Amazon reveals its highest sellers over the past 15 years

Amazon celebrates 15 years of UK operations today, and have revealed a list of the highest-selling entertainment products over the past fifteen years. The list compiles sales through the amazon.co.uk portal, and as such, some British-bias permeates the chart (Take That, those relentless Now That’s What I Call Music! compilations). That being said, this list provides an interesting look at the way the entertainment marketplace has shifted over the past fifteen years, highlighting certain buying habits.

Not surprisingly, considering her recent ubiquity, Adele has dominated the various charts: she was the best selling artist across all formats, scored the two highest selling albums across all formats, the second and fourth highest selling MP3 singles, and was the highest selling artist in physical format (’CDs, vinyl and cassettes’ apparently – even though the idea of selling cassettes through an online portal seems strangely incongruous).

In what is more a measure of hysteria than anything else, One Direction’s Midnight Memories is the fastest selling album of the past fifteen years (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows trumped the lads for fastest selling entertainment product overall) while Rage Against The Machine’s Killing In The Name Of is the highest selling MP3 – a result of the 2009 Internet campaign to keep the X Factor winner’s single from scoring the Christmas number one for the fifth year straight.

The best selling artists across all formats reads predictably enough: Adele sits at number one, Coldplay sits in second place – their debut record was released two years after amazon.co.uk launched, and their sales might has only grown since then – and The Beatles slot in at third, no doubt due to the recent reissuing of their catalogue in both mono and stereo, the successful 1 collection, and the fact that they are the greatest group of all time. Lady Gaga and Rihanna sit at fourth and fifth respectively, and in a sign of how sales have shifted from physical to digital since ’98, sit at #1 and #2 overall in digital sales, while Rihanna sits at #18 in physical sales; Lady Gaga didn’t appear in the top 20. Michael Jackson was the tenth highest-selling artist, with his sales bolstered after his untimely death in 2009. The fact that Jackson’s worldwide sales were estimated at 400 million before his death has obviously capped his posthumous Amazon sales somewhat.

Finally, wedged between Adele’s Skyfall and Someone Like You on the Highest Selling MP3 Singles list sits Gangnam Style at #3, perhaps the biggest example of how online impulse purchasing will continue to shape sales charts as we move into a purely digital sales world. Full lists below.

Fastest Selling Album Of All Time

One Direction – Midnight Memories

Best Selling Artists (all formats)

1. Adele
2. Coldplay
3. The Beatles
4. Lady Gaga
5. Rihanna
6. Michael Buble
7. Kings of Leon
8. Snow Patrol
9. Muse
10. Michael Jackson

Best Selling Artists (physical)

1. Adele
2. The Beatles
3. Coldplay
4. Michael Buble
5. Snow Patrol
6. Pink Floyd
7. Kings Of Leon
8. Amy Winehouse
9. Susan Boyle
10. Bob Dylan
11. U2
12. Queen
13. Muse
14. Robbie Williams
15. Elbow
16. Oasis
17. Michael Jackson
18. Rihanna
19. Foo Fighters
20. The Killers

Best Selling Artists (digital)

1. Lady Gaga
2. Rihanna
3. Glee Cast
4. Adele
5. Katy Perry
6. The Black Eyed Peas
7. Take That
8. Coldplay
9. Florence + The Machine
10. Jessie J
11. Kings Of Leon
12. Bruno Mars
13. Michael Jackson
14. Eminem
15. Pixie Lott
16. Rage Against The Machine
17. Michael Buble
18. Beyonce
19. Flo Rida
20. Maroon 5

Best Selling MP3 Singles

1. Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name
2. Adele – Skyfall
3. Psy – Gangnam Style
4. Adele – Someone Like You
5. Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling
6. Robin Thicke – Blurred Lines
7. Carly Rae Jepson – Call Me Maybe
8. Gotye – Somebody That I Used To Know (ft. Kimbra)
9. Daft Punk – Get Lucky
10. James Arthur – Impossible

Best Selling Albums (all formats)

1. Adele – 21
2. Adele – 19
3. Take That – Progress
4. Susan Boyle – I Dreamed A Dream
5. Now That’s What I Call Music 83
6. Kings Of Leon – Only By The Night
7. Amy Winehouse – Back To Black
8. Mumford and Sons – Sigh No More
9. Now That’s What I Call Music 80
10. Now That’s What I Call Music 77