21 May Uh-Oh! …And The New Best Selling Number 1 Song Of All Time Is…..
Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind” held the title of best selling single of all time, going eleven times platinum. Now, a song has gone 12 times platinum. Who?
“Baby” by Justin Bieber is now the best selling song of all time. With Billboard now taking into account Youtube views, “Baby” surpasses “Candle In The Wind”..although it hasn’t sold more.
Bieber’s “Baby” featuring rapper Ludacris has sold 3.9 million copies and has been viewed 859 MILLION times on YouTube.
Elton’s “Candle In The Wind”/”Something About The Way You Look Tonight” has sold 33 million copies world-wide, 11 million in the U.S. There is no official YouTube channel for the “Candle In The Wind” performance, meaning it falls behind Bieber’s YouTube hits, regardless of sales.
As much as I like the step forward Billboard has taken counting YouTube views, it changing the charts of songs that were there for years is disappointing.-DocFB
Diagnosis: Let’s see if Bieber is still selling out 60,000 seat arena’s 45 years into his career….
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jon ian
Posted at 23:17h, 22 MayI saw that BS the other night on the BB Awards saying that Youtube views are factored in. How is that fair in any universe?
Lavender Lady~Anita
Posted at 16:39h, 22 MayOne Word: UGH!
paulito1999
Posted at 23:15h, 21 MayThey got this all horribly/horrible’ song all wrong. YouTube does not count as sales. While 800 plus million VIEWS is impressive, it is not the same as someone paying for it. The song is so depressing. Makes me wanna hurl when I hear it.
Barbara
Posted at 23:08h, 21 MayOh my giddy aunt!!!
Claire
Posted at 22:33h, 21 MayOk, I’ve read a bit more about this and it’s probably worth noting a couple of things.
1. The YouTube views are counted according to 100 views = 1 sale. Given the advertising revenue that would be gained from 100 views, that’s perhaps a reasonable measure; and
2. The 33 million copies of “Candle In The Wind 1997” refers to worldwide sales, whereas the 3.9 million sales for Bieber is in America only. I can only assume that the YouTube views are worldwide though. The numbers for how many Elton sold in America are conflicting, as some references state just shy of 9 million, but if it went 11 times platinum, then it must have been over 11 million.
So there are still issues with mixing YouTube views and sales and if the YT views are counted as a whole (ie. internationally) then they will badly skew the US charts, but it’s not quite as ridiculous as it first looked.
Suzy Six
Posted at 22:24h, 21 May…and so goes the decline of western civilization…~sigh~
Connie Castillo-Baete AKA Manic Monday Girl
Posted at 19:40h, 21 MayAs I have been saying on my FB account…the music industry has gone to crap!
Claire
Posted at 19:37h, 21 MayHow ridiculous. They need to somehow distinguish the counts.
33 million people pulled out their wallets and paid money for ‘Candle In The Wind’, whereas an untold number of people simply clicked on a link, who knows how many hundreds of times each in some cases, without investing a cent.
It’s comparing apples with oranges and just reveals how charts are becoming less and less useful as the music industry continues to shift and contort through technological advancements and intense pressure from business and marketing sectors.
Update the system to accommodate the new mediums by all means, but for goodness’ sake, Billboard, do it properly, if not for the integrity of what’s left of the music business, then at least for your own continued relevancy within an industry that no longer has any meaningful authoritative body.
Smithy
Posted at 19:35h, 21 MayBest selling???? Let’s see – Elton John sold 33 million copies of his song and Justin Bieber sold 3.9 million. Let me say this again – 33 million vs 3.9 million and Justin Bieber’s teeny-bopper song is the best selling???? What is wrong with this picture? This is bullsh*t to count video views towards “Best selling” status. Especially since Bieber’s little fans sit endlessly watching his video. And Billboard is the one that gave Bieber the “Milestone” award the other night. F*ck you BB. I call foul.
Chris
Posted at 19:28h, 21 MayLet’s hope Bieber is not around that long. Hoping he’ll be out soon. But I guess we’ll have to wait for all these little girls to grow up and realize that Justin Bieber really can’t sing at all. Just speaking the truth!
El Mexicano
Posted at 19:02h, 21 MayNo to your last point