[Edu]

This is a short version of my lenghty thread about Prince's records sales. I think maybe it is more useful and easy for everybody interested in Prince's sales to have this kind of summary of his commercial achievements in the style of similar threads regarding other artists. I also added all the other data available about his sales around the world.

My extended thread can be read at:
http://www.ukmix.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34161

Shipments/Sales

*****ALBUMS*****

USA

RIAA certifications (year of certification) = shipments
Soundscan sales since 1991 = retail (data from January 2006 except where indicated) (courtesy of Hanboo and Keith Caulfield)

Albums released before Soundscan-Era

1978 - FOR YOU - NOT CERTIFIED - 88,000
1979 - PRINCE - 1,000,000 - (1980) - 183,000

1980 - DIRTY MIND - 500,000 - (1984) - 125,000
1981 - CONTROVERSY - 1,000,000 - (1985) - 200,000
1982 - 1999 - 4,000,000 - (1999) - 641,000
1984 - PURPLE RAIN - 13,000,000 - (1996) - 2,548,000 (September 2009)
1985 - AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY - 2,000,000 - (1985) - 162,000
1986 - PARADE - 1,000,000 - (1986) - 230,000
1987 - SIGN OF THE TIMES (2xCD) - 1,000,000 - (1987) - 271,000
1988 - LOVESEXY - 500,000 - (1988) - 68,000
1989 - BATMAN - 2,000,000 - (1989) - 111,000

1990 - GRAFFITI BRIDGE - 500,000 - (1990) - 145,000

Albums released in the Soundscan-Era (Studio albums)

1991 - DIAMONDS & PEARLS - 2,000,000 - (1992) - 2,462,000 (September 2009)
1992 - SYMBOL - 1,000,000 - (1992) - 1,080,000 (September 2009)
1994 - COME - 500,000 - (1994) - 310,000
1994 - THE BEAUTIFUL EXPERIENCE (EP) - NOT CERTIFIED - 210,000
1994 - THE BLACK ALBUM - NOT CERTIFIED - 261,000
1995 - THE GOLD EXPERIENCE - 500,000 - (1995) - 492,000
1996 - CHAOS & DISORDER - NOT CERTIFIED - 131,000
1996 - EMANCIPATION (3xCD) - 667,000 - (1995) - 628,000
1998 - NEWPOWER SOUL - NOT CERTIFIED - 214,000
1999 - RAVE UN2 THE JOY FANTASTIC - 500,000 - (1999) - 487,000

2001 - THE RAINBOW CHILDREN - NOT CERTIFIED - 158,000
2003 - N.E.W.S. - NOT CERTIFIED - 30,000
2004 - MUSICOLOGY - 1,000,000 - 827,000 (retail sales only, full sales are 2,047,000 as Sep/2009)
2006 - 3121 - 500,000 - (2006) - 524,000 (Jul 2007)
2007 - PLANET EARTH - NOT CERTIFIED - 222,000

Albums released in the Soundscan-Era (Compilation albums)

1993 - THE HITS/THE B-SIDES (3xCD) - 334,000 - (1993) - 630,000
1993 - THE HITS 1 - 1,000,000 - (1995) - 1,433,000 (September 2009)
1993 - THE HITS 2 - 1,000,000 - (1995) - 1,715,000 (September 2009)
1998 - CRYSTAL BALL (4xCD) - Not certified - 113,000
1999 - THE VAULT - Not certified - 113,000
2001 - THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE - 1,000,000 - (2004) - 1,618,000 (September 2009)
2006 - ULTIMATE PRINCE - NOT CERTIFIED - 87,000 (February 2007)

Totals

(as March 2009)

RIAA = 36,500,000
RIAA (albums released 1978-1990) = 26,500,000
RIAA (albums released 1991-2006) = 10,000,000
Soundscan = 18,517,000 (above total) - full sales by September 2009 = 19.9 million
Soundscan (albums released 1978-1990) = 4,772,000
Soundscan (albums released 1991-2007) = 13,745,000

Certifications/Sales outside USA

UK certifications (BPI) / sales
Germany certifications
France certifications (SNEP)
The Netherlands certifications
Switzerland certifications
Austria certifications

1979 PRINCE
UK= 60,000 (Silver, 2004)

1981 CONTROVERSY
UK= 60,000 (Silver, 1989)

1982 1999
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 2008)

1984 PURPLE RAIN
UK= 600,000 ( 2xPlatinum, 1990) + 146,000 ('97-'05)
Canada= 600,000 ( 6xPlatinum, 1984)
Germany= 500,000 (Platinum, 1993)
France= 300,000 (Platinum, 1993)
Japan= 197,000 (Oricon)
Australia= 140,000 ( 2xPlatinum, 1992)
Switzerland= 50,000 (Platinum, 1989)

1985 AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY
UK= 100,000 (Gold, 1985)
Japan= 99,000 (Oricon)

1986 PARADE
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 1992)
Germany= 250,000 (Gold, 1993)
France= 200,000 ( 2xGold, 2001)
The Netherlands= 100,000 (Platinum, 1992)
Japan= 82,000 (Oricon)
Austria= 15,000 (Gold, 1994)

1987 SIGN OF THE TIMES
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 1990)
Germany= 250,000 (Gold, 1996)
France= 200,000 ( 2xGold, 2001)
The Netherlands= 100,000 (Platinum, 1988)
Japan= 50,000 (Oricon)
Australia= 35,000 (Gold, 1999)

1988 LOVESEXY
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 1990)
Germany= 250,000 (Gold, 1996)
France= 200,000 ( 2xGold, 2001)
The Netherlands= 50,000 (Gold, 1988)
Japan= 40,000 (Oricon)
Switzerland= 25,000 (Gold, 1988)
Austria= 15,000 (Gold, 1994)

1989 BATMAN
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 1989)
France= 300,000 (Platinum, 2001)
Germany= 250,000 (Gold, 1990)
Japan= 175,000 (Oricon)
The Netherlands= 50,000 (Gold, 1989)
Switzerland= 25,000 (Gold, 1989)

1990 GRAFFITI BRIDGE
UK= 100,000 (Gold, 1990)
France= 100,000 (Gold, 1990)
Japan= 75,000 (Oricon)
Canada= 50,000 (Gold, 1990)
Switzerland= 25,000 (Gold, 1990)

1991 DIAMONDS & PEARLS
UK= 900,000 ( 3xPlatinum, 2004)
France= 450,000 (sales, 1992)
Australia= 280,000 ( 4xPlatinum, 1996)
Germany= 250,000 (Gold, 1992)
Canada= 100,000 (Gold, 1991)
The Netherlands= 100,000 (Platinum, 1992)
Japan= 62,000 (Oricon)
Switzerland= 50,000 (Platinum, 1991)
Austria= 30,000 (Platinum, 1992)

1992 SYMBOL
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 1992)
France= 100,000 (Gold, 1992)
Japan= 84,000 (Oricon)
Australia= 70,000 (Platinum, 1992)
Switzerland= 25,000 (Gold, 1992)
Austria= 15,000 (Gold, 1994)

1993 THE HITS/THE B-SIDES
Japan= 84,000 (Oricon)
Australia= 70,000 (Platinum, 2000)
UK= 60,000 (Silver, 1993)

1993 THE HITS 1
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 1995)

1993 THE HITS 2
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 1995)

1994 COME
UK= 100,000 (Gold, 1994)
France= 100,000 (Gold, 1994)
Japan= 82,000 (Oricon)

1994 THE BLACK ALBUM
Japan= 59,000 (Oricon)

1995 THE GOLD EXPERIENCE
UK= 100,000 (Gold, 1995)
Japan= 53,000 (Oricon)

1996 CHAOS & DISORDER
UK= 40,000 (sales)
Japan= 30,000 (Oricon)

1996 EMANCIPATION
Canada= 100,000 (Platinum, 1996)
Japan= 95,000 (Oricon)
UK= 81,000 (sales)

1999 RAVE UN2 THE JOY FANTASTIC
Japan= 27,000 (Oricon)

2001 THE VERY BEST OF PRINCE
UK= 300,000 (Platinum, 2004)
The Netherlands= 80,000 (Platinum, 2005)
Canada= 50,000 (Gold, 2002)
Australia= 35,000 (Gold, 2004)

2004 MUSICOLOGY
UK= 100,000 (Gold, 2004)
Japan= 60,000 (Oricon)
Canada= 50,000 (Gold, 2004)
The Netherlands= 40,000 (Gold, 2004)
Switzerland= 20,000 (Gold, 2004)

2006 3121
UK= 73,000 (sales)
Japan= 42,000 (Oricon)
Switzerland= 20,000 (Gold, 2006)

Worldwide

Worldwide sales (Entertainment Weekly, September 1992)
USA sales (Billboard, September 1992)
International (outside US) sales (Entertainment Weekly and Billboard, September 1992)
Minneapolis Star Tribune, September 1993

1978 For You 800,000
1979 Prince 1,750,000
1980 Dirty Mind 1,800,000
1981 Controversy 2,300,000
1982 1999 5,000,000
1984 Purple Rain 14,700,000 = 10,200,000 + 4,500,000
1985 Around The World In A Day 4,350,000 = 2,700,000 + 1,650,000
1986 Parade 3,750,000 = 1,900,000 + 1,850,000
1987 Sign Of The Times 3,500,000 = 1,600,000 + 1,900,000
1988 Lovesexy 2,650,000 = 900,000 + 1,750,000
1989 Batman (Soundtrack) 4,600,000
1990 Graffiti Bridge 2,000,000
1991 Diamonds & Pearls 5,800,000 = 2,500,000 + 3,300,000
1992 Symbol 2,450,000

*****SINGLES*****

USA

1979-1991

RIAA certification
Digital sales (Soundscan)

1979 - I WANNA BE YOUR LOVER - 1,000,000

1983 - LITTLE RED CORVETTE - NOT CERTIFIED - 61,000

1984 - WHEN DOVES CRY - 2,000,000 - 250,000
1984 - LET'S GO CRAZY - 1,000,000 - 161,000
1984 - PURPLE RAIN - 1,000,000 - 76,000

1986 - KISS - 1,000,000 - 210,000

1989 - BATDANCE - 1,000,000

1990 - THIEVES IN THE TEMPLE - 500,000

Soundscan Era

RIAA certification
Soundscan sales (courtesy of Hanboo)

1991 - GETT OFF - 500,000 - 551,000
1991 - CREAM - 500,000 - 491,000
1992 - DIAMONDS & PEARLS - NOT CERTIFIED - 429,000
1992 - INSATIABLE - NOT CERTIFIED - 124,000
1992 - MONEY DON'T MATTER 2NIGHT - NOT CERTIFIED - 100,000

1992 - MY NAME IS PRINCE - NOT CERTIFIED - 198,000
1992 - SEXY MF - NOT CERTIFIED - 117,000
1993 - 7 - 500,000 - 432,000
1993 - DAMN U - NOT CERTIFIED - 68,000
1993 - THE MORNING PAPERS - NOT CERTIFIED - 42,000

1993 - PINK CASHMERE - NOT CERTIFIED - 115,000
1993 - PEACH - NOT CERTIFIED - 43,000

1994 - THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD - 500,000 - 805,000

1994 - LETITGO - NOT CERTIFIED - 155,000
1994 - SPACE - NOT CERTIFIED - 35,000

1995 - I HATE U - NOT CERTIFIED - 229,000
1995 - GOLD - NOT CERTIFIED - 32,000

1995 - PURPLE MEDLEY - NOT CERTIFIED - 81,000

1999 - 1999 (REISSUE) - NOT CERTIFIED - 203,000

-WORK IN PROGRESS-

[AutomaticBR]

Minimum sales in Brasil:

"Musicology" 10,000
"3121" 10,000

[evaorig]

Nice thread Edu I enjoyed the breakdown.

[facedown36]

I like Prince but, Edu, why do you create another topic ?

[Basil]

[AutomaticBR]

[evaorig]

[TheRock1984]

[evaorig]

[facedown36]

Prince sold 1.5 millions tickets of the musicology tour, so it had logically sold 2.4 millions copies , only according to soundscan , with not considering the music club sales

[Edu]

In the 26 weeks that "Musicology" spent on the Billboard-200 Soundscan reported a total of 1,893,000 CDs sold, of which 1,066,000 came from the Tour tickets and "only" 827,000 were result of retail sales.
Honestly i can't consider the sales from the concerts as real sales so i excluded them from the numbers above.
All the CDs sold with tickets BEFORE the album was released commercially (to the stores) were not counted by Soundscan and I also don't consider them true sales.
Obviously i hope someone can find more recent Soundscan numbers for "Musicology" in order for the above information to be more acurate.

I still hope one day to have a positive reply from you facedown36

[Basil]

[facedown36]

[nibblet]

Personally, I don't think cd sales via ticket concerts should be counted in the chart.

For example, the Leps latest albums (a covers album) only peaked at 16 in the USA and spent a month in the top 100. However, Def Leppard are playing to about 20,000 fans a night on their current US tour. That could be as much as 80,000 fans a weeks which if, counted as albums sales in the event that each ticket holder is given a copy of an ablum, would allow for a top ten place in the album charts for every week of the Leps lenghty tour.

Allowing a copy of an album to count towards the chart when purchased indirectly via a concert ticket is bound to favour established acts which will indirectly sell their new music to fans of the their back catalogue.

Bloody Hell, the Rolling Stones would be number one on the album charts for weeks on end!

[Edu]

I added the rest of the figures.
I think now it's more easy to see Prince's sales achievements, especially in the USA.

Obviously any corrections or additions are more than welcome!
(this is also for you Hanboo )

Enjoy it!

[AutomaticBR]

"3121" in the UK - 72,968

[Edu]

AutomaticBR OBRIGADO for the sales figures of 3121 in the UK!
I added those to the breakdown above.
I also added the Purple Rain UK sales from the period 1997-2005 courtesy of jimmypages59, thank you jimmy!

[CaptainAhab]

Good work!

[Edu]

Four Prince albums had their sales in US updated, and there are some new digital sales in the singles section.

[thebigham]

3/17/07 Catalog Chart:

41 PRINCE VERY BEST OF PRINCE 4097 -18% 5004 1,301,111 (1xp)

91 PRINCE PURPLE RAIN 2533 -4% 2652 2,382,745

[thebigham]

7/21 Catalog chart

23 WAR 57 54 54 PRINCE VERY BEST OF PRINCE 3,025 +2% 2,964 1,352,898 (1xp)

[marcello09]

[Danny86]

What's the reason of the re-enter of Ultimate this week? Sold at the tour?

[borderwolf]

Billboard Top 200 11 august 2007

03 NE 01 Prince, Planet Earth 95,508 999 95,927

[borderwolf]