Record Sales History: Your observation from

[difalkner]

I was surprised that John Denver didn't make the list, at least that I noticed.

[FrankHudson]

The whole concept of popularity gets fuzzy the more you look at it, even though one might assume that it's as cut and dried, something there's "stats" for.

Maybe it's because some of us grew up with ubiquitous pop charts in our formative years where there we're clear #1, #10, etc rankings on Billboard charts for singles, LPs, an RIAA "Gold" or "Platinum" certification, or some "Top 40" on a radio station or syndicated program.

Those things looked like they were measuring something quantifiable, but insiders were aware of way that they were "game-able" even in their field that seemed to be counting something objective.

But are they really measuring overall popularity? How would one even describe, define, that concept? Name recognition? Percentage of people able to hum or sing a part of a tune? Hierarchical levels of adulation? The heights of Elvis or Beatlemania are often remarked on as intense, the influences on the culture beyond just commercial results were palpable. Total dollars spent (and as others have mentioned already, that might need to adjusted for population--not to mention inflation)?

Well then, how would you measure those or other factors?

Number or records sold? What kind of records? Do LPs count more than singles? Why? Why not concert DVDs or T-Shirts sold too? Do movie careers and box-office add anything? Number of times someone watched or played a video on MTV during that era? How does a stream equal a record?* If I buy a second-hand record is that two sales or one?

Yes, it's easy to say that the Beatles or Prince were more popular than Capt. Beefheart or The Bad Brains, but clear rankings are really hard. Are the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac more popular? Is Carole King more popular than Joni Mitchell? I don't know that we really know.

Even if you limit the question to "number of records sold" it's harder to say that you'd think it'd be.



*Yes, I know there is a formula used by some current lists to factor in streaming to make x number of streams (or partial streams, maybe even playing a few seconds of a cut) equal a recording sale. And my dad used to remind me that jukebox plays were somehow factored in "the charts" once. And if we go back a generation before that, sheet music sales were considered prime chart data.