Record sales

Record sales or music sales are activities related to selling music recordings (albums, singles, or music videos) through physical record shops or digital music stores.^[1][2][3] Record sales reached their peak in 1999, when 600 million people spent an average of $64 on records, achieving $40 billion in sales of recorded music.^[4][5]

Record sales started declining in the 21st century,^[6][7] which made artists rely on touring for most of their income.^[8] By 2019, record sales accounted for less than half of global recorded music revenue, overtaken by streaming.^[9] Following the inclusion of streaming into record charts in the mid-2010s, record sales are also referred to as traditional sales or pure sales.^[10][11][12]

Although an accurate worldwide sales figure is hard to determine, it is widely acknowledged that the Beatles have sold more records than any other artist in history.^{[13][14][15][16]} Michael Jackson's studio album Thriller (1982) remains the best-selling album in history,^[17] while "White Christmas" (1942) performed by Bing Crosby is believed to be the best-selling single.^[18]