From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is a list of the world's best-selling albums . The criteria are that the album must have been published (self-publishing by the artist is allowed), and the album must have sold at least 20 million copies worldwide. Groupings are based on different sales benchmarks, the highest being for claims of at least 100 million copies, and the lowest being for claims of 20–25 million copies. Albums are listed in order of number of copies sold and there-after by the artist's first name. This list contains any type of album, including studio , greatest hits , compilation , various artists , soundtrack and remix .
A number of issues make exact figures difficult to calculate, historical data before the 1980s and from developing countries are also incomplete. Additionally fans, record companies and the media are prone to exaggerating sales figures to boost the image of the relevant act.
Thriller is the best selling album of all time, though sales figures for the album vary between different sources the album is cited as selling between 45 million[1] and 108 million copies worldwide.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] The Guinness Book of World Records lists it as 65 million copies sold as of 2007.[8]
Over 100 million copies
40–49 million copies
31–39 million copies
26–30 million copies
20–25 million copies
See also
References
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