Ladies and Gentleman, the figures have been checked and re-checked and we now have the Forbes 2008 Top Selling Musician Rich List.
Despite popular believe it has been found that music sales are up by 10.5%, compared to 2007. Popular digital retailer iTunes is up 27% and also for all the Dj’s out there good news, vinyl sales are also up by nearly 90% compared to 2007.
So who’s the highest earning musician of 2008 then? The award goes to US country singer Taylor Swift who’s self titled album and follow up managed to sell a staggering 4 million units in 2008.
Other noticeable money makers include American Rapper Lil Wayne with ‘ ‘The Carter III‘ which was the Top Selling Album of 2008, selling 2.9 million records. Also worth a mention was British band Coldplay who sold over 2.7 million records as well as old rockers AC/DC who’s fan base came out in numbers to buy 3.4 million albums this year.
So what about Katie Perry, Rihanna and Kanye West? They all had big tracks last year. Well according to Nielsen’s Soundscan and Forbes, they aren’t actually selling records. Digital sales for these artists are high, they all sold over 5 million each, however not even half of those people are buying their full albums.
The highest selling single of the year was Leona Lewis’ ‘Bleeding Love’ which sold 3.4 million units and then the other top sellers include Flo Rida (Low), Katy Perry (I Kissed a Girl), Lil Wayne (Lollipop) and Coldplay (Viva La Vida). All of whom sold over 2.9 million.
Top Selling Musicians of 2008
