The best-selling album of the 21st Century
In a world of streaming, fewer people are buying physical records compared to 20-years-ago. However, a select few artists are still managing to sell an obscene quantity of albums and continue operating at a level that defies logic.
Due to how the music industry has changed, the majority of the albums that dominate the highest-selling list of the 21st century were released before 2010. Although illegal streaming was rife throughout the early part of the century, most people still built their record collection by visiting a shop and paying for CDs.
Only four albums released post-2010 have sold over 12 million copies, compared with 23 from the decade prior. There’s been a sharp decline in record sales across the board, but Adele has managed to circumvent the crisis, astonishingly, two of her albums have sold over 20 million copies.
Her 2015 album, 25, has sold 23 million copies worldwide, which makes it the fifth-highest-selling record of this century. Adele also occupies the top spot with 21 and has sold 31 million copies to date, which is four million more than her nearest competitor.
The record-breaking album was produced by Paul Epworth and featured the hit singles, ‘Rolling In The Deep’, and ‘Someone Like You’. In an interview with NME, Epworth explained the key to 21’s success and believes it’s down to the authenticity of Adele. He said: “Before her and Amy Winehouse, a lot of British pop stars were slightly more manicured and less relatable.”
In the same piece, XL’s Nick Huggett added: “Adele’s taken her lead from Amy Winehouse to an extent and surpassed what Amy was able to achieve commercially, and that led to this whole idea of the British underdog becoming a global pop star. There’s a real lack of snobbery about Adele’s music. There’s something very timeless about the songs on 21. They could be from any time period in music, really – it’s so classic in a way that stands the test of time.”
The chances of anybody catching Adele’s record are slim. Unless there’s a drastic change in the music industry, nobody else will come close to selling 30 million copies of one album. Take Adele’s most recent album, 30, as an example; although it was still an international best-seller, it has sold 4.6 million copies, which is only a fraction of 21.
Remarkably, 21 was not only the best-selling album of 2011, but also no other album sold more copies than Adele’s sophomore effort the following year. In total, the release topped the chart in 30 countries and continues to sell highly today.
