Madonna as the best selling female artist

[Blue Prince 995]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to ask that but I have some questions concerning Madonna's record sales.

Do we still consider them to be at about 300M worldwide (or about 335M according to Guinness world records)? If so, is the Wikipedia page to be trusted having placed her just below Elton John and with Rihanna being quite close to her as the second best selling female artist (Madonna 275-300M, Rihanna 250M)? The source for Rihanna's sales is some article about her becoming a Barbados ambassador and the number is probably based on her Roc Nation label.

I think Rihanna's sales number might be the actual one but would that mean that Celine and Mariah and Madonna have sold way more than mentioned? Or is Rihanna soon going to be the best selling female artist of all time (less than 15 years career vs. Madonna's almost 40)? 

I by no means want to ignite a debate that would compare those two. I would just like some help with the numbers amongst so many sources. Thank you.

[wtg1987 10,169]

It’s difficult to say but Rihanna hasn’t released any new material for a while now so I think Madonna is still top selling female 

I was wondering the other day at what point in her career did M become the best selling female artist? After the immaculate collection maybe and whom did she replace ? 

[Blue Prince 995]

On 5/1/2020 at 10:05 AM, wtg1987 said:

It’s difficult to say but Rihanna hasn’t released any new material for a while now so I think Madonna is still top selling female 

I was wondering the other day at what point in her career did M become the best selling female artist? After the immaculate collection maybe and whom did she replace ? 

Sure Madonna is still top selling amongst females, hopefully forever. 

Well I looked it up and according to Wikipedia the Guinness book of records on its 1998 edition stated that no other female had sold as much as she had with 200 million records. But according to a fan site Today In Madonna History it was the 2000 edition that stated she was the best selling female with 130 million copies. I think the first one sounds more accurate though as a number.

https://todayinmadonnahistory.com/tag/guinness-book-of-world-records/

In any case, this happened years after the Immaculate Collection. At that point I think she would have replaced Barbra Streisand maybe or Whitney, because the Celines and Mariahs were a little too fresh in the game to hold such a title. 

 

[Ian 2,262]

Rihanna's sales should come with and asterisk considering most of her "sales" are stream equivalents

M is still the real deal

Also, M is still heavily undercertified everywhere, I'd say she's closer to 400M (or even over that) than the 300M figure that has been going around for years

[baymad4her 1,990]

On 6/15/2020 at 10:29 PM, Ian said:

Rihanna's sales should come with and asterisk considering most of her "sales" are stream equivalents

M is still the real deal

Also, M is still heavily undercertified everywhere, I'd say she's closer to 400M (or even over that) than the 300M figure that has been going around for years

And most of Rihanna's songs have been collaborations. I mean, when was the last time Rihanna released a song on her own and was successful! 

[Ian 2,262]

On 6/25/2020 at 1:16 PM, baymad4her said:

And most of Rihanna's songs have been collaborations. I mean, when was the last time Rihanna released a song on her own and was successful! 

I think her last single that went top 10 in the US (top5 actually) and by herself alone was Love on the Brain, so about 4 years ago and counting; but don't quote me on this since I'm no Rihanna scholar

so 11 years into her career she stopped maybe bc she seems lazy and more interested in her makeup biz

[OhBabyReadyOrNot 659]

Madonna is still the best-selling female artist. Someday, though, someone will pass her accomplishments. Maybe not anytime soon, but eventually. 

[luluthecat 1,114]

Well I think they need to change the definition. Comparing sales and streaming just doesn’t make any sense