"Always keep mystery. Not many interviews." There you have it, fledgling bands of the world. If you start right now and keep in mind those rules, as well as some key others, in about a decade's time you can have the number one album in the world.
Coldplay tops the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's report listing the 50 best-selling albums of 2008. Coldplay moved 6.8 million copies of Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends, more than High School Musical 2, which had the number one spot in 2007.
"global list", really? Honestly, sometimes Americans are so ethnocentric that they forget there are another 6.5 billion people on this planet... In addition, this list makes me lose faith in American pop culture in general.
Correct EEEEeeee, it's a worldwide list, not U.S. only.
February 18, 2009 at 3:08 a.m.
Krucifier
This list proves to me that juveniles have too much money!
February 18, 2009 at 5:09 a.m.
TheDevil
The world is coming to an end... this music is shiet, am i the only one who thinks so?
February 18, 2009 at 10:24 a.m.
Umgan
This is sad.
February 18, 2009 at 10:24 a.m.
Fox64
There's no way in a fat hell that these were the top sellers. I've been watching the international charts for years! There are sooooo many albums not shown. Plus, every site has a different line up for the most sold, which leads me to believe this site is yet another bias community.
February 18, 2009 at 10:24 a.m.
Matt
Yeah, it's pretty bad...why do people like crappy music?
February 18, 2009 at 10:24 a.m.
repete
I agree Devil....now lets play the same sh*t songs over and over and over again on corporate radio
February 18, 2009 at 11:57 a.m.
Steve
I wish we could go back 40 or 50 years to when the charts listed GOOD music.
February 18, 2009 at 3:33 p.m.
Nikolaj
I think there were alot of good albums on that list. Michael Jackson did pretty good compared to all the negative press, who always wants to break him down.. Here's the proof: Michael Jackson is unstoppable! His Thriller album which was released 26 years ago now has been over the top 50 list of best selling albums of 2008. Michael Jackson is in, he's the king, and he's coming back even STRONGER! Wait and see.
February 18, 2009 at 4:56 p.m.
alice
this has to be a worldwide list since two of the albums are from Japan.. it isn't just US..
February 18, 2009 at 5:23 p.m.
Cyrus
I think the list is correct, coz numbers speack the truth, and maybe you american doesn't know, Coldplay is HUGE in asia (as you know, there are many people in asia, it is not a surprise for them to sell that many copies.)
well, there are only 3 albums from asia.
Exile is on No.34 and 43 sold 1.5 million and 1.2 million copies, and Namie Amuro is on No.38 which sold 1.4 million copies.
March 4, 2009 at 6:46 p.m.
coldplay suck
Gods of of rock AC/DC beaten by crappy coldplay, what is the world coming to.
March 4, 2009 at 8:08 p.m.
iheartmusic
A lot of you guys seem rather angry at that list....Maybe its not what u guys listen to but it doesnt mean its bad..its juts what this generation likes and its us who keep music alive. Coldplay rocks, its just a proven fact, when 7 million people buy an album its not because it has a pretty cover. If it was that easy to write songs as great as "Clocks" or "Viva La Vida", some of u should have done it and show Coldplay what music should sound like. Im not a big fan of Duffy, Britney Spears and Rihanna but i respect them because theyve reached a musical and success level only a handful of people ever got to. And because none of you will ever reach this level, you should respect every single artist on that list.
March 7, 2009 at 7:57 a.m.
snaapz
This list is as such because all the good music is stolen and technically never tracked.
April 26, 2009 at 4:07 a.m.
What? Yes.
Death Magnetic all the way.
May 10, 2009 at 10:35 p.m.
pop punk sucz
The masses are asses
June 26, 2009 at 12:41 p.m.
AcE
Nikolaj.... you jinxed it! lol I have to agree tho, he WAS a legend!
July 28, 2009 at 8:21 p.m.
Bob
YA METALLICA!! METAL UP A**!!!!!
August 4, 2009 at 1:03 p.m.
ken
wow Britney reached top 15 when her album came out December 2 ,2008 only months before January 2009
October 9, 2009 at 1:58 p.m.
9eric
When you are in America you fail to see the world as the rest of the world sees it. Such lists are made by Americans for Americans and you are not supposed to take it as the gospel truth. These are guys trying to make a living and you are not supposed to think they know about the WORLD. They write things based on what little info they get and assumptions and what they think Americans want to hear. Don't underestimate the rest of the world. A quick example is P-SQUARE, a duo group in Africa. they sold 8000000 copies in 2007 (You can confirm via Wikipedia) but were not in the so called World-wide list. Same goes for those most-famous celebrity lists. I've been to Africa and they don't know these high-rated celebs like Angelina Jolie. Instead, they tend to be more familiar with musicians like Celine Dion, Beyonce, Mariah, etc coz most people dont have TVs but many have Radios. Plus people who don't understand English were more likely to listen to English songs (Google 'kenlee' and witness for yourselves) than they were to watch an English movie. And I think the trend is the same in other third-world countries outside Africa. So remember the people who write these lists are as ignorant as we are if not more ignorant.
October 27, 2009 at 12:26 p.m.
Josh
fantastic list, i own most of these albums, Coldplay's album is amazing and has earnt #1 position, shame Madonna's Hard Candy wasn't higher because that is just EPIC!! Britney did extremely well for one month of sales, as did Beyonce and P!NK, Duffy has grown on me and so has AC/DC's album. Michael jackson has proved to be unbeatable and may he rest in peace :). cannot wait to see the list for 2009, it's a British invasion and electropop year too!! Florence & The Machine,Lady Gaga, Madonna, Rihanna, Beyonce, Britney, Michael Jackson, Whitney,Muse,The Beatles,La Roux,Mika,Robbie Williams,Alexandra Burke, Leona Lewis,Timbaland, Jay-Z,Little Boots,The Noisettes,David Guetta, Calvin Harris,The prodigy and Dizzee Rascal are to name MAJOR performers and rockers who have released major material this year which i think will prove GOLD when in the chart of 2009, some big in UK which may score highly on the charts!!! :) i live in hope XD
AC/DC »
Amy Winehouse »
Coldplay »
Duffy »
Kanye West »
Katy Perry »
Lil Wayne »
Metallica »
Rihanna »
"global list", really?
Honestly, sometimes Americans are so ethnocentric that they forget there are another 6.5 billion people on this planet...
In addition, this list makes me lose faith in American pop culture in general.