iTunes reveals highest selling albums and tracks of 2013

With iTunes being the world’s biggest music retailer, it makes sense their end of year sales charts tend to be quite representative of the year in popular music.

Justin Timberlake’s The 20/20 Experience is the highest selling album of the year in the US, while the unavoidable Thrift Shop by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis tops the singles chart.

Locally speaking, Random Access Memories by Daft Punk was the highest selling album, with Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke the top selling track. Australian artist Flume, and Aussie-based Passenger’s albums sit at #3 and #4 respectively. Both Australian lists differ greatly from the US ones, suggesting a bigger difference in buying habits than previously thought.

Despite all the obvious big-hitters featuring in the Top Tens there are still a few surprises: Jay-Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail managed to be the fourth highest-selling album despite having gifted one million copies to Samsung users as part of a controversial deal with the mobile carrier, while Yeezus, which has – and will continue to – top many critics’ end of year lists, failed to sell enough through iTunes to hit the Top Ten.

Also surprising is the perennial Daft Punk song Get Lucky missing the Top Ten tracks, with Royals by Lorde scraping in at #9. This is testament to the super-competitive singles market in 2013. Tellingly, Imagine Dragons are the only group to make the list.

Beyoncé’s surprise release is the second highest-selling album, a feat which is made even more remarkable by the fact this list is based on downloads up until December 16, giving her only three days’ worth of sales. By December 31, don’t be surprised if #1 and #2 have traded places.

Both lists are below.

Top Albums – US:

1. “The 20/20 Experience,” Justin Timberlake
2. “Beyoncé,” Beyoncé
3. “Night Visions,” Imagine Dragons
4. “Magna Carta… Holy Grail,” JAY Z
5. “Nothing Was the Same,” Drake
6. “The Heist,” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
7. “Pitch Perfect,” Various Artists
8. “Babel,” Mumford & Sons
9. “The Marshall Mathers LP2”, Eminem
10. “Random Access Memories,” Daft Punk

Top Tracks – US:

1. “Thrift Shop (feat. Wanz),” Ryan Lewis & Macklemore
2. “Blurred Lines (feat. T.I. & Pharrell),” Robin Thicke
3. “Radioactive,” Imagine Dragons
4. “Just Give Me a Reason (feat. Nate Ruess),” P!nk
5. “Can’t Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton),” Macklemore & Ryan Lewis
6. “When I Was Your Man,” Bruno Mars
7. “Stay (feat. Mikky Ekko),” Rihanna
8. “Roar,” Katy Perry
9. “Royals,” Lorde
10. “Mirrors,” Justin Timberlake

Top Albums – Australia:

1. Random Access Memories, Daft Punk
2. The Heist, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
3. Flume, Flume
4. All The Little Lights, Passenger
5. Unorthodox Jukebox, Bruno Mars
6. The Truth About Love, Pink
7. +, Ed Sheeran
8. Pitch Perfect, various
9. The Great Gatsby, various
10. Triple J’s Hottest 100, 20, various

Top Tracks – Australia:

1. Blurred Lines, Robin Thicke
2. Let Her Go, Passenger
3. Wake Me Up, Avicii
4. Roar, Katy Perry
5. Get Lucky, Daft Punk
6. Just Give Me A Reason, Pink
7. Can’t Hold Us, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis
8. Counting Stars, OneRepublic
9. Impossible, James Arthur
10. Stay, Rihanna