While album sales continue to slowly fade, the sales of singles are continuing to soar, particularly for the biggest hits. This is the first year in which the top singles have sold over 5 million copies in the first half of the year, and there are two hits to make that mark. The breakthrough singles from fun. and Gotye both have sold more than 5 million copies, and, at just over 4,000,000, it looks like it won't be long before Carly Rae Jepsen reaches that mark. Other than Adele's truly phenomenal 21 album, no other album has sold more than one million copies which sets a new record as well. The #2 album so far is a bit of a surprise. Lionel Richie's Tuskegee, an album of country styled duet covers of his previous hits, has sold over 900,000 copies. Taking the #3 position is the debut by One Direction which should reach the one million sales level within a month. Check out the top 10 selling singles and albums below.
Top 10 Bestselling Singles First Half Of 2012
- Gotye featuring Kimbra - "Somebody That I Used To Know" - 5,501,000
- fun. featuring Janelle Monae - "We Are Young" - 5,087,000
- Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe" - 4,064,000
- Kelly Clarkson - "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill Me)" - 3,324,000
- Nicki Minaj - "Starships" - 3,158,000
- Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa - "Payphone" - 3,075,000
- The Wanted - "Glad You Came" - 2,892,000
- One Direction - "What Makes You Beautiful" - 2,885,000
- Flo Rida featuring Sia - "Wild Ones" - 2,790,000
- Justin Bieber - "Boyfriend" - 2,599,000
Top 10 Bestselling Albums First Half Of 2012
- Adele - 21 - 3,668,000
- Lionel Richie - Tuskegee - 912,000
- One Direction - Up All Night - 899,000
- Whitney Houston - Whitney: The Greatest Hits - 818,000
- Various Artists - NOW 41 - 714,000
- Carrie Underwood - Blown Away - 602,000
- Luke Bryan - Tailgates and Tanlines - 574,000
- Nicki Minaj - Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded - 557,000
- Drake - Take Care - 549,000
- Adele - 19 - 539,000
Single cover courtesy Universal Republic
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