Re: The Eagles dethrone Michael Jackson with all-time top-selling album
Some fake "methodology" from RIAA and how they have forgotten the album "Grease":
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/60098/ask-billboard
"As the manager of Billboard's Pop Catalog and Soundtracks charts, you must certainly be aware of how well the "Grease" soundtrack continues to sell 27 years after its initial release. Although it has not appeared on the Catalog chart since 1999, it does still periodically appear on the Soundtracks chart.
Yet, the U.S. Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) sales certification of "Grease" has not been updated in over two decades.
This is particularly surprising since the soundtrack spent 52 weeks at No. 1 on the Pop Catalog chart and was the top-selling Pop Catalog album of 1997 and 1998. In fact, I recall reading an article in Billboard when the film was re-released in 1998 that "Grease" would have ranked in the Top 20 on the Billboard 200 albums chart if it was eligible to chart!
Why have Polydor/Universal/UMe (the current labels for the soundtrack) not submitted its shipments to the RIAA for certification? I would imagine that "Grease" could possibly rank as the best selling soundtrack ever if its certification was updated. This is especially perplexing since another Polydor soundtrack, "Saturday Night Fever," was updated in 1999.
Since its certification is not up to date, I was wondering if you could instead provide the Soundscan sales for "Grease."
Thanks for reading and happy 2006!
Dan White
New York
Hello Dan,
Believe me, the mystery of why the "Grease" soundtrack has not been recertified since 1984 is perplexing. The 1978 album was last certified by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1984, when it claimed 8 million copies shipped to U.S. retailers.
More than 21 years later, the album continues to maintain a certification of only 8 million copies shipped in the United States, according to the RIAA. As you pointed out, in the '90s, "Grease" was a huge selling album. It was an especially strong seller around the time when Paramount re-released the film to theaters in 1998.
All told, since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales data in 1991, "Grease" has sold 5.3 million. Therefore, one would assume the "Grease" soundtrack is due for at least a few more million in its platinum count.
In order to receive a gold or platinum certification, one must apply to the RIAA and pay an auditing fee. There is sometimes a lot of paperwork and research involved, especially with older titles. However, you'd have to think that with certain albums, and the level of achievement that is anticipated, the work involved would be worth it.
We contacted the RIAA regarding the "Grease" soundtrack, and they did not know why the album's certification had not been updated since 1984. We also reached out to Universal Music Enterprises, though they had "no comment" on the matter.
Really, it's baffling. "Grease" may be the biggest selling soundtrack of all time, but right now, we don't definitively know. As it stands, 1992's "The Bodyguard" is the biggest selling soundtrack, with a certification of 17 million in the U.S. by the RIAA. "Saturday Night Fever" is in second place with 15 million. Prince and the Revolution's "Purple Rain" is third with 13 million."
It's simply a scandal but nobody in USA seem to care, and take again reference from RIAA !!!
You see, it's not just about Michael Jackson, but that remind me how Thriller between 1984 and 1990 have supposed to have sold just one million copy according the RIAA, the same thing now for "Grease", fans of the soundtrack if I refer to wikipedia, add 8 millions from RIAA and 6 millions from Soundscan to have 14 millions for the USA, but like Thriller, the sales between 1984 and 91, are lost forever, and it was very big years for both albums.
uke: