Madonna :: Charts & Sales History

[thebigham]

Keep your expectations within reason. Expecting 2x Platinum increases for some albums is just going to cause disappointment.

[MadNuno]

I think someone in this very thread said it was at most eligible for 9x

Truth to be told we don't know what accurate sales number it had when it was certified 7xPlatinum (could be 7.1 million or even 7.9 million already).

Plus we also don't have most accurated sales numbers as soundscan as by 1995 soundscan was covering less than 65% of the market and as 1999 only covered 85% of the US market yet (and Madonna have always had many sales from speciallized dance music shops that installed nielsen soundscan much later). Plus 2001 concert venue sales when the remaster was released (and selling on Madonna concert venues too) were not tracked by SoundScan and clubs still have had huge sales numbers during the 90's and early 2000's - all these alone can mean an aditional 1 million units sold as they are still counted by RIAA.

It certainly is elligible for 9xPlatinum (that would mean sell on average less than 70k per year since 1995 until now - including song equivalents and streaming equivalents). It's possible that it may be elligible for Diamond since we don't have access to accurate numbers. Even if it sold less than 70k per year that during the 10's decade it much certainly sold much more than that yearly from 1995 until 2005.

As much low as the 35 anniversary digital only release numbers are the truth is that those sales also count for the album certification grand total too.
Probably they only did it to make sure they would get to Diamond in US and get near more certifications in other countries as well - streams from the 18 tracks help for the album certification process as well (and some aren't that low). I think that if they knew they were close to get to Diamond in US they would release the album 35 anniversary version physically on CD and vinyl (I believe as 2 CDs would count as 2 sales for RIAA certification purposes).

As I said it's a bit unknown territory as 27 years have passed. 9xPlatinum is a certainty.
The album can be at 9.1 million sales as well as it can be at 10.1 million already - we don't know for sure!

Not sure if Warner is delaying the certification process to make sure streaming numbers get high enough (they are all climbing) to get some more albums and singles certifications whenever they re-certify all Madonna records later this year.

Just like "Material Girl" went viral they would also try some "True Blue" song to go viral if the album was on the verge to get somewhere as big as a Diamond certification.

So it clearly it's at 9xP but Diamond Record is a possibility. I'm sure it isn't somewhere in the middle was they would puut effort on it if that was the case.

[MadNuno]

Keep your expectations within reason. Expecting 2x Platinum increases for some albums is just going to cause disappointment.

With most albums I agree but "TIC", "True Blue" and "Like a Virgin" are different.

Plus "True Blue" was last certified 27 years ago and had many marketing activations during this time.

[Choley]

GH's and compilations also killing the catalog sales

[wowsignal14]

With most albums I agree but "TIC", "True Blue" and "Like a Virgin" are different.

Plus "True Blue" was last certified 27 years ago and had many marketing activations during this time.

you have to consider that since TIC true blue sales have been virtually dead

[MadNuno]

Keep your expectations within reason. Expecting 2x Platinum increases for some albums is just going to cause disappointment.

We know soundscan numbers aren't much reliable for upgrades on a 1986 album that isn't certify since '95 but do you have SoundScan numbers for this album from 1995 and now?

Also do you have soundscan update numbers for "True Blue" singles?

[thebigham]

I hope Warner Bros. has kept track of shipments and still has records from the 1980s!

A friend of mine was working with a label about certifying some albums which were last certified in the late 1990s.

He mentioned record club sales and the label said the press release put out by BMG was full of lies or it was just made up by fans!

It was a big deal when it came out in 2003 and today those figures may be lost by poor record keeping or label apathy.

[MadNuno]

you have to consider that since TIC true blue sales have been virtually dead

Not sure how dead they really were. I mean, "Like a Virgin" was certified 9xPlatinum in 1995 (the same day "True Blue" was certified 7xPlatinum) and then 10xPlatinum in May 1998. Before that "Like a Virgin" album was 7xPlatinum since July 1987.

Much probably in May 1998 "True Blue" was already getting near the 8xPlatinum (or already elligible already as well, who knows).

I know 4 singles were on TIC but "True Blue" was still a TOP 3 Hit that missed TIC. Plus the album was part of budget prices campaigns (Still is as today).

The 2001 remaster edition of those albums certainly also helped them achieve another million seller later on during the 00's decade (before 2009 "Celebration" release and canibalize more studio album sales again).

Then streaming and track equivalents also exist and these are the 2 Madonna studio albums with the Most Streams as well. Not really sure on how many digital songs track equivalents do exist as since 2005 until now Madonna still have had a nice amount of digital song sales too. Are those enough to achieve the Diamond certification for the album? Not sure.

[MadNuno]

Spotify 21/05/2022

France
#95 (up from #124) - Frozen (Sickick Remix) (70,891 streams) +4,386 streams

[freddaras]

Pre-2000 Debuting Female Artists with the most daily views on YouTube
Shakira 5,348,693
Madonna 2.064
Jennifer Lopez 1.892
Μariah Carey 1.605
Céline Dion 1.588
Britney Spears 1.441

[jjavier1978]

France Singles Chart:

125 (93) 13 Frozen Remix

Run Chart: 190 - 140 - 102 - 81 - 97 - 64 - 64 - 66 - 72 - 73 -72 - 93 - 125

[MadNuno]

"God Control" crossed 9.3 Million views on YouTube today.

"Frozen (remix" Sickik and DML Fireboy) should get ahead of "God Control" during the next 5 days.

[MadNuno]

France Singles Chart:

125 (93) 13 Frozen Remix

Run Chart: 190 - 140 - 102 - 81 - 97 - 64 - 64 - 66 - 72 - 73 -72 - 93 - 125

Out of TOP 100 after 9 weeks... it may return to TOP 100 next week if the streams remain stable.
Still it have been a good run so far. I'm happy for it.

[BritneyMadonnastan]

I hope ROL sees 7x status in UK and TB reaches 8x status

[MadNuno]

I hope ROL sees 7x status in UK and TB reaches 8x status

That would be great. I tried to find info about the other day but it's kind of hard with many contraditiing infos around.

ROL may be close to 7xPlatinum based on Official Chart "Best Sellers of all time list" where it appears ahead of "True Blue".

Official Chart website latest updates don't seem to be very positive about that but they miss much data before 1994 so it's hard to say about "True Blue".

I find it odd that "Madonna"/"The FIrst Album" is still only 1 Platinum in UK and that "Like a Virgin" is still only 3 Platinum. With streaming and digital sales equivalent I would say these albums are closer to get something more than "True Blue" in UK.


I may be mistaken but based on info provided by Official Charts and other sources I think that Madonna 10's singles closer to get a certificaiton are "Livin For Love" and "Bitch I'm Madonna" as both may be from 140k to 170k equivalent units already in UK (hard to say exactly without recent info - most recent info I have is from 2019). This means that these 2 singles will much probably one day be certified silver (whenever that is - not now).

[thebigham]

Oldest RIAA certs to the latest:

Album sales peaked in 2000.

https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?...search_section

MADONNA
Title: WHO'S THAT GIRL (SOUNDTRACK)
Certification Date: September 29, 1987
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
1xP

MADONNA
Title: YOU CAN DANCE
Certification Date: January 20, 1988
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
1xP

MADONNA
Title: I'M BREATHLESS
Certification Date: July 30, 1990
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
2xP

MADONNA
Title: EROTICA
Certification Date: January 6, 1993
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
2xP

MADONNA
Title: TRUE BLUE
Certification Date: February 9, 1995
Label: SIRE
7xP

MADONNA
Title: LIKE A PRAYER
Certification Date: July 16, 1997
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
4xP

MADONNA
Title: LIKE A VIRGIN
Certification Date: May 21, 1998
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
10xP

MADONNA
Title: EVITA (SOUNDTRACK)
Certification Date: March 29, 1999
Label: WARNER BROS.
Format: ALBUM
5xP

MADONNA
Title: RAY OF LIGHT
Certification Date: March 16, 2000
Label: MAVERICK
Format: ALBUM
4xP

MADONNA
Title: SOMETHING TO REMEMBER
Certification Date: October 3, 2000
Label: MAVERICK
Format: ALBUM
3xP

MADONNA
Title: MADONNA
Certification Date: October 3, 2000
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
5xP

MADONNA
Title: THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION
Certification Date: October 11, 2001
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
10xP - over 1 million in album sales since this cert.

MADONNA
Title: GHV2: GREATEST HITS , VOLUME 2
Certification Date: December 12, 2001
Label: WARNER BROS.
Format: ALBUM
1xP

MADONNA
Title: AMERICAN LIFE
Certification Date: July 7, 2003
Label: WARNER BROS.
Format: ALBUM
1xP

MADONNA
Title: BEDTIME STORIES
Certification Date: November 21, 2005
Label: SIRE
Format: ALBUM
3xP

MADONNA
Title: MUSIC
Certification Date: November 21, 2005
Label: WARNER BROS.
Format: ALBUM
3xP

MADONNA
Title: CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR
Certification Date: December 14, 2005
Label: WARNER BROS.
Format: ALBUM
1xP - 2xP with SPS

MADONNA
Title: HARD CANDY
Certification Date: June 4, 2008
Label: WARNER BROS.
Format: ALBUM
Gold - 1xP with SPS

MADONNA
Title: CELEBRATION
Certification Date: November 23, 2009
Label: WARNER BROS.
Format: ALBUM
Gold

MADONNA
Title: MDNA
Certification Date: October 9, 2012
Label: INTERSCOPE RECORDS
Format: ALBUM
Gold

[BritneyMadonnastan]

Her certs globally need updating , I think in UK allot of her albums are near new certs because Madonna 1983 850-880K pure . LAV 1.9M pure , she would surpass 22M album units in the UK I think

[MadNuno]

So it's kind of hard to say how much the albums that were last certified before 2000 really sold during the past 22+ years as we don't know exactly how much it also sold the time it was certified (was Madonna at 5 million in 2000 or at.5.5 million? That maybe be the difference to get another platinum now or not as this had a 2001 remastered and have some decent SPS numbers).

Even TIC have sold way 1 million sales for a few years already as we all know (many think it already sold over 2 million since 2015 but "Celebration" may have canibalized some GH sales and still only be upgraded 11x Platinum and not 12x Platinum as expected).

"Like a Prayer" not having a new cert since 1997 and "True Blue" not having a new cert since 1995 sure make it obvious that both these albums need at least 1xPlatinum more without any kind of doubt (especially taking the SPS into account).

It's so hard not to have inside info from Warner Music about these matters! We can only especulate so much.

[MusicLover88]

Really want that Confessions cert tbh.

[MadNuno]

Her certs globally need updating , I think in UK allot of her albums are near new certs because Madonna 1983 850-880K pure . LAV 1.9M pure , she would surpass 22M album units in the UK I think

Her UK album sales total are over 23 Million already - can't remember where I read it but I did and I believe it (probably close to cross 24 Million already).

For example the "You Can Dance" album that is 1xPlatinum have reported sales over 550k in UK and was certified Platinum in UK (over 300k) in November 1987. As far as I remember last time it charted in UK Official Album Sales was in 2018 back at #43 due to Record Day new special vinyl release that year reaching #13 on Vinyl Albums Charts too. I don't think the album have enough to 2xPlatinum but sold almost twice what it's certifcation number says it did.

Her singles pure sales total were at 17.6 million as 2012 (according to Official Charts and BBC articles) so her singles in UK (taking SPS into account) must also be over 23 or 24 million too now (taking the numerous articles about it into consideration with real data).

Of course her certificaitons on both albums and singles will be much lower than these numbers but she could have some singles with higher certs too if Warner only cared about it. Hopefully this is the year they care. They could really do something about it.

I mean: "Holiday" and "Like a Virgin" singles were already over 878k and 892k in 2018 but still only certified gold (400k) each. "Into The Groove" was at 957k but only certified gold as well (400k). "Crazy For You" was at 766k in 2018 and still certified only gold as well (400k). All these singles could be Platinum (600k) and would still have together 1 million not certified units among them. These 4 singles as 2018 had sales over 2.693 million already but were only certified 1.6 million units. As today their certification remains the same (1.6 million) but her sales are certainly already twice as much: over 3.2 million units from these 4 singles alone.

Keep in mind the last numbers were from 4 years ago and Madonna best streaming years were during these past 4 years (in August 2018 "Hung Up" was at 697k but as November 2021 according to another article it was already at 899k - so it "sold" over 200k units in little more than 3 years). We all know Madonna streaming numbers now are higher than ever (and after that article even "Hung Up" broke its best streaming day on Spotify ever).

We also need to keep in mind that the track equivalent and streaming numbers will also help the albums now (making it even harder to do the counting).

[jjavier1978]

Streams on Spotify 22/05/2022

Frozen (Sickick Remix) 64,302,604 (+295,508)

Fireboy DML Version 4,610,747 (+34,517)

070 Shake Version 3,824,028 (+35,517)

Frozen On Fire 299,926 (+58,037)

Total 423,579 daily streams

[MadNuno]

Madonna vs Sickick "Frozen on Fire" just crossed 500k views on YouTube!

Still going stronger on YouTube than on Spotify!
If it only got some playlist on Spotify it would grow stronger.

[Angeman]

Madonna vs Sickick "Frozen on Fire" just crossed 500k views on YouTube!

Still going stronger on YouTube than on Spotify!
If it only got some playlist on Spotify it would grow stronger.

Because its getting promoted on YT. Everytime I open the app the video is the first on my feed. That happened with the other videos of Frozen as well

[MadNuno]

Because its getting promoted on YT. Everytime I open the app the video is the first on my feed. That happened with the other videos of Frozen as well

Well it's working!
Wish they would do something for Spotify and Apple Music too.

[britneyliam]

True blue shipped less than 8 million copies by Feb 9 1995.
Like A Virgin was certified at the same day when shipped over 9 million copies.

Both were updated due to new rules which Club sales began to include by RIAA since 1994.

Like A Virgin sold over 9.5 million copies by 1995, which made it reach 10 million marks by 1999.

True Blue’s sales was probably under 7.5 million copies by 1997 , that’s why it was not certified 8 Million in early 2000s before music clubs were closed.