09) [2.324] Shock'n Y'all/Toby Keith
10) [2.184] A Rush Of Blood To The Head/Coldplay

[Gary]

2015

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2015 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS
Rank Artist, Title Total Units
1 Adele, 25 8,008,000
2 Taylor Swift, 1989 3,105,000
3 Justin Bieber, Purpose 2,225,000
4 Ed Sheeran, X 2,206,000
5 The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness 2,045,000
6 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late 1,919,000
7 Meghan Trainor, Title 1,795,000
8 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour 1,741,000
9 Sam Hunt, Montevallo 1,378,000
10 Fetty Wap, Fetty Wap 1,295,000
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015.

TOP 10 SELLING ALBUMS OF 2015 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Total Sales
1 Adele, 25 7,441,000
2 Taylor Swift, 1989 1,993,000
3 Justin Bieber, Purpose 1,269,000
4 Ed Sheeran, X 1,162,000
5 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late 1,142,000
6 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour 1,018,000
7 Meghan Trainor, Title 1,007,000
8 The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness 862,000
9 Soundtrack, Fifty Shades of Grey 861,000
10 Luke Bryan, Kill the Lights 851,000
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015.

TOP 10 SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2015 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Total Sales
1 Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk!" 5,529,000
2 Ed Sheeran, "Thinking Out Loud" 3,976,000
3 Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, "See You Again" 3,801,000
4 Adele, "Hello" 3,712,000
5 Maroon 5, "Sugar" 3,343,000
6 Walk the Moon, "Shut Up and Dance" 2,986,000
7 Fetty Wap, "Trap Queen" 2,730,000
8 OMI, "Cheerleader" 2,698,000
9 The Weekend, "The Hills" 2,586,000
10 Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar, "Bad Blood" 2,580,000
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015.

[Gary]

3rd year of the last 5 Adele has been #1

[areyoureadytojump]

Of course the day I spend at the movies, this info is released.

2015 had 7 albums that sold one million copies.

2014 only had 4 million sellers.

[areyoureadytojump]

Thanks to iHypeMusic

www.billboard.com/articles/business/6835216/us-recording-industry-2015-streams-double-adele-dominates-nielsen-music

Album Consumption (TEA+SEA):
2015 - 549.4 million (476.9 million in 2014)

Album Sales:
2015 - 241.4 million (257.0 million in 2014)

Track Sales (TEA):
2015 - 964.8 million (1,102.5B in 2014)

Digital Album Sales:
2015 - 103.3 million (106.5 million in 2014)

Physical Album Sales:
2015 - 137.5 million (150 million in 2014)

Streaming:
2015 - 317.2 billion (164.5 billion in 2014)

Audio Streaming:
2015 - 144.9 billion (78.6 billion in 2014)

Vinyl:
2015 - 11.9 million (9.2 million in 2014)

Best-Selling Song:
Uptown Funk - 5.53 million

Best-Selling Album:
25 - 7.44 million

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6835248/adele-25-top-album-of-2015-in-us

Adele's '25' Rules as Nielsen Music's Top Album of 2015 in U.S.
1/5/2016 by Keith Caulfield

Adele attends the television show 2015! Menschen, Bilder, Emotionen - RTL Jahresrueckblick on Dec. 6, 2015 in Cologne, Germany.
Total album units and streams rise, sales continue to fall… while vinyl album sales are red-hot.


Adele’s 25 triumphs as 2015’s most popular album in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music, as the data company reports that the title earned 8.01 million equivalent album units during the year -- with a whopping 7.44 million of that in traditional album sales.

The 8.01 million equivalent album units figure is a multi-metric consumption total, which includes traditional album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). The multi-metric formula is also used to compile the weekly Billboard 200 albums chart, which ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S.

Nielsen Music’s 2015 tracking year ran from Dec. 29, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015.

TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2015 IN U.S., BY TOTAL EQUIVALENT ALBUM UNITS
Rank Artist, Title Total Units
1 Adele, 25 8,008,000
2 Taylor Swift, 1989 3,105,000
3 Justin Bieber, Purpose 2,225,000
4 Ed Sheeran, X 2,206,000
5 The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness 2,045,000
6 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late 1,919,000
7 Meghan Trainor, Title 1,795,000
8 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour 1,741,000
9 Sam Hunt, Montevallo 1,378,000
10 Fetty Wap, Fetty Wap 1,295,000
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015.


Taylor Swift’s 1989 is the year’s second-biggest album (3.1 million units; 1.99 million in pure album sales), followed by Justin Bieber’s Purpose (2.22 million units; 1.27 million album sales) and Ed Sheeran’s X (2.21 million units; 1.16 million album sales).

The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness closes 2015 as the No. 5 most popular album (2.04 million units), followed by Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (1.92 million units), Meghan Trainor’s Title (1.79 million units), Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour (1.74 million units), Sam Hunt’s Montevallo (1.38 million units) and Fetty Wap’s self-titled album (1.29 million units).

A year ago, the most popular album of 2014 -- in terms of overall equivalent album units -- was the Frozen soundtrack with 4.47 million units. Swift’s 1989 was the No. 2 set, with 4.40 million units.

In total for 2015, Nielsen reports that 549.35 million equivalent album units were consumed -- up 15.2 percent compared to 2014’s haul (476.93 million). The increase is owed to a 93 percent lift in on-demand streams (SEA). Pure album sales were down 6 percent -- more on that in a moment -- while track equivalent albums (TEA) fell by 13 percent.

SALES STORY: Adele’s 25 finishes 2015 as the top selling album (7.44 million), which shouldn’t come as a surprise, as its weekly sales have been record-breaking. 25 was released Nov. 20 on XL Recordings/Columbia Records.

Adele is the first artist to earn the top selling album of a calendar year three times since Nielsen Music’s first full year of tracking in 1992. She also led the year-end tallies in 2011 and 2012, with her previous album, 21. In those years, 21 sold 4.41 million and 5.82 million, respectively.

25 is also the second-biggest selling album by a woman of a calendar year in Nielsen Music history. Among titles by women, only Britney Spears’ Oops!… I Did It Again sold more in a year, when it shifted 7.89 million in 2000.

25 sold a whopping 7.44 million copies in just six weeks on sale, as the title was released on Nov. 20.

Taylor Swift’s 1989, which was 2014’s top selling album (3.66 million sold that year), continued to perform strongly in 2015: it’s the No. 2 best-selling set of the year, with 1.99 million sold.

25 and 1989 are two of the seven million-selling albums of 2015 -- four more than were achieved in 2014.

TOP 10 SELLING ALBUMS OF 2015 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Total Sales
1 Adele, 25 7,441,000
2 Taylor Swift, 1989 1,993,000
3 Justin Bieber, Purpose 1,269,000
4 Ed Sheeran, X 1,162,000
5 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late 1,142,000
6 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour 1,018,000
7 Meghan Trainor, Title 1,007,000
8 The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness 862,000
9 Soundtrack, Fifty Shades of Grey 861,000
10 Luke Bryan, Kill the Lights 851,000
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015.


Following 25 and 1989 on 2015’s year-end best selling albums list is Justin Bieber’s Purpose (1.27 million), Ed Sheeran’s X (1.16 million), Drake’s If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (1.14 million), Sam Smith’s In the Lonely Hour (1.02 million) and Meghan Trainor’s Title (1.01 million).

Rounding out the year’s top 10 best sellers are: The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness (862,000), the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack (861,000) and Luke Bryan’s Kill the Lights (851,000).

Overall album sales -- physical and digital combined -- declined by 6 percent in 2015 to 241.39 million (down from 257.02 million in 2014). Notably, 25’s impressive sales sum helped ease the continuing downward slide in sales volume. Without 25’s 7.44 million sales, album sales would have dropped by 9 percent instead of 6 percent. 25’s sales loomed so large, it represented 3.1 percent of total album sales in 2015.

Comparably, total album sales eroded 11 percent in 2014, 8 percent in 2013, and 4 percent in 2012.

‘25’ RULES DIGITAL ALBUM SALES, TOO: Digital album sales also fell in 2015, for the third time, by 3 percent (103.33 million versus 106.47 million in 2014). Digital album sales also declined in 2014 and 2013.

The top selling digital album of 2015 is Adele’s 25 with 2.31 million -- the most downloads sold of any digital album in a calendar year, and the first time an album has sold more than 2 million downloads in a calendar year. The previous largest selling digital album in a calendar year was Adele’s 21, when it moved 1.8 million in 2011.

21 and 25 are the Nos. 1 and 3 top selling digital albums of all time, with 3.21 million and 2.31 million downloads sold, respectively. Taylor Swift’s 1989 is in second place, with 2.35 million.

VINYL GROOVES: Vinyl album sales continued to flourish, as they were up by 30 percent to 11.92 million sold in 2015 (up from 9.19 million in 2014) for the 10th straight year of growth.

Vinyl album sales represented 5 percent of all albums sold in the U.S. in 2015.

The top selling vinyl LP of 2015 is Adele’s 25, with 116,000 copies sold. Since Nielsen began tracking sales in 1991 (well after the vinyl format collapsed in the 1980s), 25 is the largest selling vinyl album in a calendar year.

‘FUNK’ LEADS DIGITAL SONG SALES: In terms of digital song download sales, the configuration fell by 12 percent in 2015 to 965.76 million sold (down from 1.1 billion in 2014). Nielsen began tracking song download sales in the summer of 2003, shortly after Apple’s iTunes Music Store debuted in April of that year.

The top selling digital song of 2015 is Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” featuring Bruno Mars, with 5.53 million sold. To compare, 2014’s best seller was Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” with 6.45 million.

TOP 10 SELLING DIGITAL SONGS OF 2015 IN U.S.
Rank Artist, Title Total Sales
1 Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, "Uptown Funk!" 5,529,000
2 Ed Sheeran, "Thinking Out Loud" 3,976,000
3 Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth, "See You Again" 3,801,000
4 Adele, "Hello" 3,712,000
5 Maroon 5, "Sugar" 3,343,000
6 Walk the Moon, "Shut Up and Dance" 2,986,000
7 Fetty Wap, "Trap Queen" 2,730,000
8 OMI, "Cheerleader" 2,698,000
9 The Weekend, "The Hills" 2,586,000
10 Taylor Swift featuring Kendrick Lamar, "Bad Blood" 2,580,000
Source: Nielsen Music, for the tracking period Dec. 29, 2014 through Dec. 31, 2015.

As for the rest of 2015’s top 10 selling download songs: Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud” is runner-up (3.98 million), followed by Wiz Khalifa’s “See You Again,” featuring Charlie Puth (3.8 million) and Adele’s “Hello” (3.71 million).

Maroon 5’s “Sugar” is the No. 5 seller (3.34 million), Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance” is No. 6 (2.99 million) and Fetty Wap’s “Trap Queen” is No. 7 (2.73 million). OMI’s “Cheerleader” is No. 8 (2.7 million), The Weeknd’s “The Hills” is No. 9 (2.59 million) and Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood,” featuring Kendrick Lamar, rounds out the year’s top 10 best sellers at No. 10 (2.58 million).

In total, 61 songs sold at least a million downloads in 2015 (down from 82 in 2014 and 106 in 2013). Seventeen moved at least two million in 2015 (down from 25 in 2014 and 38 in 2013).

[when the pawn...]

I know this is a stretch but according to the Billboard 200, 25 had the biggest calendar year of any album since 2000. While Confessions sold about 500k more than Adele, 25 has the track sales/streaming to make up for it. Again, I know that is a slippery slope and relatively insignificant but still.

[areyoureadytojump]

Here's the 29 page press release/report:

www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reports-downloads/2016-reports/2015-year-end-music-report.pdf.pdf

[Gary]

Quite colorful. I miss the updates to the top 10 all times lists that they used to do :(

[areyoureadytojump]

My list:

Top 10 SoundScan Albums 1992 - 2015

2015:

1. 7,441,000 Adele, 25
2. 1,993,000 Taylor Swift, 1989
3. 1,269,000 Justin Bieber, Purpose
4. 1,162,000 Ed Sheeran, X
5. 1,142,000 Drake, If You're Reading This It's Too Late
6. 1,018,000 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
7. 1,007,000 Meghan Trainor, Title
8. 862,000 The Weeknd, Beauty Behind the Madness
9. 861,000 Soundtrack, Fifty Shades of Grey
10. 851,000 Luke Bryan, Kill the Lights

2014:

1. 3,661,000 Taylor Swift, 1989
2. 3,527,000 Frozen Sdtk.
3. 1,208,000 Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour
4. 1,143,000 Pentatonix, That's Christmas to Me
5. 898,000 Guardians of the Galaxy Sdtk.
6. 878,000 Beyonce, Beyonce
7. 856,000 Barbra Streisand, Partners
8. 841,000 Lorde, Pure Heroine
9. 814,000 One Direction, FOUR
10. 811,000 Eric Church, The Outsiders

2013:

1. 2,427,000 Justin Timberlake, The 20/20 Experience
2. 1,727,000 Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP 2
3. 1,521,000 Luke Bryan, Crash My Party
4. 1,402,000 Imagine Dragons, Night Visions
5. 1,399,000 Bruno Mars, Unorthodox Jukebox
6. 1,350,000 Florida Georgia Line, Here's To the Good Times
7. 1,344,000 Drake, Nothing Was The Same
8. 1,301,000 Beyonce, Beyonce
9. 1,109,000 Blake Shelton, Based On A True Story
10. 1,099,000 Jay Z, Magna Carta…Holy Grail

2012:

1. 4,410,000 Adele, 21
2. 3,110,000 Taylor Swift, Red
3. 1,620,000 One Direction, Up All Night
4. 1,460,000 Mumford & Sons, Babel
5. 1,340,000 One Direction, Take Me Home
6. 1,340,000 Justin Bieber, Believe
7. 1,200,000 Carrie Underwood, Blown Away
8. 1,100,000 Luke Bryan, Tailgates & Tanlines
9. 1,070,000 Lionel Richie, Tuskegee
10. 1,020,000 Jason Aldean, Night Train

2011:

1. 5,824,000 Adele, 21
2. 2,452,000 Michael Buble, Christmas
3. 2,101,000 Lady GaGa, Born This Way
4. 1,917,000 Lil Wayne, Tha Carter IV
5. 1,576,000 Jason Aldean, My Kinda Party
6. 1,420,000 Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
7. 1,247,000 Drake, Take Care
8. 1,245,000 Justin Bieber, Under the Mistletoe
9. 1,232,000 Jay-Z & Kanye West, Watch the Throne
10. 1,204,000 Lady Antebellum, Own the Night

2010:

1. 3,415,000 Eminem, Recovery
2. 3,089,000 Lady Antebellum, Need You Now
3. 2,960,000 Taylor Swift, Speak Now
4. 2,319,000 Justin Bieber, My World 2.0
5. 1,852,000 Susan Boyle, The Gift
6. 1,591,000 Lady Gaga, The Fame
7. 1,300,000 Sade, Soldier of Love
8. 1,269,000 Drake, Thank Me Later
9. 1,143,000 Usher, Raymond V Raymond
10. 1,143,000 Ke$ha, Animal

2009:

1. 3,217,000 Taylor Swift, Fearless
2. 3,103,828 Susan Boyle, I Dreamed A Dream
3. 2,355,000 Michael Jackson, Number Ones
4. 2,238,000 Lady Gaga, The Fame
5. 2,207,000 Andrea Bocelli, My Christmas
6. 1,823,000 Hanna Montana, Hannah Movie Soundtrack
7. 1,786,852 Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
8. 1,735,358 Eminem, Relapse
9. 1,514,800 Jay-Z, Blueprint 3
10. 1,398,000 Kings of Leon, Only By the Night

2008:

1. 2,874,000 Tha Carter III/ Lil Wayne
2. 2,144,000 Viva La Vida/ Coldplay
3. 2,112,000 Fearless/Taylor Swift
4. 2,018,000 Rock N Roll Jesus/ Kid Rock
5. 1,915,000 Black Ice/ AC/DC
6. 1,597,000 Taylor Swift/Taylor Swift
7. 1,565,000 Death Magnetic/ Metallica
8. 1,522,000 Paper Trail/ T.I.
9. 1,492,000 Sleep Through the Static/ Jack Johnson
10. 1,459,000 I Am…Sasha Fierce/ Beyonce

2007:

1. 3,698,934 Josh Groban, Noel
2. 2,956,799 High School Musical 2 Sdtk.
3. 2,608,338 Eagles, Long Road Out Of Eden
4. 2,543,224 Alicia Keys, As I Am
5. 2,497,457 Daughtry, Daughtry
6. 2,487,346 Hannah Montana 2 Sdtk., Miley Cyrus
7. 2,098,941 Linkin Park, Minutes To Midnight
8. 2,063,572 Fergie, The Duchess
9. 1,950,641 Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift
10. 1,891,918 Kanye West, Graduation

2006:

1. 3.720,000 High School Musical
2. 3.480,000 Rascal Flatts, Me and My Gang
3. 3.020,000 Carrie Underwood, Some Hearts
4. 2.690,000 Nickelback, All the Right Reasons
5. 2.380,000 Justin Timberlake, Futuresex/Lovesounds
6. 2.140,000 James Blunt, Back to Bedlam
7. 2.010,000 Beyonce, B'Day
8. 1.990,000 Hannah Montana Sdtk.
9. 1.860,000 Dixie Chicks, Taking the Long Way
10. 1.820,000 Hinder, Extreme Behavior

2005:

1. 4,968,606 CAREY*MARIAH, EMANCIPATION OF MIMI
2. 4,852,744 50 CENT, MASSACRE
3. 3,496,192 CLARKSON*KELLY, BREAKAWAY
4. 3,360,394 GREEN DAY, AMERICAN IDIOT
5. 3,037,251 BLACK EYED PEAS, MONKEY BUSINESS
6. 2,615,280 COLDPLAY, X&Y
7. 2,511,209 RASCAL FLATTS, FEELS LIKE TODAY
8. 2,505,390 STEFANI*GWEN, LOVE.ANGEL.MUSIC.BABY
9. 2,413,580 WEST*KANYE, LATE REGISTRATION
10. 2,275,646 The GAME, DOCUMENTARY

2004:

1. 7,978,594 Confessions, Usher
2. 3,842,920 Feels Like Home, Norah Jones
3. 3,517,097 Encore, Eminem
4. 3,072,224 When The Sun Goes Down, Kenny Chesney
5. 2,931,097 Here for the Party, Gretchen Wilson
6. 2,786,840 Live Like You Were Dying, Tim McGraw
7. 2,708,415 Songs About Jane, Maroon 5
8. 2,614,226 Fallen, Evanescence
9. 2,576,945 Autobiography, Ashlee Simpson
10. 2,560,316 Now 16 Now That's What I Call Music!

2003:

1. 6,535,809 50 Cent, Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
2. 5,137,468 Jones Norah, Come Away With Me
3. 3,478,361 Linkin Park, Meteora
4. 3,364,738 Evanescence, Fallen
5. 3,089,849 Outkast, Speakerboxx-Love
6. 2,527,485 Beyonce, Dangerously In Love
7. 2,439,536 Kelly R., Chocolate Factory
8. 2,405,544 Duff Hilary, Metamorphosis
9. 2,324,437 Keith Toby, Shock N Y'all
10. 2,183,997 Coldplay, Rush Of Blood To The Head

2002:

1. 7.607.925 Eminem, Eminem Show
2. 4.916.073 Nelly, Nellyville
3. 4.121.396 Avril Lavigne, Let Go
4. 3.690.413 Dixie Chicks, Home
5. 3.498.497 Soundtrack, 8 Mile
6. 3.144.947 Pink, M!ssundaztood
7. 3.099.216 Ashanti, Ashanti
8. 3.054.736 Alan Jackson, Drive
9. 2.909.499 Shania Twain, Up
10. 2.736.049 Soundtrack, O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2001:

1. 4,812,852 Hybrid Theory, Linkin Park
2. 4,507,568 Hotshot, Shaggy
3. 4,421,231 Celebrity, N Sync
4. 4,410,053 Day Without Rain, Enya
5. 4,242,507 Break the Cycle, Staind
6. 4,102,482 Songs In A Minor, Alicia Keys
7. 3,718,446 Survivor, Destiny's Child
8. 3,581,344 Weathered, Creed
9. 3,460,852 Soundtrack, O Brother Where Art Thou?
10. 3,133,462 Vol.6-Now That's What I Call Music !

2000:

1. 9.936.104 N Sync, No Strings Attached
2. 7.921.107 Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP
3. 7.893.544 Britney Spears, Oops!...I Did it Again
4. 6.587.834 Creed, Human Clay
5. 5.857.824 Santana, Supernatural
6. 5.068.300 The Beatles, 1
7. 5.067.529 Nelly, Country Grammar
8. 4.289.865 Backstreet Boys, Black and Blue
9. 3.992.311 Dr Dre, 2001
10. 3.802.165 Destiny's Child, The Writing's on the Wall

1999

1. 9,445,732 MILLENNIUM Backstreet Boys
2. 8,358,619 ...BABY ONE MORE TIME Britney Spears
3. 5,981,155 RICKY MARTIN Ricky Martin
4. 5,618,134 COME ON OVER Shania Twain
5. 4,952,890 SIGNIFICANT OTHER Limp Bizkit
6. 4,732,589 SUPERNATURAL Santana
7. 4,259,736 DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE Kid Rock
8. 4.186,685 FANMAIL TLC
9. 3,662,905 CHRISTINA AGUILERA Christina Aguilera
10. 3,463,642 WIDE OPEN SPACES Dixie Chicks

1998

1. 9,338,061 TITANIC Soundtrack
2. 5,859,421 LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE Celine Dion
3. 5,709,369 BACKSTREET BOYS Backstreet Boys
4. 4,872,841 COME ON OVER Shania Twain
5. 4,385,148 'N SYNC 'N Sync
6. 4,120,508 CITY OF ANGELS Soundtrack
7. 3,892,288 DOUBLE LIVE Garth Brooks
8. 3,687,568 BIG WILLIE STYLE Will Smith
9. 3,247,406 SAVAGE GARDEN Savage Garden
10. 3,222,603 ARMAGEDDON Soundtrack

1997

1. 5,300,000 Spice, Spice Girls
2. 4,300,000 Pieces of You, Jewel
3. 3,300,000 No Way Out Puff, Daddy & The Family
4. 3,400,000 Sevens, Garth Brooks
5. 3,200,000 Middle of Nowhere, Hanson
6. 3,100,000 Life After Death, The Notorious B.I.G.
7. 3,100,000 Bringing Down The House, The Wallflowers
8. 3,000,000 Falling Into You, Celine Dion
9. 2,900,000 Space Jam, Soundtrack
10. 2,900,000 You Light Up My Life, LeAnn Rimes

1996

1. 7,400,000 Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
2. 6,000,000 Falling Into You, Celine Dion
3. 4,500,000 The Score, The Fugees
4. 4,400,000 Tragic Kingdom, No Doubt
5. 3,000,000 Daydream, Mariah Carey
6. 3,000,000 All Eyez On Me, 2Pac
7. 3,000,000 Load, Metallica
8. 2,900,000 Secrets, Toni Braxton
9. 2,800,000 The Woman In M, Shania Twain
10. 2,600,000 What's The Story Morning Glory?, Oasis

1995

1. 7.0m CRACKED REAR VIEW Hootie & The Blowfish
2. 4.8m CRAZYSEXYCOOL TLC
3. 4.2m JAGGED LITTLE PILL Alanis Morissette
4. 3.9m DAYDREAM Mariah Carey
5. 3.8m THE HITS Garth Brooks
6. 3.5m THROWING COPPER Live
7. 3.4m II Boyz II Men
8. 2.9m ANTHOLOGY 1 The Beatles
9. 2.8m HELL FREEZES OVER Eagles
10. 2.8m THE WOMAN IN ME Shania Twain

1994

1. 4.9m THE LION KING Soundtrack
2. 4.9m THE SIGN Ace Of Base
3. 4.3m II Boyz II Men
4. 3.8m AUGUST AND EVERYTHING AFTER Counting Crows
5. 3.4m DOOKIE Green Day
6. 3.2m NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON Tim McGraw
7. 3.1m PURPLE Stone Temple Pilots
8. 3.0m MIRACLES:THE HOLIDAY ALBUM Kenny G
9. 2.9m SMASH Offspring
10. 2.7m MUSIC BOX Mariah Carey

1993

1. 5.5m THE BODYGUARD Soundtrack
2. 4.3m JANET Janet Jackson
3. 3.8m VS Pearl Jam
4. 3.8m BREATHLESS Kenny G
5. 3.3m MUSIC BOX Mariah Carey
6. 2.9m THE CHRONIC Dr Dre
7. 2.9m UNPLUGGED Eric Clapton
8. 2.8m IN PIECES Garth Brooks
9. 2.7m CORE Stone Temple Pilots
10. 2.6m BAT OUT OF HELL II-BACK INTO HELL Meat Loaf

1992

1. 4.7m SOME GAVE ALL Billy Ray Cyrus
2. 4.0m ROPIN' THE WIND Garth Brooks
3. 3.4m TEN Pearl Jam
4. 3.3m THE BODYGUARD Soundtrack
5. 3.2m TOTALLY KROSSED OUT Kris Kross
6. 3.1m NO FENCES Garth Brooks
7. 3.1m THE CHASE Garth Brooks
8. 2.7m NEVERMIND Nirvana
9. 2.7m ADRENALIZED Def Leppard
10. 2.6m METALLICA Metallica

[areyoureadytojump]

variety.com/2016/music/news/adele-2015-nielsen-report-streaming-vinyl-1201673514/

Top On-Demand Streams of 2015 in U.S. (audio and video streams combined)

1. Fetty Wap, “Trap Queen,” 616,463,000
2. Silento, “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae),” 563,406,000
3. Mark Ronson feat. Bruno Mars, “Uptown Funk!,” 555,808,000
4. Wiz Khalifa feat. Charlie Puth, “See You Again,” 472,264
5. The Weeknd, “The Hills,” 444,018,000
6. Ed Sheeran, “Thinking Out Loud,” 350,579,000
7. Adele, “Hello,” 335,799,000
8. Omi, “Cheerleader,” 328,365,000
9. Fetty Wap feat. Remy Boyz, “679,” 322,176,000
10. The Weeknd, “Can’t Feel My Face,” 314,499,000

Top LP Vinyl Albums of 2015 in U.S. (in physical copies)

1. Adele, “25,” 116,000
2. Taylor Swift, “1989,” 74,000
3. Pink Floyd, “Dark Side of the Moon,” 50,000
4. The Beatles, “Abbey Road,” 49,800
5. Miles Davis, “Kind of Blue,” 49,000
6. Arctic Monkeys, “AM,” 48,000
7. Sufjan Stevens, “Carrie & Lowell,” 44,900
8. Alabama Shakes, “Sound & Color,” 44,600
9. Hozier, “Hozier,” 43,000
10. Soundtrack, “Guardians of the Galaxy,” 43,000

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/columns/country/6843028/country-music-2015-sales-totals-albums-songs-streaming?utm_source=twitter

Top-Selling Country Albums, 2015

1) Luke Bryan, Kill the Lights 851,000
2) Sam Hunt, Montevallo 757,000
3) Chris Stapleton, Traveler 685,000
4) Zac Brown Band, Jekyll + Hyde 601,000
5) Carrie Underwood, Storyteller 465,000
6) Eric Church,The Outsiders 340,000
7) Jason Aldean, Old Boots, New Dirt 339,000
8) Florida Georgia Line, Anything Goes 311,000
9) Little Big Town, Pain Killer 308,000
10) Luke Bryan, Spring Break… Checkin’ Out 280,000

Top-Selling Country Digital Songs, 2015

1) Little Big Town, “Girl Crush” 1,925,000
2) Sam Hunt, “Take Your Time” 1,759,000
3) Luke Bryan, “Kick the Dust Up” 1,066,000
4) Eric Church, “Like a Wrecking Ball” 1,010,000
5) Sam Hunt, “House Party” 957,000
6) Chris Janson, “Buy Me a Boat” 872,000
7) Thomas Rhett, “Crash and Burn” 861,000
8) Zac Brown Band, “Homegrown” 856,000
9) Cam,“Burning House” 840,000
10) Thomas Rhett, “Die a Happy Man” 823,000

[areyoureadytojump]

www.billboard.com/articles/business/6835216/us-recording-industry-2015-streams-double-adele-dominates-nielsen-music

U.S. Recording Industry 2015: Streams Double, Adele Dominates
1/5/2016 by Ed Christman


DIGITAL

Streaming continued to overtake the American recorded music industry last year. In fact, it doubled -- from 164.5 billion songs streamed in 2014 to 317.2 billion last year, according to Nielsen Music.

That increase translates into 211.5 million stream equivalent albums -- whereby 1,500 song streams equal one album -- up from 109.7 million in 2014. That's an increase of nearly 93 percent.

Because of streaming's ascent, the record business experienced an overall growth of 15.2 percent, from 476.9 million album consumption units in 2014 to to 549.4 million in 2015. (Album consumption units tally both physical and digital sales; So, 241.4 million album units were sold last year, while 96.5 million track equivalent albums -- whereby 10 track sales equal one album -- were downloaded.)

But, as streaming rises, digital sales continue to fall. Overall digital track sales declined a striking 12.5 percent, moving 964.8 million units last year compared to 2014's 1.1 billion. (Same as the 12.5 percent decline in track sales that occurred between 2013 and 2014.)

The decline in digital album sales slowed considerably however, dropping just 2.9 percent -- to 103.3 million in total, from 106.5 million in 2014. (The decrease between 2013 and 2014 was a lot steeper, when digital album scans fell 9.4 percent.)

BEST-SELLERS


Mark Ronson’s “Uptown Funk!” featuring Bruno Mars was the top-scanning song at 5.53 million units, Adele’s 25 was the best-selling album, moving 7.44 million units. Taylor Swift's 1989 came in second with 1.99 million units moved. (That record has sold 5.65 million in total since its Oct., 2014 release.)

Music sales and physical albums went out on a high at the end of the year, powered by the 7.4 million total units that 25 has sold. (Breaking down 25: CD sales accounted for 5 million units, digital 2.3 million units and vinyl nearly 116,000 units.)

By herself, Adele accounted for three percent of total album sales in the U.S.

Seven albums sold more than a million units last year -- four hit the same landmark in 2014.


LABELS


Universal Music Group, the industry's largest label by a wide margin, was down slightly to 38.5 percent of album-plus-TEA market share, from 38.7 percent.

Sony Music’s share jumped relatively sharply, to 29.5 percent, up from 28.5 percent, on the strength of Adele and 25.

Warner Music Group, which bills itself as the "independent major," grabbed an 18.7 percent market share.

Independent labels were 12.6 of the market.

(It's important to note that if market share is looked at by whole label ownership, as opposed to who owns those labels' distribution companies, than the indie sector collectively has the largest slice of the pie, accounting for 34.4 percent of the business.)

PHYSICAL

Despite Adele's record-breaking success physical albums continued their downward spiral, dropping to 137.5 million sales, from 150 million, or 8.3 percent.

That overall physical decline didn't affect the resurgence of vinyl however, which ballooned by 29.8 percent and moved 11.9 million slabs (9.2 million units in 2014). Including Adele, who dominated vinyl sales (in addition to almost everything else), 14 titles surpassed the 40,000 unit sales mark in vinyl for the year. Only three albums accomplished the same feat in 2014.

The only retail sector which saw growth was the non-traditional merchant -- such as online stores, concert halls and retailers like Urban Outfitters -- who accounted for 40.9 million scans, an increase of 6.2 percent. Independents saw a 5 percent decline in sales.

GENRE BREAKDOWN

Pop and R&B were the only categories that posted an increase in 2015. Pop grew a whopping 22.7 percent -- to nearly 34 million units from 2014’s 27.7 million units. R&B increased a modest 1.7 percent -- to 36.3 million units from 35.7 million units the prior year.

Latin, dance and country meanwhile experienced a double-digit dropoffs. Country, still a huge seller, closed the year with 27 million units moved, down from 30.5 million units. Latin shed 1.35 million in sales, dropping to 4.95 million, a decline of 20.9 percent. Dance, anecdotally considered an extremely strong genre, saw an alarming dip 16.4 percent dip in sales, to 4.4 million units from 5.3 million units.

In track sales, all large genres were down but pop had the smallest decline at 6.4 percent to 218 million units down from 232.75 million units.

[BlueSwan]

Loving all the stats. Thanks guys!

[#LisaRinna]

That Nielsen report is kinda useless

areyoureadytojump didn't it use to come with updated totals for the best selling albums and artists of the SoundScan era?

[areyoureadytojump]

^Yes, it did. They stopped reporting those figures last year.