The music industry is one of the most profitable niches of economy and thousands of artists battle it out each year in order to claim their throne as best selling artists. Following, we would like to present you with a list we have compiled of the top 12 best selling music albums in 2013 in the US, based on figures released earlier this year by Yahoo!Music and Nielsen SoundScan.
2013’s hottest artist was Justin Timberlake, whose album, The 20/20 Experience, sold 2,427,000 copies across the US. Nonetheless, this achievement also sets a rather negative first in the music industry. It is the lowest number of sold copies to make an album number 1, since 1991, when Nielsen SoundScan began tracing sales. But, on the bright side, Timberlake’s album sold an additional 1,026,000 digital copies, becoming the 2nd album in history, after 21 by Adele, to sell more than 1 million digital copies in 12 months. In addition, Timberlake is also the first artist to land an album on the number 1 spot both as a solo act and as part of a band. In 2000, Timberlake’s former band NSYNC also scored the leading spot with their album No Strings Attached.
Another notable mention is Beyonce’s latest album, Beyonce, which managed to score the 8th place, despite being available for sale for just 3 weeks of 2013. Quite an impressive feat. Her hubby, Jay Z, also made the countdown, with his latest album Magna Carta…Holy Grail, which sold more than 1 million copies.
2 British artists made the cut, Mumford & Sons and One Direction, on the 11th and 12th spots respectively. The only other non-US artist on our countdown is Drake, whose album, Nothing Was the Same, is the Canadian’s third album to reach the top 10 in the last 4 years.
Curious to see who else has made it on the list of best selling albums in 2013? Let’s take a look.
Note: the following countdown applies to copies sold within the US.
No. 12: One Direction – Midnight Memories
No. of copies sold: 1,096,000
No. 11: Mumford and Sons – Babel
No. of copies sold: 1,096,000*
*this album sold an additional 1,463,000 copies in 2012
No. 10: Jay Z – Magna Carta…Holy Grail
No. of copies sold: 1,099,000
No. 9: Blake Shelton – Based on A True Story
No. of copies sold: 1,109,000
No. 8: Beyonce – Beyonce
No. of copies sold: 1,301,000
No. 7: Drake – Nothing Was The Same
No. of copies sold: 1,344,000
No. 6: Florida George Line – Here’s To The Good Times
No. of copies sold: 1,350,000*
*the album sold an additional 181,000 copies in 2012
No. 5: Bruno Mars – Unorthodox Jukebox
No. of copies sold: 1,399,000*
*the album sold an additional 480,000 copies in 2012
No. 4: Imagine Dragons – Night Visions
No. of copies sold: 1,402,000*
*the album sold an additional 417,000 copies in 2012
No. 3: Luke Bryan – Crash My Party
No. of copies sold: 1,521,000
No. 2: Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP 2
No. of copies sold: 1,727,000
No. 1: Justin Timberlake – The 20/20 Experience
No. of copies sold: 2,427,000
