carpenters sales through the years

[karl]

HI Rick/members
Its been ages since i last posted a topic on forum so i thought id put this one about carpenters record sales throughout the years.

January 1972. The carpenters have sold 16 million records.

From jerry dunphy visits carpenters.


November 1973.

Bob hope mentions carpenters have sold 20 million records.


march 1974.

both record collector and rolling stone issue of july mentions that carpenters have sold 25 million records.

joseph murrells book on million selling records states that carpenters have sold 30 million records by the end of 1975/

Decade booklet issued by carpenters fanclub states by early 1979 that carpenters have sold 55 million records worldwide/23 million singles sold and 32 million albums sold.

Feb 1983 at the time of karens death reports say that the carpenters had sold over 60 million records worlwide,although the people magazine dated feb 21st 1983 states that carpenters have sold 80 million records/I think this is the more accurate number/

And in ray colman carpenters biography issued in 1994 states that carpenters have sold nearly 100 million records.

And finally on Only yesterday documentary 2007 it mentions that they have sold nearly 150 records worldwide.

AS you can see from above information,Carpenters music still sells well through the years.

karl

[Rick Henry]

Yes, Carpenters still sell an average of about 3 to 4 million discs per year... worldwide. Since year 2000 they have sold around 25 to 30 million units... that's a lot. They are selling as much as any top selling name in the industry today.

Carpenters worldwide record sales are as consistent as other major acts from the past... Beatles sells about 6 million and more per year, Pink Floyd about 5 - 6 million each year, Rolling Stones about 5 million, Led Zeppelin about 4 - 5 million, KISS about 4 million, AC/DC about 4 million, Elton John about 4 million, Doors about 3 million, Jimi Hendrix about 3 million. Most of the consistent selling acts of the past are from the harder rock or classic rock genre. Carpenters are one of the few pop acts (from the past) who still sell in the major leagues... Barbra Streisand and ABBA are still major players - each selling around 3 - 4 million a year.

[wisejester7]

This is a very interesting and informative topic.

[Peteruk]

Many actual sales totals are under reported & not included ....150 million seems low for Carpenters ....especially as sales were over 100 million in 1983 ....& CD sales have been huge since ....

On the basis of minumum 4 million sales per year since 1983 ....& in some years more ....sales total is over 200 million

Some Artists totals are suspect ....just record company wishing thinking in some cases ....for instance ABBA were hugely popular in 1974-1983 ....but barely sold anything during next decade ....now their sales are over 350 million ....who has been buying millions of extra releases over 15 years ....?

Carpenters sales have been under reported & assessed , particularly in USA .....

Peter

[Rick Henry]

peteruk said:

Many actual sales totals are under reported & not included ....150 million seems low for Carpenters ....especially as sales were over 100 million in 1983 ....& CD sales have been huge since ....

On the basis of minumum 4 million sales per year since 1983 ....& in some years more ....sales total is over 200 million

Some Artists totals are suspect ....just record company wishing thinking in some cases ....for instance ABBA were hugely popular in 1974-1983 ....but barely sold anything during next decade ....now their sales are over 350 million ....who has been buying millions of extra releases over 15 years ....?

Carpenters sales have been under reported & assessed , particularly in USA .....

Peter

Hey Peter... been a long time... good to hear from you.

On the ABBA comment... I agree with you here in order for ABBA to have sold 350 million units they would have had to be selling something like 10 million or more every single year for the past 20 years non-stop... and we know that is not the case... because as you mentioned they were selling quite slow throughout the last part of the 80's and the first 3/4's of the 90's. Once they made their comeback in the late 90's I really doubt they've been selling ten million and more every single year. They've been selling about the same as Carpenters... three to four million each year.

Someone on the internet stated that ABBA is the third highest selling musical act just behind Beatles and Elvis Presley... somehow I found this hard to believe as I would venture to say acts such as AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd (who's sales have never waned) have sold far more than ABBA. In the U.S. ABBA has sold about 20 million... while Carpenters have sold somewhere around 55 million in the U.S. alone. AC/Dc has sold 80 million in the U.S. alone, Michael Jackson has sold something like 80 million in the U.S., Pink Floyd about 100 million U.S. sales, Led Zeppelin about 100 million U.S. sales... than go and add all the worldwide sales of Zeppelin, Floyd, Jackson and the others and it adds up to much more than ABBA. My guestimate for ABBA is somewhere around 175 million worldwide sales - which is still an astronomical number.

The lion's share of sales for any mega-popular act is going to come from the U.S.... Generally about 1/3 of their sales will be from the U.S. alone. granted ABBA does have a very strong European following... but a lot of those European countries are very small in population. A #1 album in Sweden (back in the 70's) may have sold around 15 thousand copies, whereas a #1 album in the U.S. (again in the 70's) would sell more like an average of 1 1/2 million. the reason I state back in the 70's is because nowadays music sells a lot less. A #1 album these days can sell very little compared to 35 years ago... it's because today's market is saturated with marketing ploys to buy a #1 spot on the album charts. And singles are even worse... a hit single nowadays really doesn't mean much. Back in the 70's if a song hit #1 than it most likely sold over a million copies. These days a #1 hit can get there on selling only 1/4 of a million and even less. The hit single these days does not have as much power as it did back in the 50's, 60's and 70's. (anyway this was a little sidebar conversation)

I am aware that Carpenters sales have been under reported in the U.S. as there hasn't been an update on their catalog sales since 1998... and although most of their catalog (from what I understand) is no longer on the market... they did sell a good amount of all their releases after they were rereleased on the Remastered series.

I'd venture to say that by now "Horizon" is double platinum, "Christmas Portrait" has to be at least triple platinum, by now "A Kind Of Hush" must be platinum, both "Ticket To Ride" and "Passage" have had to reach gold status. Others like "Now And Then", "Close to You" and "A Song For You" all must be around 4 times platinum. "Carpenters" I would guess is around 5 times platinum by now. I wouldn't be surprised if "Gold: 35th Anniversary Edition" is platinum also same with "Love Songs" as both have been very consistent in sales over the past few years.