official chart UK's Top 50 Best Selling Singles Artists Of The 21st Century

[Cutthroat]

 

45 The Killers - 12.0m
36 Imagine Dragons - 14.9m
8 Coldplay - 27.6m

3 legends. 

[tshwark]

MTv Uk, lmaoo.

[sugarysunflower]

No way has Ed Sheeran sold 70 million singles in the UK in the last decade. Streaming done gone ruined everything. 

 

At least Rihanna's makes sense. 

[sasashite]

They're probably not including features. That's why Rihanna is so low.

[OrgVisual]

Ariana hit makers   

Adele with like 1/4 the number of singles to others

[Power love]

I don’t see Britney or Christina on this list 

[Feanor]

13 minutes ago, sasashite said:

They're probably not including features. That's why Rihanna is so low.

This + certifications ignore anything below 200k, so units from (mostly) uncertified album tracks are never accounted for when only looking at certifications, but when you have vast discographies like the top 5 does here, it adds up a lot.

[Hector]

2 hours ago, GoodGuyGoneGhetto said:

LMFAO! 
 

What is this list, and why is it so different than what the BPI has actually released in terms of certified units?

 

Why are we using MTV Hits U.K. as a source?

 

 

 

They use data from the OCC and uses a different ratio from streams to sales than the BPI does. 

[Hector]

14 minutes ago, Power love said:

I don’t see Britney or Christina on this list 

Neither were really big in the streaming era (mid-2014 onwards). Both peaked in the physical to download era. 

[sasashite]

5 minutes ago, Feanor said:

This + certifications ignore anything below 200k, so units from (mostly) uncertified album tracks are never accounted for when only looking at certifications, but when you have vast discographies like the top 5 does here, it adds up a lot.

Yeah. Also, if a song sold 1.100.000, it still will be counted as 600k because it's not eligible to 2x platinum yet.

[Gerardo]

this list doesn’t look accurate when you comprare it to the certifications 

assuming it’s true, Ariana being the third highest female artist  crazy thinking the two female artists above her have like the double of years in the industry  

Ed Sheeran holy **** 

[GoodGuyGoneGhetto]

31 minutes ago, sasashite said:

They're probably not including features. That's why Rihanna is so low.

 

14 minutes ago, Feanor said:

This + certifications ignore anything below 200k, so units from (mostly) uncertified album tracks are never accounted for when only looking at certifications, but when you have vast discographies like the top 5 does here, it adds up a lot.

It has nothing to do with features.

 

1) The list is incorrect. MTV Hits U.K is the source. 
 

2) The BPI count features into an artists overall total, and always have done. 
 

3) The BPI themselves stated Coldplay had sold 35M+ singles in the U.K. Here, they’re at 27M. 
 

4) Drake has not sold more singles as a lead artist, in the U.K, than Rihanna (who is factually 2nd to Ed Sheeran) and he certainly isn’t second to Ed Sheeran as the second most successful artist in the U.K even when streams are included. 
 

 

 

 

[Yuanyu]

17 minutes ago, Feanor said:

This + certifications ignore anything below 200k, so units from (mostly) uncertified album tracks are never accounted for when only looking at certifications, but when you have vast discographies like the top 5 does here, it adds up a lot.

It has sense

 

 

[More Than A Melody]

20 minutes ago, Feanor said:

This + certifications ignore anything below 200k, so units from (mostly) uncertified album tracks are never accounted for when only looking at certifications, but when you have vast discographies like the top 5 does here, it adds up a lot.

 

17 minutes ago, Hector said:

They use data from the OCC and uses a different ratio from streams to sales than the BPI does. 

Neither of those things would make the numbers match even closely. This list is an absolute mess lmao

[Popboi.]

39 minutes ago, Power love said:

I don’t see Britney or Christina on this list 

Christina’s single sales are pretty ****, single sales in the early 00s were at their lowest and her career didn’t survive the transition to the digital era, so…

 

Rihanna’s are extremely off, her 40 million certified singles are a minimum of her sales as they’re automatic. I could see someone like Taylor having 10 million more than the certified considering how wide the gap is between certifications, and her catalogue being 9 albums + re records and some soundtrack singles here and there that get a massive amount of streams, but it is the case with Rih too. If anything Rih is in the 50 to 60 million range.

Edited June 12, 2022 by Popboi.

[GoodGuyGoneGhetto]

6 minutes ago, Popboi. said:

Christina’s single sales are pretty ****, single sales in the early 00s were at their lowest and her career didn’t survive the transition to the digital era, so…

 

Rihanna’s are extremely off, her 40 million certified singles are a minimum of her sales as they’re automatic. I could see someone like Taylor having 10 million more than the certified considering how wide the gap is between certifications, and her catalogue being 9 albums + re records and some soundtrack singles here and there that get a massive amount of streams, but it is the case with Rih too. If anything Rih is in the 50 to 60 million range.

Thank You. 
 

But…

 

35 minutes ago, Feanor said:

This + certifications ignore anything below 200k, so units from (mostly) uncertified album tracks are never accounted for when only looking at certifications, but when you have vast discographies like the top 5 does here, it adds up a lot.

 

52 minutes ago, sasashite said:

They're probably not including features. That's why Rihanna is so low.

[Feanor]

16 minutes ago, Yuanyu said:

It has sense

 

 

Oh wow interesting. And while not exactly the same numbers, the difference isn't vast compared to the numbers by MTV Hits

[WildHeart]

Taylor so close to #1 female? 

[istan4badgalriri]

1 hour ago, sasashite said:

They're probably not including features. That's why Rihanna is so low.

Nope her numbers still don’t add up when you remove her features. And there’s no way Taylor is at 31M when she got 17M certified song units - half of that number.

[More Than A Melody]

In actuality, Dua is above Taylor, that's how wrong this list is

 

DUA LIPA: 18,800,000

New Rules - 4x Platinum - 2,400,000
One Kiss - 4x Platinum - 2,400,000 (2 Platinum 4x = 4,800,000)
Don't Start Now - 3x Platinum - 1,800,000 (1 3x Platinum = 1,800,000)
Be The One - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Noe Lie - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Scared To Be Lonely - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
IDGAF - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Levitating - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Cold Heart - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000 (6 2x Platinum = 7,200,000)
Hotter Than Hell - Platinum - 600,000
Blow Your Mind (Mwah) - Platinum - 600,000
Electricity Platinum - 600,000
Physical Platinum - 600,000
Break My Heart - Platinum - 600,000 (5 Platinum = 3,000,000)
Hallucinate - Gold - 400,000
Prisoner - Gold - 400,000 (2 Gold = 800,000)
Lost In Your Light - Silver - 200,000
Homesick - Silver - 200,000
Kiss And Make Up - Silver - 200,000
Swan Song - Silver - 200,000
Love Again - Silver - 200,000
We're Good - Silver - 200,000 (6 Silver = 1,200,000)

 

TAYLOR SWIFT: 18,400,000

Shake It Off - 3x Platinum - 1,800,000 (1 3x Platinum = 1,800,000)
Love Story - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Blank Space - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
I Knew You Were Trouble - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000 (3 2x Platinum = 3,600,000)
Lover - Platinum - 600,000
You Belong With Me - Platinum - 600,000
You Need To Calm Down - Platinum - 600,000
22 - Platinum - 600,000
Wildest Dreams - Platinum - 600,000
Style - Platinum - 600,000
Me! - Platinum - 600,000
Bad Blood - Platinum - 600,000
Everything Has Changed - Platinum - 600,000
Look What You Made Me Do - Platinum - 600,000
I Don't Wanna Live Forever - Platinum - 600,000
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Platinum - 600,000 (12 Platinum = 7,200,000)
Cardigan - Gold  - 400,000
Exile - Gold  - 400,000
Willow - Gold  - 400,000
Delicate - Gold  - 400,000
Ready For It? - Gold  - 400,000 (5 Gold = 2,000,000)
Don't Blame Me - Silver  - 200,000
All Too Well - Silver  - 200,000
Enchanted - Silver  - 200,000
Getaway Car - Silver  - 200,000
Paper Rings - Silver  - 200,000
Champagne Problems - Silver  - 200,000
August - Silver  - 200,000
All Too Well (Taylor's Version) - Silver  - 200,000
Cruel Summer - Silver  - 200,000
Mean - Silver  - 200,000
Mine - Silver  - 200,000
The 1 - Silver  - 200,000
Teardrops On My Guitar - Silver  - 200,000
Out Of The Woods - Silver  - 200,000
Welcome To New York - Silver  - 200,000
The Man - Silver  - 200,000
Red - Silver  - 200,000
End Game - Silver  - 200,000
Gorgeous - Silver  - 200,000 (19 Silver = 3,800,000)

 

Margin of error: I did this manually and the BPI website is confusing as hell

 

In order to have the 31.4m units sold claimed in the OP she'd have to have 65 songs at 199,999 units each, this plus the 40 she already has certified... there is literally no mathematical way this is possible.

[Underdogs]

40 minutes ago, Yuanyu said:

It has sense

 

 

So this list corresponds with OCC's numbers for Taylor but how is Rihanna so low? 

[Popboi.]

6 minutes ago, istan4badgalriri said:

Nope her numbers still don’t add up when you remove her features. And there’s no way Taylor is at 31M when she got 17M certified song units - half of that number.

OCC confirmed Taylor at 32 million. 
 

We’ll probably get Rih’s numbers whenever she drops something new, and by then it wouldn’t be impossible for her figures to cross a HUGE number way above her certified units.

 

The likes of Dua, Ariana, Taylor, Little Mix and Rihanna will always be way above their certified amount as their whole catalogue has great streams.

[More Than A Melody]

The OP has 1D at 18.8M

 

Counting every single track updated to the last digit on 2020 they had sold 12,883,078 (source) and this is OCC numbers for those who claimed they were different and that made up for the difference  

[More Than A Melody]

1 minute ago, Underdogs said:

So this list corresponds with OCC's numbers for Taylor but how is Rihanna so low? 

No, it does not correspond to OCC numbers. See above.

[sasashite]

5 minutes ago, istan4badgalriri said:

Nope her numbers still don’t add up when you remove her features. And there’s no way Taylor is at 31M when she got 17M certified song units - half of that number.

 

4 minutes ago, More Than A Melody said:

In actuality, Dua is above Taylor, that's how wrong this list is

 

DUA LIPA: 18,800,000

New Rules - 4x Platinum - 2,400,000
One Kiss - 4x Platinum - 2,400,000 (2 Platinum 4x = 4,800,000)
Don't Start Now - 3x Platinum - 1,800,000 (1 3x Platinum = 1,800,000)
Be The One - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Noe Lie - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Scared To Be Lonely - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
IDGAF - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Levitating - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Cold Heart - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000 (6 2x Platinum = 7,200,000)
Hotter Than Hell - Platinum - 600,000
Blow Your Mind (Mwah) - Platinum - 600,000
Electricity Platinum - 600,000
Physical Platinum - 600,000
Break My Heart - Platinum - 600,000 (5 Platinum = 3,000,000)
Hallucinate - Gold - 400,000
Prisoner - Gold - 400,000 (2 Gold = 800,000)
Lost In Your Light - Silver - 200,000
Homesick - Silver - 200,000
Kiss And Make Up - Silver - 200,000
Swan Song - Silver - 200,000
Love Again - Silver - 200,000
We're Good - Silver - 200,000 (6 Silver = 1,200,000)

 

TAYLOR SWIFT: 18,400,000

Shake It Off - 3x Platinum - 1,800,000 (1 3x Platinum = 1,800,000)
Love Story - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
Blank Space - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000
I Knew You Were Trouble - 2x Platinum - 1,200,000 (3 2x Platinum = 3,600,000)
Lover - Platinum - 600,000
You Belong With Me - Platinum - 600,000
You Need To Calm Down - Platinum - 600,000
22 - Platinum - 600,000
Wildest Dreams - Platinum - 600,000
Style - Platinum - 600,000
Me! - Platinum - 600,000
Bad Blood - Platinum - 600,000
Everything Has Changed - Platinum - 600,000
Look What You Made Me Do - Platinum - 600,000
I Don't Wanna Live Forever - Platinum - 600,000
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together - Platinum - 600,000 (12 Platinum = 7,200,000)
Cardigan - Gold  - 400,000
Exile - Gold  - 400,000
Willow - Gold  - 400,000
Delicate - Gold  - 400,000
Ready For It? - Gold  - 400,000 (5 Gold = 2,000,000)
Don't Blame Me - Silver  - 200,000
All Too Well - Silver  - 200,000
Enchanted - Silver  - 200,000
Getaway Car - Silver  - 200,000
Paper Rings - Silver  - 200,000
Champagne Problems - Silver  - 200,000
August - Silver  - 200,000
All Too Well (Taylor's Version) - Silver  - 200,000
Cruel Summer - Silver  - 200,000
Mean - Silver  - 200,000
Mine - Silver  - 200,000
The 1 - Silver  - 200,000
Teardrops On My Guitar - Silver  - 200,000
Out Of The Woods - Silver  - 200,000
Welcome To New York - Silver  - 200,000
The Man - Silver  - 200,000
Red - Silver  - 200,000
End Game - Silver  - 200,000
Gorgeous - Silver  - 200,000 (19 Silver = 3,800,000)

 

Margin of error: I did this manually and the BPI website is confusing as hell

 

In order to have the 31.4m units sold claimed in the OP she'd have to have 65 songs at 199,999 units each, this plus the 40 she already has certified... there is literally no mathematical way this is possible.

Y'all are wrong. Official Charts already confirmed Taylor has sold 32 million singles.