News August 2, 2016

Sia was one of Sony Music’s biggest sellers in Q1

Former Editor

Sony Corporation hasannouncedthe Top 10 highest earning albums from the first quarter of 2016, and Adelaide native Sia came in at #6.

Sia’s seventh LP This Is Acting, which topped the ARIA chart in February and remains in the Top 40, was released in Australia through independent labels Monkey Puzzle/Inertia.

Sia also made Sony’s list of top earning LPs in Q1 2015. Her Grammy-nominated global seller 1000 Forms of Fear came in at #6, while Meghan Trainor’s debut album Title topped the list.

This Is Acting came in behind releases from Fifth Harmony, Megan Trainor and Japanese artists Nogizaka46 and Kazumasa Oda.

But none could top the selling power of Beyonce’s surprise release on April 23. Her sixth studio album Lemonade was the highest selling LP for Sony in Q1, all despite its initial exclusive release on her husband’s streaming service, Tidal, and despite its absence from Apple Music and Spotify. In April, Music Business Worldwidenoted Lemonade was bringing in US$3 million a day in its first week of sale based on downloads alone.

In early June, Lemonade became Beyonce’s sixth album to go Platinum in the US, selling 1.051 million in her home market.Lemonade is now the third biggest selling album of the year, behind Drake’sViews(with a 1.196 million total in sales) and Adele’s 2015 release25, which has this year moved 1.334 million to a total of 8.774 million.

Lemonade’s high placing is partly due to its high price tag; in Australia the digital album and accompanying film is selling for $21.99, in the US it costs US$17.99 and £13.99in the UK.

Meanwhile, as reported in Billboard over the weekend, Beyonce’s Formation World Tour has so far grossed US$123 million from 23 sold out performances. Beyonce is yet to announce an Australian leg on the world tour.

Sony Music’s Top Earning Albums in Q1 2016 (to end of June)